The Bison dropped both games of their past weekend, losing in three sets to South Dakota State this past Thursday in Fargo. Ali Hinze led the way for the Bison offense, notching her sixth double-double of the season after leading the team in both kills (14) and digs (17). Eke Denessen was good for 12 assists and seven digs, and Maddy Dombeck dished out nine assists to go with three digs. 

A back-and-forth set saw both teams evened up at 21 a piece after a 5-1 Bison run late in set number one. The Jackrabbits turned it on and ended the set on a 4-2 run, wrapping it up at 25-23. 

SDSU got off to a quick start in set two, jumping out to an early 13-5 lead. The Jackrabbits used another run to extend their lead to 21-10 and eventually went on to win the set, 25-14. 

The Bison tried to flip the momentum in set three, getting out to an early 9-8 lead. An 8-1 lead capped by an NDSU attack error gave SDSU the lead at 16-10. The Jackrabbits were able to hold off any sort of Bison comeback and won the set 25-18 and the match 3-0 to move to 18 and remain the only undefeated team in D1 volleyball.  

NDSU was able to force a fifth set against South Dakota after dropping the first two, eventually falling short 3-2. Ali Hinze was good for another double-double as she logged 14 kills and 10 digs. The Bison had two players with double-digit assists, as Maddy Dombeck dished out 25 and Emily Bruss had 21. Logan O’Brien once again led the defense, logging a match-high 21 digs. 

The Bison dropped the first two sets and were able to bounce back in the third set, finding themselves locked at 24 late in set three. A 3-1 run with two kills from Hinze wrapped up the third set for the Bison, 27-25. 

The Bison and Coyotes had a back-and-forth fourth set, leading to a 15-14 Bison edge after a quick 4-0 run. Eventually, the Coyotes locked it up at 23 a piece, and kills from Emma Tallman, and Lauren Jansen took the fourth set for the Bison, 25-23. 

Momentum carried over into the fifth set for the Bison, building a 9-5 lead after a kill from Arianna Blohm. South Dakota immediately responded with a 7-point run to take a 12-9 run. The Coyotes were able to hold off a comeback attempt from the Bison and won the set, 15-13, and the match, 3-2. 

The Bison will look to bounce back as they take on UND on Oct. 22 in Grand Forks. 

This article was written by sports writer Sam Huesby.