GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Junior Paige Barber recorded ten kills to lead North Dakota volleyball on Saturday afternoon inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, but a solid start and a late surge were not enough for the Fighting Hawks against St. Thomas as the Tommies swept UND in Summit League  action. UST improves to 13-9 and 5-5 in league play. The loss drops the Hawks to 8-13 overall and 1-9 in the Summit.
 
The two sides competed to the tune of  five tied scores through the set one media timeout before the Tommies managed a 7-2 run to break an 8-8 tie to lead by four at the short stoppage. UST remained a step ahead of the Hawks during the second half of the frame using a  .273 attack clip with multiple kills from five different players to take the set. UND was led by three kills from freshman Vanessa Imoh and seven digs from junior Izzie McCormick in the frame.
 
UST opened set two with an 8-2 advantage and continued to attack at an efficient effort posting a clip of .387 in the frame. UND produced a dozen set two kills at .125 with four from junior Paige Barber and two each from three other arms.
 
The Hawks hit .278 in the third set recording 13 kills to just three errors in 36 attempts. Barber, along with sophomore Lauren Perugini, registered four kills each with both players' efforts aiding UND in closing the third frame to 21-17 and then 23-19 before the Tommies closed out for the straight-sets victory.
 
North Dakota hits the road next week with a trip to Vermillion due for the Hawks on Halloween night. The two squads played a back-and-forth five-set affair in the season's first meeting on October 10 in Grand Forks with USD escaping the Hawks in a match that combined for 23 tied scores and ten lead changes. First serve is set for 7 p.m. from inside  USD's Sanford Coyote Sports Center. The action can be seen on the Summit League Network and live stats for the contest will be available at FightingHawks.com.
 
Postgame Notes

• The two sides combined for 110 digs in the three-set match
• Senior Maddy Hornyak recorded an ace to move two away from becoming the fourth DI Hawk to reach 80 in a single career
• Barber led UND with ten kills as she reached the mark in a contest for the tenth time in 2024 and for the 25th time in the green and white
• Perugini followed with eight kills at .261
• McCormick led with 13 digs and Hornyak followed with 11. For McCormick, it marked her 42^nd   career match with ten or more digs, while Hornyak produced ten or more for the 43^rd time in her career
• Elizabeth Norris led UND with 19 assists
• Imoh finished with seven kills on 20 attempts  at .300. It marked her fourth match this season with a .275 attack clip and 18 or more attempts

 
How It Happened
 
Set 1: UST, 25-18
Set 2: UST, 25-15
Set 3: UST, 25-20
 
For more information on North Dakota volleyball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDvolleyball.