OMAHA, Neb. – North Dakota volleyball dropped its Summit League opener on Thursday night inside Baxter Arena as defending league champion Omaha held off the Hawks to sweep the action after winning the third set 29-27. UND drops to 7-5 overall (0-1 Summit), while the preseason favorite Mavericks better their overall record to 3-9 (1-0 Summit).
The two sides traded points early on in the opening frame playing to a 7-7 tie. An 8-2 run by the Mavericks pushed UNO out front 15-9, but back-to-back kills from junior Paige Barber helped UND stay in step with the Mavericks at 15-12. Later in the set, kills from freshman Cala Cooper and senior Jarolin de los Santos Lugo brought the Hawks to within two points of the UNO lead, but the Mavericks closed on a 4-1 run to take the first set. UND benefited from seven Omaha service errors in the first set, but the host hit .429 in the frame with just two errors in 35 total attacks.
Set two saw kills from Barber and graduate Elizabeth Norris stand as the lone offensive points during a 9-3 run by the Mavericks to start the frame. A termination from junior Katy Riviere pulled UND to 14-10 of the UNO lead, before the Mavericks relied on a 5-2 run to create distance. The Hawks managed to pull within five of the host down the stretch.
North Dakota carried leads of 8-7, 9-8 and 10-9 in set three courtesy of a block by Santos Lugo and Norris and kills by the former from the latter. A termination by Barber gave UND an 11-10 advantage and Norris put down a season-high seventh kill as the Hawks remained a step ahead at 14-13. A block by Santos Lugo and Riviere pushed UND up 15-13 and the Hawks would grab a 17-14 lead on consecutive put downs from sophomore Lauren Perugini and Riviere. UNO rallied to take a 20-19 lead, but Barber killed to even the set. Kills from middles freshman Vanessa Washington and Santos Lugo sandwiched a Maverick attack error to give UND a 23-22 lead and the latter recorded another kill to tie the match at 24. Moments later, Barber recorded her team-high eighth kill, but Omaha scored the final two points to close out the match.
North Dakota meets Kansas City on Saturday at 1 p.m. from inside the Swinney 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
- Norris matched sophomore Teagan Timperley with a team-high 15 assists and added eight digs and seven kills
- Santos Lugo hit .556 (6-1-9), her third highest attack clip this season with nine or more attacks, and recorded a team-high four block assists
- Barber led with eight kills and Perugini added seven
- Izzie McCormick recorded a team-leading 16 digs: her ninth match with ten or more this season
- UND recorded a season-low one service ace, while Omaha matched an UND opponent season-high in service errors with 14
- Santos Lugo recorded the lone ace to take over the team lead with 15
How It Happened
Set 1: UNO, 25-20
Set 2: UNO, 25-16
Set 3: UNO, 29-27
For more information on North Dakota volleyball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDvolleyball.
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