The North Dakota State University women’s volleyball team continued to show its dominance on the court this past weekend. The Herd bested Kansas City, 3-2, and Oral Roberts, 3-0, to improve to 17-7 overall and 10-2 in the Summit League.
The team has been lights out on the court recently with an 8-2 record in their last ten games and improved their road record to 6-3. The Bison picked a great time to heat up with the Summit League Championship starting on Nov. 24.
The Bison started its weekend campaign against Kansas City, a team that wouldn’t give up the win easily. The Bison jumped out to an early lead in the match, taking the first two sets, 25-19, and 25-21, respectively.
With momentum heading into the third and deciding set, the Kangaroos decided to kick it up a notch. Kansas City won the third set, 25-19, and 25-23 in the fourth. Several uncharacteristic errors committed by the Herd plagued them in the two sets.
The two wins by the Roos forced a fifth and deciding set and NDSU came in hot. The Herd “out-killed” the Kangaroos, 10-7, in the set and went on to win, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.
Sophomore Alexis Boling led the Bison in kills with 16. Michelle Glover, a junior, led the team in blocks with six and Ally Barth, a freshman, had five. Senior setter, Kelley Johnson, had 48 assists in the game. Ava Schmoll and Taylor Quan both had two assists in the game.
Following Thursday’s win, the Bison traveled to Tulsa, Okla., to face Oral Roberts University. The Herd dominated throughout the match, outperforming the Golden Eagles with more kills, 51-35, and fewer errors, 9-17, in the 3-0 sweep.
The Bison took the first set, 24-20, with 16 kills and got better through the remainder of the match. The Herd snatched the second set as well, 25-17, with a .361 hitting percentage in the set. NDSU closed out the match with another, 25-17, set win and match sweep.
Johnson had 38 of the team’s 47 assists in the match and four aces. Hinze had the most kills with 14. Glover and Tanchin both tallied 11 kills in the match.
The team will be on the road again this Saturday to play the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks at 4 p.m. in the Betty Englestad Sioux Center in Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks are 12-11 overall and 9-3 in Summit League play. The Bison return home to the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse on November 10th & 12th when they face the Omaha Mavericks and the Denver Pioneers, respectively. Student tickets are available at GoBison.com/Student