GRAND FORKS, N.D. – Collegiate volleyball returned to the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Saturday afternoon as the North Dakota volleyball team hosted Minnesota State in an exhibition match. The Fighting Hawks handled the Mavericks, taking four of the five contested sets.
Official statistics were not tracked during the exhibition, but the Fighting Hawks started fast winning the opener 25-13. UND claimed set two 25-22, but suffered a setback in the third frame as a late rally fell short with MSU winning 30-28. NoDak got back on track in the fourth set with a 25-23 decision to secure the match win before topping the Mavericks 25-22 in the fifth set.
NoDak opens the 2024 season at the Lobo Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Fighting Hawks will play three matches over two days starting with a pair of matchups on Friday, August 30 against UC Irvine (1 p.m.) and invite host New Mexico (7:30 p.m.) before concluding action on opening weekend with a Saturday morning tilt against Tulane (11:30 a.m.). Live coverage links will be available at FightingHawks.com.
Postgame Notes
- The Fighting Hawks remain unbeaten (3-0) in exhibition matches under head coach Jesse Tupac having defeated Minnesota Crookston (3-0) in 2023 and MSU Moorhead (3-0) in 2022
From Head Coach Jesse Tupac
On being back inside the Betty and competing against a different colored jersey
"Just so, so, so exciting to be back in our home gym in front of our fans and our crowd. I mean, it's Welcome Weekend and the city of Grand Forks is going crazy right now between Welcome Weekend and the downtown fair that we got going on and Zach Bryan in town. So, it was nice to have a ton of people coming out and cheering us on. And we have been hungry to get back on the court together since last fall ended, and so it's nice to finally get a little bit of that energy out as we prep for matches that count, starting next weekend."
On some takeaways from Saturday's action
"Yeah, you know, we put five different lineups out in five different sets and got a chance to see a lot of people in a lot of different spots. And for us, it's been really cool, because the level of competition in the gym right now is as high as it's ever been. We've got people that are in their third and their fourth year that have started for us for a long time. We've got freshmen and sophomores that are right behind them and pushing them every single day. So, the opportunity to see people in different spots and how they played well with and against different people was a really good chance for us to evaluate where we are at as a team. The fun part was that as we changed the lineup, there wasn't much drop off in the level of play."
On camp wrapping up and the mindset going into next week's season-opening action
"Yeah, you know, I think this year it's been awesome talking to the team about how different it feels. We're better learners than we've ever been, better teammates than we've ever been, and we're better volleyball players than we've ever been in the time that I've been here. And so, with that, there's an energy and a hunger to go out and be great against our opponents. And next weekend, we start with UC Irvine and New Mexico, and then Tulane the day after, and three really good, physical teams that are going to be a fun challenge for us as we go out and put it to the test."
For more information on North Dakota volleyball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDvolleyball.
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