Lead Summit League with a 5-0 record
The North Dakota State University volleyball team continued their winning ways this past weekend with identical 3-0 sweeps of Oral Roberts University (ORU) and the University of Missouri – Kansas City. The Bison (12-5, 5-0 Summit) now lead the Summit League and have won five in a row and six of their last eight matches.
Thursday vs Oral Roberts –
In front of a raucous crowd at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse on Thursday night, the Bison swept the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts with scores of 25-15, 25-16 and 25-11. Except for a 12-12 tie midway through the first set, the Herd dominated all three sets. At 12-12, the Bison rattled off seven straight points to push their lead to 19-12 and never looked back while winning the first set.
In set two, the Bison jumped out to an 8-2 lead and kept the pressure on eventually leading by 10 at 14-4. Again, the Herd did not look back and went up two sets to none against ORU.
In the final set, the Bison cruised to leads of 12-6 and 19-8 on their way to a three-set sweep of the Golden Eagles (5-10, 2-1 Summit).
Ali Hinze powered the Bison with 11 kills, seven digs and a career-high five services. Syra Tanchin also poured in 11 kills with a .476 hitting percentage, while Kelley Johnson just missed a double-double with a match-best 30 assists and nine digs.
Saturday vs Kansas City –
In the weekend finale, the Roos would push the Bison but they continued their winning ways in front of a smaller, but no less noisy Bison crowd. After being forced to extra play, the Bison would win the first set 29-27. The Herd finished off Kansas City with 25-17 and 25-19 wins in sets two and three, respectively.
In the first set, NDSU would trade leads with the Roos 20 times and hand the lead over to the other five times. When Kansas City’s Kimora Whetstone put the Roos up 25-24 with a kill, the Bison went to work. NDSU’s Tanchin responded with a clutch kill of her own for NDSU to tie the set at 25. The Bison then closed the set with a momentum-shifting 4-2 run to win the frame, 29-27, after an ace from Tanchin.
In set two, the Bison, as they had against Oral Roberts, started fast putting together six unanswered points to open up a 12-5 edge. The Herd never let the Roos get closer as they opened up a 2-0 set lead on Kansas City.
Set three would go much the same way for both the Bison and Kansas City (4-13, 1-3 Summit). After starting fast in the third set assembling a 4-0 run, NDSU then stretched their edge up to seven at 19-12. The Bison did not look back from there and won the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-0.
Next, the Bison host their Summit neighbor to the north, the University of North Dakota. The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 8th in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. Student tickets are available at GoBison.com/Students.