GRAND FORKS – The South Dakota State volleyball team picked up another Summit League victory on Tuesday night, defeating the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in four sets 25-16, 25-21, 21-25, 25-19.
The Jackrabbits got off to a fast start in the first, using a 7-2 run to take a 17-9 lead. With the score at 20-13, a kill from Elizabeth Norris started another four-point run that led SDSU to match point before Moddy Hornyak’s kill closed it out.
The second set was a more balanced battle with the Jackrabbits taking a 21-16 lead on an ace from Reagan Reilly. The Fighting Hawks rattled off three straight points to make it 21-19 but SDSU went on another late run, scoring four of the final six points in the set to win 25-21.
SDSU had a chance to go for a sweep in the third set and took an 18-17 lead on an attack error by Paige Barber, but UND responded with a 5-1 run to jump ahead 22-19. Although the Jackrabbits made it 22-21 later in the set the Fighting Hawks scored the final four points to force a fourth set.
UND kept the momentum going by jumping out to a 6-2 lead but the Jackrabbits battled back to make it 8-7. From there, SDSU used an 11-3 run to take an 18-11 lead before the Fighting Hawks went on a 7-1 run to make it 19-18. The Jackrabbits were able to close out, however, scoring six of the final seven points to seal the victory.
Crystal Burk led the Jackrabbits with 16 kills on the night while Masa Scheierman also posted 15 kills for SDSU. Elyse Winter posted two service aces on the night while Ella Thompson had three blocks. Reilly had a team-high 43 assists while Burk led SDSU with 17 digs.
Sierra Ward (12 kills) and Norris (10 kills) each posted double-digit kills for the Fighting Hawks while Peyton Sewell, Maddy Hornyak and Sophia Ortquist each posted a service ace in the loss. Marissa Stockman and Ashlyn Olson led UND with two blocks each while Elizabeth Norris posted a team-high with 22 assists and Kortney Carney came away with 19 digs.
The Jackrabbits improved to 8-7 and 2-1 in the Summit League with the win and will host South Dakota on Saturday night.
