GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The North Dakota volleyball team dropped its last home game of the 2025 season on senior day to St. Thomas in four sets (25-12, 29-31, 25-18, 25-15) on Saturday from Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Hawks fall to 7-19 overall and 4-11 in Summit League play, while St. Thomas moves to 17-9 and 10-5 in the conference.

The match featured 25 ties and 12 lead changes, as the Hawks won a back-and-forth, thrilling set two by a 31-29 margin.

Paige Barber had a match best 17 kills, headlined by her 1000th career kill that she recorded in the third set of the match. She is just the 19th player in program history to reach 1,000 in her career. Ava Galvan logged nine kills.

Izzie McCormick had 17 digs, along with two service aces. She is now tied for the most aces in a season in the UND division l era with 38. Sadie White had her seventh double-double of the year, logging 26 assists and 10 digs, while Skylar Darr totaled 10 digs.

Set one was mostly Tommies as they led by as many as 14. UND trailed just 6-5, but let up a 12-2 run to fall behind 18-7. The Hawks ended up losing 25-12.

Set two had 16 ties and five lead changes, as the Hawks fell behind 4-0 early on. They answered with an 8-2 run to go in front 8-6, with the two teams remaining close for the rest of the set, evened up at 18-18 through 36 points. UND scored four consecutive points to make it 22-18, which was followed by four consecutive from St. Thomas to even it at 22-22. The two squads then exchanged points continuously, as it was 29-29. An attack error from the Tommies set up McCormick for the set-winning service ace, to give UND a 31-29 set victory.

Set three was close for a good portion of the frame, as UND held a 10-7 lead before St. Thomas went on an 8-2 run to go up 15-12. The Hawks were unable to get a lead the rest of the set, but down 25-17, Barber connected on her 1000th kill. Coach Jesse Tupac called a timeout to give Barber her moment, as UND fell 25-18 in set three.

UND was unable to get a lead in set four, trailing just 21-15 but allowed a St. Thomas 4-0 run to end the set and match, dropping the fourth frame, 25-15.

North Dakota will close out the regular season on Tuesday at South Dakota State.

Postgame Notes

• UND falls to 3-8 all-time against St. Thomas
• Barber recorded her 1,000th career kill in the win, becoming the 19th player in program history to do so
• Barber had a match-high 17 kills, her 18th time this season with the most in a match
• McCormick had two service aces, now tied for the most service aces in a season in UND Division l history
• White had her seventh double-double of the season

How It Happened
Set 1: UST 25, UND 12
Set 2: UND 31, UST 29
Set 3: UST 25, UND 18
Set 4: UST 25, UND 15
For more information on North Dakota Volleyball, follow on social media @UNDvolleyball or visit FightingHawks.com.