UPDATED STATS
OGDEN, Utah (September 22, 2016) - Home court advantage proved to be a non-factor in the opening night of Big Sky volleyball conference play, as three of four road teams picked up victories Thursday.
While road teams Eastern Washington, Northern Arizona and Idaho grinded towards wins, the one victorious home team North Dakota did so convincingly.
Two more Big Sky league openers are set for Friday, with Portland State visiting Idaho State and 9-0 Weber State hosting Sacramento State. Six more league games will be contested Saturday.
North Dakota 3, Southern Utah 0: Tamara Merseli had match highs of 10 kills and 18 digs leading an efficient North Dakota attack as the Fighting Hawks improved to 9-1 all-time against Southern Utah with a 3-0 sweep in a Big Sky conference opener for both teams Thursday night.
UND (9-7, 1-0 BSC) combined for a .341 hitting percentage, totaling 40 kills on 91 attacks with just nine errors. Chelsea Moser chipped in eight kills with a pair of blocks and Julia Kaczorowska added seven kills. Sydney Griffin dished 30 assists and used a balanced passing effort as the Fighting Hawks had five players with at least five kills.
North Dakota moved out to a 10-3 lead and later put together a 9-3 run sparked by a pair of kills from both Griffin and Merseli to make it 20-11. SUU (2-11, 0-1) chipped away at the deficit to make it 21-16, but UND surged from there with a block from Moser and Jordan Vail and a service ace from Alivia Fraase to take the first set 25-16.
Aside from trailing 1-0 in the opening set, the Fighting Hawks never trailed after that, hitting .400 in the second set (25-17) and .419 in the third (25-17) to complete the sweep and give UND its 50th Big Sky win since joining the league.
The Thunderbirds were led by Chennin Benson with 10 kills, while Ann Clappier and Sarah Vang each contributed eight. SUU was held to .050 hitting in the opening set, .118 for the match and also had nine service errors.
Eastern Washington 3, Montana 1: Katie Mahoney finished with 12 kills, Ka'iulani Ahuna chipped in nine with nine digs and Eastern Washington opened Big Sky play with a four-set road win over Montana.
The Eagles (6-4, 1-0 BSC) used a pair of extremely efficient hitting efforts in the third and fourth sets to total a .250 percentage for the match while also having an 8-3 blocking advantage. Jessica Gilbert (11 kills, three blocks) and Chloe Weber (eight kills, five blocks) were two of three EWU players to hit .333 or better, while Sophie Miller guided the offense grabbing 40 assists along with eight digs.
With the match tied 9-9 to start, EWU slowly built a lead as Mahoney had four kills during a spurt that made it 22-16. Montana (3-8, 0-1) pulled within three, before a kill from Gilbert and a block by Ahuna and Miller sealed the first set 25-20.
UM hit .286 and broke from an 18-all tie closing the second set on a 7-1 run with a service ace from Raegan Lindsey and five EWU attack errors to knot it up at 1-1 with the 25-19 decision. EWU rolled in the final two sets, hitting .480 with 15 kills in the third (25-13) and a scorching .545 percentage with no attack errors in the deciding fourth.
Alexis Urbach led the Grizzlies with 10 kills and Cassie Laramee added eight with five digs. Montana hit .054 for the match, being held to negative percentages in the first and fourth set and totaling 29 attack errors on the night.
Northern Arizona 3, Northern Colorado 1: Reigning Big Sky Player of the Week Lauren Jacobsen had another big night with 24 kills and 14 digs, helping Northern Arizona push past Northern Colorado 3-1 in a league play opener in Greeley.
The Lumberjacks (11-3, 1-0 BSC) hit .233 for the match, overcoming a first-set loss and fighting to win for just the second time in the last seven matches at UNC. Addy Lofstedt had nine kills with three blocks and Jensen Barton set the tone in the passing game with 42 assists, 17 digs and three kills.
Northern Colorado (6-7, 0-1) grabbed momentum early, hitting .269 in the opening set and rolling to a nine-point lead early on the way to a 25-17 win. NAU bounced back jumping out to a 13-5 lead in the second set and pushing that lead to 12 on the way to a 25-12 decision, hitting .324 for the set and evening the match.
With the third set knotted up at 16-16, NAU pushed ahead with a pair of kills from Jacobsen and an ace from Brittni Dorsey. The Lumberjacks closed the set on a 6-3 run, with Barton setting up kills for Dorsey and Sydney Lema and also combining for a block with Dorsey to take a 25-21 decision. UNC looked to force a fifth set working towards a 21-16 lead in the fourth, but NAU rallied closing the set on a 9-2 run fueled by six kills from Jacobsen to win 25-23.
Alex Kloehn led the Bears with 15 kills, Natalya King contributed nine and Ashley Guthrie distributed 42 assists. UNC hit .159 as a team with 24 attack errors in a matchup that pitted the top two teams in the preseason coaches' poll. Makenna Meier had a career-high 31 digs to lead the defensive effort for UNC.
Idaho 3, Montana State 1: Sarah Sharp totaled 20 kills, Becca Mau had 13 and Idaho earned a road victory at Montana State to begin league action.
The Vandals (6-7, 1-0 BSC) hit .252 for the match, with Megan Ramseyer setting up the offense with 44 assists. Haylee Mathis finished with nine kills and eight digs, DeVonne Ryter added eight kills and Terra Varney had a match-high 14 digs.
Idaho used a late 5-0 surge in the first set sparked by a pair of kills from Sharp and Torrin Crawford to make it 21-17. MSU (2-8, 0-1) inched within one twice, but a kill from Sharp and a MSU service error gave Idaho the 25-23 decision. The Vandals built a six-point lead in the second set and extended it to as much as nine before claiming the set 25-21.
Threatening to sweep, UI was up 19-14 in the third set before MSU closed on an 8-2 run with two kills from Kiana Black to win 25-23 and keep the match alive. Idaho hit .417 in the final frame, building a five-point lead midway through the set on the way to a 25-19 decision.
Chase Doughty paced the Bobcats with 13 kills, Black had 10 and Natalie Passeck chipped in nine with 12 digs. Audra Dugan also had nine kills and a match high six blocks. MSU hit .220 for the match, with 24 attack errors and another nine serving.