GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota volleyball won an impressive opening set and then rallied from close losses in sets two and three to dominate the final two frames on Sunday afternoon inside the Betty Englestad Sioux Center as the Fighting Hawks knocked off the Big 12's West Viriginia: the first Power 4 victory for NoDak since 2017.
 
The Fighting Hawks came out swinging against their Big 12 foe putting together a 7-0 run off the serve of senior Jarolin de los Santos Lugo who contributed two aces in the opening stretch. Freshman Cala Cooper accounted for the lone UND kill during the run and contributed on a combo block with classmate Vanessa Washington. The first dozen WVU points came off of attacks by the Mountaineers who rallied back to even the opening frame at 13-13. Three different Hawks assisted junior Paige Barber on kills as UND moved back out front 16-14. Of the nine points scored by UND to close out the opening set, seven were kills from five different players, including three straight from Cooper, Barber and junior Katy Riviere to finish the frame, as the Hawks hit .419 in set one.
 
Sets two and three developed in similar fashion for the Fighting Hawks who jumped out to an 8-2 lead in set two with a 7-3 start in set three. The Mountaineers engineered a 5-0 run late in set two and a 6-2 run midway through the third frame which pushed the visitors to victories in both sets. West Virginia produced a sideout percentage of .730 in set three to take a 2-1 match advantage, before UND responded in a big way in set four.
 
The Hawks hit .370 (12-2-27) in set four with a 75% sideout rate to win the frame by nine points. WVU held a 5-4 lead in the early going of the set, but NoDak put together a 12-5 run to build its lead to 16-10 as kills from Washington and Riviere and a block assist from the former and Barber highlighted a 6-0 run that separated the Hawks from a thin 11-10 lead. WVU pulled within three of the lead at 17-14, but kills by Riviere, senior Jarolin de los Santos Lugo and Cooper along with aces from junior Izzie McCormick and Riviere powered UND's 8-2 run to force a fifth set.
 
After WVU played to a 4-2 lead in the decisive frame, it was all Hawks from there as UND, led by Riviere ran out to an 8-4 lead at the switch. The 6-2 run by the Hawks saw Riviere terminate three times with Barber adding a kill and Riviere joining Washington for a denial. Sophomore Teagan Timperley, who finished with a double-double of 24 assists and 11 digs, aced the Mountaineers post switch and WVU managed to only pull within three in the race to 15 with the Hawks turning to kills by Washington and Riviere, a block by Washington and Barber and combo denial from Santos Lugo and sophomore Lauren Perugini to end it.
 
The Fighting Hawks return to the Betty next weekend and will welcome Belmont and Western Illinois for matches as part of the UND Classic. NoDak matches up against Belmont on Thursday, September 12 at 7 p.m. The Hawks play host to Western Illinois on Friday, September 13 at 6 p.m. The match can be viewed on the Summit League Network and live stats are available at FightingHawks.com.
 
Postgame Notes

• The victory over a Power 4 opponent is the first for the Fighting Hawks since taking down Ole Miss in five sets on August 25, 2017, at the Rebel Invitational in Oxford, Mississippi
• The win improves the Fighting Hawks record in five-set matches to 9-10 under head coach Jesse Tupac
• Barber led UND with 14 kills at .278 and Riviere followed with 13 at .407
• Santos Lugo enjoyed an efficient outing offensively with seven kills at .583
• Washington recorded eight block assists as UND totaled 12.0 blocks, a season-high two dozen assisted denials with 16 of those coming in the final two sets. It marked the fourth time this season that the Hawks produced a dozen or more blocks
• Three other Hawks, Cooper, Perugini and Santos Lugo, recorded seven kills. The trio combined for 11 blocks
• UND recorded a season-high nine service aces with Timperley producing three
• Timperley's effort resulted in the fourth double-double of her career as she matched her career-high in assists with two dozen
• McCormick followed with ten digs as she crossed over double figures for the fourth time this season
• The Hawks took advantage of 14 WVU service errors on the afternoon; the most by a UND opponent this season
• Defensively, UND buckled down as the match played on. WVU hit .353 in the first set, while hitting .243 and .235 in the next two frames won by the Mountaineers, while the Hawks forced its Power 4 foe into attack clips of .143 and -.077 in sets four and five, respectively
• Cassidy Tanton led with 22 kills at .357 and Maddy McGath followed with 15 kills at .296
• WVU's Alexis Finnvold recorded 43 assists and 12 digs

 
How It Happened
 
Set 1: UND, 25-20
Set 2: WVU, 25-22
Set 3: WVU, 25-23
Set 4: UND, 25-16
Set 5: UND, 15-8
 
For more information on North Dakota volleyball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDvolleyball.