GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota suffered a 3-0 loss to Northern Iowa on Saturday afternoon inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The loss drops UND to 2-3, while the Panthers improve to 3-2.
UND and UNI battled to a 15-15 tie in the opening set which featured six tied scores, but the Panthers engineered an 10-4 run behind four kills and a pair of blocks. The second frame saw the Hawks respond quickly building an 8-3 lead highlighted by a pair of kills and a block from freshman Vanessa Washington who combined with sophomore Lauren Perugini on the denial. Perugini delivered her sixth kill of the afternoon during that stretch.
The Hawks maintained its advantage as freshman Cala Cooper terminated for a 13th UND point, while junior Katy Riviere recorded a kill and teamed up with Washington for a block as UND's lead sat a 15-12. The Panthers responded in a back-and-forth effort to knot the set at 18-18, but UNI took advantage of two UND attack errors in addition to producing a pair of aces as part of a 7-2 run to close out the frame.
The third set again saw the Hawks jump out to an early lead with a 7-3 favor, before a 9-2 UNI run staked the Panthers to a 12-9 lead. A kill from junior Paige Barber and a UNI attack error pulled the Hawks to within a point at 12-11. UND again benefitted from a Panther mistake to pull within one at 16-15. UNI closed on a 9-4 run to sweep the Hawks.
The Fighting Hawks close out its home-opening weekend on Sunday morning in an 11 a.m. first serve with West Virginia. UND matches up against the Mountaineers for the first time. The match can be viewed on the Summit League Network and live stats are available at FightingHawks.com. Admission is free for fans.
Postgame Notes
- Perugini led with eight kills at .263, Cooper added six and UND used five each from Riviere and Santos Lugo
- A night after recording a season-high 13.5 blocks, UND was held to a season-low 7.0 denials
- Washington and Riviere each recorded five block assists
- Izzie McCormick recorded 20 digs as UND produced 47 as a team
- Elizabeth Norris and Teagan Timperley combined for 27 assists
- Three Panthers finished in double figures in kills with Kira Fallert and Olivia Tjernagel recording a dozen each
How It Happened
Set 1: UNI, 25-19
Set 2: UNI, 25-20
Set 3: UNI, 25-19
For more information on North Dakota volleyball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDvolleyball.
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