It was a successful few days for the Herd against the Golden Eagles

The NDSU women’s volleyball team had two matches against Oral Roberts this week, winning both matches by a score of 3-2.

The Bison took the first match on Sunday as freshman outside hitter Ali Hinze registered 24 kills, tying the most by a Bison in a match since 2015. Both Hinze and senior Alexis Bachmeier recorded double-doubles for the Bison, as Bachmeier contributed 11 kills and 19 digs.

Junior Maggie Steffen added a career-high 13 digs, while sophomore setter Kelley Johnson dished out a career-high 56 assists. Meanwhile, freshman libero Taylor Quan registered a career-high 18 digs.

NDSU raced out to a 10-3 lead in the opening set and ran away with it, winning 25-15. ORU responded to win the second set, 25-18.

The third set saw the Bison claw back from a 14-7 deficit to tie it up at 20-20 before ultimately winning the set 26-24.

NDSU won the second match on Monday, improving their record to 6-2 on the season and 4-2 in Summit League play.

Hinze led the way once again with 19 kills, nine digs and four aces for the Bison. Senior Bella Lien collected eight blocks for NDSU, while senior Allie Mauch matched her career-high with seven blocks.

After splitting the first two sets, the Golden Eagles held off the Bison to win the third, 25-20, and take a 2-1 lead.

ORU led 18-15 in the fourth set when NDSU stormed back with a 6-1 run – featuring back-to-back aces by freshman Alex Lyle. At 24-24, Syra Tanchin knocked two kills off of the ORU block to win the set for the Bison.

The Golden Eagles scored the first point of the fifth set, but the Bison rattled off three straight points and led the rest of the way.

The match was originally scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday but was delayed until 5 p.m. due to partial power outages across the NDSU campus, including the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.

Up next, the Bison travel to Vermillion, S.D., to take on the South Dakota Coyotes on Sunday, Feb. 21, and Monday, Feb.22.