ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A balanced and efficient offense was on display for North Dakota volleyball on Saturday morning inside New Mexico's Johnson Center. The Fighting Hawks used a strong attack to knock off Tulane in four sets for UND's first victory of the season in their final game at the Lobo Invitational.
 
True freshmen Cala Cooper and Vanessa Washington and junior Katy Riviere all accounted for kills in the early going as UND took a 5-3 lead in the opening set. Moments later, sophomore Lauren Perugini notched consecutive kills as the Fighting Hawks' advantage grew to 8-5. A 7-3 run to the first set media saw UND with five players accounting for eight kills at a hitting clip of .500.
 
Late in the set, senior Jarolin de los Santos Lugo picked up a kill and then recorded back-to-back aces as the UND lead grew to 23-13, before Cooper and Riviere capped the set how they started it.
 
Tulane built a similar 5-3 lead to start set two, but two kills from Washington evened the frame at 5-5. The Green Wave would hold a 10-9 advantage, before a 5-0 UND run, which included a kill by Cooper, a block assist from Cooper and Santos Lugo and two Perugini aces, shifted the momentum as the 14-10 lead blossomed to 22-12 with Perugini accounting for the final two points with kills.
 
The Green Wave produced a second 5-3 start to a set and the Fighting Hawks used a kill from Riviere to tie the third set at 7-7. A 5-0 Tulane run ensued and UND managed to only get within four points of the opponent's lead down the stretch.
 
In the fourth, junior Paige Barber opened with a kill, Cooper followed, and Santos Lugo made it 3-1 UND quickly. Cooper, who put away her first six attempts of the match, added a second kill of the set for a 4-2 UND lead. With a 5-3 advantage and senior Maddy Hornyak serving, the Fighting Hawks put away the match. A block by Washington and Perugini, three Tulane attack errors, a Perugini kill and a Hornyak service ace accounted for a 6-0 NoDak run. The Green Wave moved as close as four points of the lead late at 22-18, before Santos Lugo, with assistance from Cooper and Perugini in the first two, delivered a trio of blocks for the victory.
 
The Fighting Hawks return to Grand Forks and will play co-host to the UND/NDSU Tournament this coming weekend. UND welcomes Northern Iowa, SIUE and West Virginia for weekend action inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Fighting Hawks battle SIUE on Friday, September 6 at 6 p.m., Northern Iowa at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 7 and West Virginia at 11 a.m. on Sunday, September 8. Admission is free for fans. The match can be viewed on the Summit League Network and live stats are available at FightingHawks.com.
 
VS TULANE
 
Postgame Notes

• The offensive performance happened at a clip of .331 which is the best attack effort for the Fighting Hawks under third-year head coach Jesse Tupac and it marks just the second time (.323 vs. Grambling, 9/1/23) UND has crossed over .320 in a match since the start of 2022
• UND's 57 kills are the fourth-most against a non-conference opponent under Tupac
• The Fighting Hawks' eight aces on the day are the second-most against a non-conference opponent under Tupac
• UND blitzed Tulane to the tune of a .519 attack clip in the opening set firing 16 kills to just two errors in 27 attempts
• Barber led four Hawks in double figure kills with 15, Perugini followed with 11, and Riviere and Cooper each added 10
• Barber's success rate of .520 is her best since hitting .706 (12-0-17) last season vs. Green Bay and it's her best single match attack clip with 20 or more attacks
• Washington (.556) and Cooper (.538) were highly effective in just their third collegiate match
• Teagan Timperley led UND with two dozen assists to match her career high which she also matched in yesterday's effort vs. UNM
• Graduate Elizabeth Norris followed with 21 helpers
• Timperley and Hornyak both recorded eight digs with junior Izzie McCormick and Perugini adding seven
• Perugini paced with three service aces
• Santos Lugo led with five blocks as UND recorded its third match with a dozen or more by producing 14
• Cooper and Riviere represented the Fighting Hawks on the Lobo Invitational All-Tournament team. Cooper posted a team-best 38 kills in her first weekend of play as a collegiate. She averaged 2.92 kills per set and hit .338 as she played all 13 sets in addition to recording the second-most blocks at 12.0 total. Riviere tallied 24 kills at 1.85 per set playing in all 13 sets off the bench. Her 28.0 total points for the weekend were the fourth-most by a Fighting Hawk and just seven back of her combined total from the 2022 and 2023 seasons. 

How It Happened
 
Set 1: UND, 25-16
Set 2: UND, 25-15
Set 3: TUL, 25-21
Set 4: UND, 25-18
 
For more information on North Dakota volleyball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDvolleyball.