Box Score
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (November 18, 2016) – With a winning streak on the verge of double digits and a scorching offensive showing, North Dakota simply wasn’t going to be stopped. The top-seeded Fighting Hawks topped Idaho State in straight sets, advancing to the school’s first Big Sky Volleyball Championship appearance.
UND did what no team had done before during the Big Sky tournament, and there wasn’t much ISU could do to contain it. The Hawks set a tournament single-match record with a .448 hitting percentage, totaling 48 kills on 96 swings with just five errors. UND was once again propelled by its four All-Big Sky first teamers, with Tamara Merseli totaling 16 kills and nine digs, Chelsea Moser putting down 10 kills on 15 swings, Faith Dooley nabbing seven kills with six blocks, and Sydney Griffin dishing 38 assists with five kills.
Ashley Brueggeman needed just 11 attempts to get eight kills along with three blocks to help UND to a 9-3 advantage in that department and libero Alivia Fraase grabbed a team-high 11 digs. The hitting percentage was the highest by a UND team under head coach Mark Pryor and the team improved its winning streak to 10 while avenging their last loss that came at ISU.
Although the match stayed close early with a 7-7 tie, UND went on to overwhelm ISU with a .552 hitting percentage, 16 kills, no errors and six blocks. The Fighting Hawks pulled away with an 18-3 run to close the set, 25-10, as Dooley had a hand in four blocks as well as three kills and Merseli added four during the surge.
A scrappy ISU team would make things more interesting in the next two sets, using a 5-0 run to go up 9-7 and later pushing that lead to 14-11 on Abby Jensen’s fifth kill of the second set. UND would respond with a 10-2 outburst that Brueggeman and Moser each had a pair of kills during. ISU got a kill and an ace from Chloe Hirst followed by a block to pull within two. UND answered with three straight points before a service error, and Griffin fed Dooley for a kill to go up 2-0 with a 25-20 decision.
The Bengals once again worked to an early lead in the third set, leading 9-5 after two more kills from Jensen and another from Marissa Todd. UND got a 6-1 run to take the lead back for good. After ISU inched within two, 20-18, the Hawks scored five of the last six points with Brueggeman’s kill sending them to the championship.
ISU saw its season as well as its streak of four straight appearances in the Big Sky title match come to an end, hitting .139 with 19 errors. Jensen paced the Bengals with 11 kills and seven digs, Todd had seven and five, Haylie Keck grabbed a match-high 12 digs and two-time first team setter Hayley Farrer capped her career with 28 assists and four kills.
North Dakota has picked up its second and third overall wins in Big Sky tournament history on consecutive nights, both coming in sweeps. They got past the Big Sky semifinals for the first time in school history, and will now look to go undisputed and add a tourney championship to its regular season title.
The 2016 Big Sky Volleyball Championship, presented by Red Lion Hotels Corporation, will feature No. 1 North Dakota and No. 3 Northern Arizona. The matchup pits the defending champion Lumberjacks against the regular-season champion Fighting Hawks.
The last time these teams met, there was a ton on the line, and even more will be Saturday at 7 p.m. CT. In the final week of the regular season, with both teams needing a win to stay in the hunt for tournament hosting rights, UND swept NAU on its home floor. The Fighting Hawks snapped NAU’s 25-match home winning streak, which had been the second highest in the country while being just the second team to sweep the Lumberjacks this season.
All that’s left to be answered now is whether NAU will return the favor on UND’s home floor, or if UND capture its first Big Sky tournament title.