MACON, Ga. – Trailing 24-21 in set four and on the edge of defeat, the North Dakota volleyball team used a 6-1 run to take the set and went on to win set five to defeat UT Martin (23-25, 25-14, 23-25, 27-25, 15-8) in five sets on Friday morning. UND wins its second straight match to improve to 2-7, while UT Martin falls to 1-8.

It was an all-around great performance for the Fighting Hawks as they won the kills (68-46), digs (63-54) and assists battle (67-43) in dominant fashion over the Skyhawks, as Izzie McCormick had a career best 29 digs. She recorded her 1,000th career dig in the match, becoming the 21st player in program history to reach the mark.

Offensively, the teams 68 kills were the most in a match since the 2021 season. UND had three players record double digit kills, in Paige Barber (19), Matthea Dalton (17) and Lauren Perugini (14). Barber tied a career high, while Dalton set a new career high and Perugini recorded a season high. Kimanni Rugley contributed with a new career best nine kills on an .818 hit percentage, good for the highest hit percentage in UND history in a five-set match.

Sadie White logged a whopping 51 assists, good for a new career high and the most in a UND match since 2019. White recorded her second career double-double, totaling 11 digs as well.

Marianna Rivera stopped a career best eight total blocks, while Skylar Darr tied a career high with three service aces.

Set one featured seven ties and three lead changes, with UND jumping out to 1-0 and 2-1 leads. The Hawks fell behind by as many as seven points via 15-8 and 17-10 margins. North Dakota used a 7-1 run to cut the UT Martin lead to just 18-17 and eventually tied the match 22-22 after a White service ace. From there, UND got outscored 3-1 in the final four points, dropping the set 25-23.

Set two was all Hawks, as they got out to a 4-0 lead and led by as many as 12 points. UND went wire-to-wire, taking set two, 25-14.

The Hawks were unable to get over the hump in set three, with their only lead in the frame being 1-0. UT Martin went on a 6-0 run to follow that and went up 6-1, forcing a UND timeout. North Dakota was able to tie the match up on several occasions, with the latest deadlock occurring at 19-19 after a Perugini kill. UT Martin closed the set on a 6-4 run to win it 25-23.

Set four had 14 ties and five lead changes, as the Hawks were unable to gain the lead until late in the frame. UND stuck within two points the whole set, before trailing 23-20 and 24-21. With their backs against the wall, the Hawks rallied with four consecutive points, two via Perugini kills and two via UT Martin attack errors to take a 25-24 lead. The Skyhawks tied it at 25-25, before Perugini and Barber recorded back-to-back kills to take the set 27-25.

UND carried the momentum over to set five, in wire-to-wire fashion. The Fighting Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, leading by as many as nine in the set. Leading 13-4, UND cruised to a 15-8 set five victory.

The Hawks will be back in action later today against Mercer at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

Postgame Notes

• UND improves to 1-0 all-time against UT Martin
• McCormick logged a career-high 29 digs, in route to becoming the 21st player in program history to record 1,000 career digs
• McCormick has totaled 20-digs in back-to-back matches for the first time in her career 
• Rugley captured a career high nine kills, while hitting .818 on the day, good for the highest hit percentage in a five-set match in UND history
• White dished out a career high 51 assists, the most in a UND match since Nov. 10, 2019, when Peyton Sewell had 53 assists against South Dakota State
• White recorded her second consecutive double-double
• Barber tied a career-high with 19 kills, good for her sixth double-digit kill match of the season
• Dalton set a new career high with 17 kills, on a .361 hit percentage
• Perugini smashed a season high 14 kills on a .321 hit percentage
• Darr tied a career high three service aces, now having 15 on the season
• Rivera swatted a career high eight blocks
• The Hawks .293 hit percentage was a season best
• UND had a season high of 68 kills, good for the most in a match since Oct. 28, 2021, against Western Illinois (74)
• The Hawks 67 assists were the most in a match since Nov. 18, 2017, against Sacramento State (71)

How It Happened
Set 1: UT Martin 25-23
Set 2: UND 25-14
Set 3: UT Martin 25-23
Set 4: UND 27-25
Set 5: UND 15-8

For more information on North Dakota Volleyball, visit Fightinghawks.com or follow-on social media @UNDvolleyball.
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