TUCSON, Ariz. – Both teams battled through 15 tie scores and seven lead changes in the match as the North Dakota State volleyball team fell short at Arizona, 3-0, on Thursday night at McKale Memorial Center.
Lauren Jansen connected on a team-best 11 kills on 21 attempts for a .381 hitting percentage. She also added five digs, one service ace, one assist and one block to her stat line. Ali Hinze contributed nine kills with six digs, while Emily Bruss handed out a team-best 17 assists. Logan O’Brien, who surpassed the 1,000 career digs mark, totaled a match-high 10 digs.
After Arizona (10-0) sprinted out a 16-11 lead in the first set, NDSU (3-5) responded with a 5-1 run to pull back within one, 17-16, following an ace from Ally Barth. The Bison, who posted a match-best .280 hitting percentage in the frame, continued to apply pressure after back-to-back kills from Jansen and Hinze to make the score 20-19. However, the Wildcats answered with five straight points to win frame, 25-19.
The two teams fought their way through a match-high eight ties in the second fame until Arizona assembled a 3-0 run to grab a 20-17 edge. Jansen attempted to a spark a late rally with a kill to cut the deficit to 21-19 before the Wildcats finished the frame with a 4-1 run to secure the set, 25-20.
NDSU jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the third frame after Baily Randall delivered a kill. Both teams then traded points until Arizona slowly pulled away with a four-point edge, 17-13, following a kill from Alayna Johnson. The Wildcats went on to hold off the Bison the rest of the way to win the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-0.
NDSU will be back in action against Southern Utah tomorrow at the Arizona Wildcat Classic. First serve is set for 5:00 p.m. CT