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OGDEN, Utah (November 12, 2016) – Teams must have been anxious to get to Grand Forks, because a spread-out final day of the Big Sky Volleyball regular season seemed to go rather quick with five of six matches going just three sets. The North Dakota Fighting Hawks clinched the regular season title outright and will host the league tournament next week.
The biggest match of the year in the league fit that bill, with North Dakota sweeping Northern Colorado in a battle to earn hosting rights and keeping the regular season title to itself.
Northern Arizona took advantage of the result, defeating Southern Utah in three sets to jump UNC and take the No. 3 seed and giving the Bears the fourth.
Idaho got a window from a Weber State loss, and seized it holding on to beat Montana State in five sets and grabbing the final spot in the tournament. The Vandals will be the No. 8 seed and take on top-seeded UND in the quarterfinals.
With other matches serving as a tune up with not much to prove, Sac State swept Weber State to help spoil their postseason hopes, Portland State topped Idaho State 3-0 in a matchup of the No. 6 and 5 seeds, and Eastern Washington prepped to face the Hornets with a three-set victory over Montana.
The Big Conference Volleyball Championship, presented by Red Lion Hotels Corporation, will begin Thursday in Grand Forks with quarterfinal start times to be announced. The semifinals will follow Friday and the winnner of the championship match Saturday will earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.
North Dakota 3, Northern Colorado 0: Tamara Merseli finished with 13 kills and eight digs, Faith Dooley added 11 kills on 16 swings and North Dakota clinched the regular season title outright and tournament hosting rights with a sweep of Northern Colorado.
The Fighting Hawks (23-9, 14-2 Big Sky) entered the weekend controlling its own destiny, but with what looked to be a pretty tough path to hosting playing the two most recent Big Sky champion teams who were also gunning for hosting rights. UND didn’t let all the tiebreaking scenarios come into play, earning a pair of convincing sweeps over Northern Arizona and UNC.
UND toted a .362 hitting percentage with nine service aces and a 6-4 blocking outing. Chelsea Moser grabbed seven kills on just 10 swings with three blocks and Alivia Fraase tallied 15 digs.
The home team grabbed momentum right away scoring eight of the first 12 points, held UNC to .022 hitting with eight attack errors and never trailed in a 25-18 decision. Four aces helped UND jump out to a 9-2 lead, and UND had an overwhelming attack with 13 kills on 27 attempts to control the set 25-13. UNC led briefly to open the third set, but UND put together another high-percentage outing and gained a cushion with a 5-0 run and didn’t look back winning 25-19.
The Bears (18-10, 12-4) were playing for a share of the regular season title and hosting rights for the tournament, but couldn’t contain UND’s spread-out attack while being held to .168 hitting with 15 attack errors to UND’s seven. Timarie Nymeyer led UNC with 11 kills and Makenna Meier earned a match-high 16 digs.
Northern Arizona 3, Southern Utah 0: Lauren Jacobsen (11 kills, nine digs), Jensen Barton (36 assists, seven kills, seven digs, three blocks) and Addy Lofstedt (eight kills, .500 hit %) each contributed solid outings on senior day to lead Northern Arizona to a sweep of Southern Utah.
NAU (22-7, 12-4) hit .356 as a team while securing the No. 3 seed in the Big Sky tournament. Kaylie Jorgenson chipped in 11 kills for the Lumberjacks and libero Jordan Anderson led the match with 13 digs.
Facing a late 19-20 deficit in the opening set, NAU closed on a 6-2 run guided by Barton with two blocks, two assists and a kill to win 25-22. A 6-0 spurt gave NAU a 19-16 lead in the second set, and they scored four of the last five points for a 25-21 win. The ‘Jacks hit .462 and used another strong close to take the set 25-21 and the match.
SUU (4-24, 2-14) closed the season being held to .144 hitting with 21 attack errors and five more blocking. Chennin Benson led the match with 16 kills and Macky Fifita had seven kills and 11 digs.
Sacramento State 3, Weber State 0: Morgan Stanley hammered down 19 kills on a .500 hitting clip, Madeline Cannon contributed nine kills and five blocks and Sacramento State tuned up for the tournament with a sweep of Weber State.
The Hornets (19-11, 13-3) have gone 8-0 at home during Big Sky play in two consecutive seasons and their 13-3 league mark was their best since 2007. Sac State hit .312 as a team, with Mikaela Nocetti adding eight kills and nine digs, Kennedy Kurtz distributing 44 assists with eight digs and Courtney Dietrich grabbing five kills on six attempts.
Sac State erased an early 8-4 deficit with a 10-2 surge and pushed its lead six before winning 25-19. A 6-0 spurt in the second set with two kills from Nocetti and Cannon helped the Hornets push towards a 25-21 victory. Sac State pushed to leads of 10-5 and 17-10, and held off a late WSU surge, with four late kills from Stanley helping close on a 5-1 run.
The Wildcats (14-12, 5-11) needed a single win during the final week of Big Sky play to get to the tournament, but fell in sweeps to Portland State and Sac State. Amanda Varley and Megan Thompson combined for 21 kills to pace WSU.
Idaho 3, Montana State 2: Sarah Sharp had 24 kills on a .500 hitting clip, Kaela Straw and Becca Mau each chipped in 12 kills and Idaho held off Montana State to clinch the final Big Sky tournament spot.
The Vandals (11-17, 6-10) hit .301 while earning the No. 8 seed to face top-seed North Dakota in the Big Sky quarterfinals. Haylee Mathis dished 28 assists with eight kills and seven digs, Torrin Crawford had eight kills on 10 swings and Terra Varney totaled 20 digs for a match high on senior night.
Idaho was on fire in the first two sets, hitting over .500 in both and rolling to decisions of 25-14 and 25-18. MSU stayed alive using a 6-1 runs to take control of both the third and fourth sets and winning both 25-20. Idaho fought back from multiple deficits in the fifth set, with two kills from Sharp capping a 4-0 spurt to go up 13-11, and MSU fended off four match points before Crawford and Mau put down kills to win 18-16.
The Bobcats (5-20, 3-13) nearly pulled off the spoiler, but couldn’t complete the comeback hitting .250 while being out-blocked 9-13. Natalie Passeck (15 kills, 10 digs) and Eli Svisco (14 kills, 11 digs) each nabbed double-doubles while Kiana Black (14 kills) and Chase Doughty also reached double-digit kills.
Portland State 3, Idaho State 0: Pati Anae had 15 kills and 14 digs on senior night to lead Portland State to a home sweep over Idaho State.
The Vikings (17-11, 9-7) hit .215 for the match in a tune-up for the Big Sky tournament, with both teams entering the match with their seeds already solidified. Erin Clark tallied 34 assists with 12 digs, Caitlin Bettenay added nine kills with 10 digs and Tasha Bojanic put down three service aces with a match-high 23 digs.
PSU jumped out to a 7-1 lead to open the match, and maintained a gap on ISU before a late kill from Bettenay and an ISU error ended the set 25-21. The Vikings hit .300 pushed to leads of 11-4, 20-12 and scored five of the last seven points to win 25-18. The teams exchanged surges in the third set before ISU tied up the match at 23 with an ace, but lone senior Anae capped the sweep with a pair of kills, 25-23.
The Bengals (15-14, 10-6) were held to .094 hitting. Marissa Todd led ISU with 10 kills and nine digs, while Hayley Farrer flirted with a triple-double with seven kills, 20 assists and 14 digs.
Eastern Washington 3, Montana 0: Jessica Gilbert finished with 12 kills on just 16 swings, senior Sophie Miller dished 29 assists in her last match at Reese Court and Eastern Washington closed the regular season with a sweep of Montana.
The Eagles (13-12, 8-8) already had secured the No. 7 seed with a win Thursday, but gained some momentum with a 2-0 week heading into the quarterfinals against No. 2 Sac State. EWU hit .333 as a team with Chloe Weber chipping in seven kills and Ashley Seiler adding six.
EWU jumped to a 7-1 lead in the first set and pushed it to 16-8 before taking a 1-0 lead, 25-20. A .476 hitting clip helped EWU roll to a dominant 25-10 second-set victory. EWU trailed for a good chunk of a close third set, but turned it on late scoring eight of the final 10 points with four different Eagles providing kills to win 25-21.
Montana (5-21, 2-14) capped the season hitting .125 with a 6-1 block advantage. Alexis Urbach grabbed eight kills and Mykaela Hammer added six for the Grizzlies.