Volleyball
North Dakota State’s volleyball team started their four game road trip with a game in Billings, South Dakota to take on South Dakota State in a Summit League match up. After being down early 0-2, the Bison made a commanding comeback to win the match 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-14, 25-13, 15-9). This stops the 0-3 record that the Bison had in five set matches.
Hadley Steffen and Emily Miron were two starters that were just on fire for NDSU.
Steffen, had a career-high and a game high 20 kills on 57 attacks and with only 5 errors to hit for a .263. Eight of the 20 game were in the pivotal third set, were the Bison hit .419. They rode the momentum into the fourth to hit .406. Steffen reached double-figure kills for the 13th time this season.
Miron, dominated the middle and the fifth and deciding set. Miron had five of her 18 kills and two of her five blocks to help the Bison to a win. She finished to hitting .552 on 29 attacks for the match.
The defense stepped up in the final three sets. Emily Minnick and Brianna Rasmusson each had seven blocks to go along with Miron’s five and Jessica Jorgensen’s three.
NDSU outhit SDSU .242 to .079 for the match. Rassmusson finished with 48 assists and nine digs. Ali Moody had a career-high three service aces with the third one being the final point of the match.
NDSU weren’t quite as lucky on Friday night versus Denver. The Bison, after being down 0-2 again, made a furious comeback but fell short 2-3 (20-25, 25-27, 25-22, 25-22, 16-14).
Miron, Minnick, and Steffen were a big part of the Bison’s comeback to even the match at 2-2. Miron led the team with 16 kills and hit .302, Minnick came up with 14 kills and hit .321, while Steffen recorded her seventh double-double with 13 kills and 13 digs.
Defensively, NDSU came up with 111 digs led by Mikaela Purnell, who was one off her career-high with 31. Hannah Jessen finished with a career best of 22 digs, and Rassmusson added 41 assists to go along with her 12 digs.
The Bison were out hit .134 to Denver’s .183
NDSU (4-3 SL, 6-14) next match is scheduled to play Omaha (1-6 SL, 4-17) Sunday afternoon.
Cross Country
NDSU defeated UND this past Saturday by a 16-47 margin, with the Bison posting five of the top six Division 1 finishers in the eight-kilometer race.
Sophomore Elliot Stone captured the individual title with a 25:24.5, as NDSU won the UND Ron Pynn Classic. It is Stone’s first collegiate title. The Bison men have won the team title at UND each year since 2012.
Other notable performances for the Bison are junior Camron Roehl placed second, crossing the line in 25:41.4. Redshirt freshman Evan Kottsick took third in 25:57.7, junior Brant Gilbertson was fourth in 25:58.7, and senior Matt Jennings finished sixth in 26:00.6.
The NDSU women’s cross country team also at the UND Ron Pynn Classic, posting a perfect team score of a 15-50 victory. NDSU had the top seven finishers. With the win, the women’s team has won the meet each year since 2012.
Sophomore Brittany Brownotter captured her third individual championship in her career. She finished the five-kilometer course in 17:45.9. She defended her title from the event last year.
Sophomore Emma Kusch Dahl placed third in 17:56.0, freshman Melina Kuerschner took fourth in 18:11.6, and sophomore Kayla Huhnerkoch finished fifth in 18:30.6. All are personal-best 5k times.
The Bison’s next race on October 29 at the Summit League Championship in Macomb, Ill.