ST. PAUL, Minn. – Four Bison reached double figures in kills as the North Dakota State volleyball team opened up Summit League play with a 3-1 win at St. Thomas on Thursday night at Schoenecker Arena.
Lauren Jansen led the way with her first career double-double with a match-high 17 kills to go along with 14 digs. Arianna Blohm posted a career-best 15 digs with a .462 hitting percentage, while Alexis Boling added a season-best 13 kills with a .400 hitting percentage. Ali Hinze also logged a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs.
Eke Denessen passed out a career-best 30 assists and Logan O’Brien added in a season-high 26 digs. Baily Randall also contributed a career-best eight service aces, which was the most-ever in a four-set match in NDSU history.
Both teams traded points in the opening set until the Bison (5-5, 1-0 Summit) strung together a 4-2 run coming out of the media timeout to grab a 19-15 advantage. NDSU then used another 4-1 run to open up a 20-17 lead with a kill from Randall. The Bison went on to hold off the Tommies (8-5, 0-1 Summit) the rest of way to win the set, 25-21.
After St. Thomas grabbed a 13-9 lead in the second frame, NDSU pulled its way back to lock the contest, 17-17, with a kill from Hinze. The two teams then exchanged points until the Bison stole a 24-23 lead with a service ace from Randall. However, the Tommies answered to close the set on a 5-2 run to win the frame, 28-26.
The Bison responded the third set using an 8-2 run to quickly build a 15-9 advantage with a kill from Blohm. NDSU then pushed its lead up to 17-10 with a block from Randall and Ally Barth. The Bison notched a .417 hitting percentage in the frame and went on to take the set, 25-18.
The two teams went back and forth in the fourth set until the Bison assembled a 6-1 run capped off by a kill from Hinze to make the score 21-14. St. Thomas answered back with a 5-1 run taking advantage of attack errors to trim the deficit to 22-19. The Bison went on to close out the Tommies with three kills from Randall, Blohm and Jansen to secure the set, 25-20, and the match, 3-1.
NDSU will be back in action hosting Denver on Thursday, Oct. 3. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m., at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.