The Bison volleyball team picked up their second and third wins of the season against the Montana Grizzlies, winning on Friday night in straight sets and on Saturday in four.
The Bison swept the Griz on Friday night. Lauren Jansen led the offensive attack for the Bison, recording a season- and team-high 17 kills on 30 swings, good for a .400 hitting percentage. Ali Hinze and Alexis Boling added seven kills each, and Hinze also recorded a team-high 13 digs in the sweep. The two freshmen, Emily Bruss and Maddy Dombeck, distributed the wealth for the Bison with 17 and 16 assists, respectfully, with Bruss adding eight digs and Dombeck with six.
The Bison jumped out to an early 11-3 lead in set 1, but the Griz stormed back to make it 21-20. NDSU was able to stave off the Montana push and ended the set on a 4-3 run, winning with a final score of 25-23. Set two was a back-and-forth battle, with Montana grabbing a 15-14 lead, but an 8-0 run by NDSU shut the door in set two. The third set was just as competitive, with 16 ties and 8 lead changes, and Montana took advantage of a late 4-1 run to notch it up at 24. A quick pair of kills from the Bison hitters completed the sweep for the green and gold.
In the weekend’s second game, the Bison kept the momentum from Friday night and took a four-set win on Saturday afternoon. Baily Randall set a career-high in kills with 16 to go along with three digs, and Ali Hinze recorded a near double-double with 12 kills and nine digs. Dombeck and Bruss were once again in charge of the offense, logging 23 and 19 assists, to go along with 12 digs for Dombeck and nine for Bruss. Logan O’Brien also had 13 assists and a team high 15 digs.
The Bison started hot, getting out to an 18-13 lead in the first set following a 5-0 run and were able to keep away any comeback attempt by the Griz as they wrapped up the first set 25-16. Montana rebounded in the second set, closing the set on an 8-2 run for a final score of 25-18 and sets knotted up at one. The Bison used a 6-point run to take an 18-12 lead in the third set, and a back-and-forth set the rest of the way went in favor of the Bison as they finished with a final score of 27-25. NDSU rode the wave into set number 4, taking a 12-7 lead. A 10-7 run opened it up for the Bison, taking a 22-14 lead, and ended up winning the set with a final score of 25-15 and wrapping up the match 3-1.
The Bison will look to keep the momentum going as they will look to hand Arizona their first loss of the year as they head to Tucson this Thursday.