North Dakota State 3, Southern Utah 0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-18)

FARGO, N.D.--North Dakota State put up 10 blocks and held Southern Utah to under .100 team hitting in a 25-13, 25-14, 25-18 sweep of the Thunderbirds in Summit League women's volleyball Saturday, Oct. 31, at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.

It was the 18th straight home win and 34th straight Summit League win for North Dakota State, which improved to 19-3 overall and 15-0 in the league.

The Bison tied the all-time league record for consecutive wins set by Northern Illinois from 1992 to 1993.

One night after holding UMKC to an .028 hitting percentage, North Dakota State outhit Southern Utah .371 to .092.  NDSU outdug the Thunderbirds 59-45 and six Bison players had at least two blocks.

Sophomore middle hitter Chrissy Knuth hit .391 and led the Bison with 11 kills and four blocks.

Freshman right-side hitter Brynn Joki hit over .600 and did not make an attacking error for the second straight match.  Joki had nine kills, seven digs and three blocks.

Junior outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin added nine kills for the second straight night and hit .400 with only one error in 20 attacks.

NDSU got four kills apiece from outside hitter Brooke VandenBergh, middle hitter Janna Deyle and setter Jennifer Lopez, who directed the Bison offense with 30 assists.

Southern Utah freshman outside hitter Analaine Pelaez, the league leader in kills per set, had a match-high 13 kills but made 11 attacking errors.

Jazmine Ma'afala made a match-high 15 digs and added nine kills for the T-Birds, who dropped to 6-18 overall and 4-10 in the league.

NDSU libero Kelly Lopez made 14 digs, Knuth had nine, and defensive specialist Andrea Henning made eight digs for the Bison.

The Halloween night crowd of 931 was the first time in 10 matches NDSU did not draw over a thousand fans.

For complete results, please visit www.gobison.com and www.suutbirds.com

Western Illinois 3, Centenary 0 (25-19, 25-14, 28-26)

SHREVEPORT, La.  - The Western Illinois volleyball team finished its Summit League road season with a 3-0 win at Centenary in a match that snapped a seven-match losing streak for the Fighting Leathernecks.

Western won by scores of 25-19, 25-14 and 28-26 to improve to 9-18 overall and 5-10 in Summit League play. With the win, the Leathernecks have matched both their overall and conference win totals from last season with four matches to play.


Western Illinois coach Kym McKay said all 11 of her players saw action against the Ladies. McKay said junior setter Ellen Miller and sophomore left side hitter Brooke Stittleburg had big nights for the Leathernecks.

For complete results, please visit www.goleathernecks.com and www.gocentenary.com

South Dakota State 3, UMKC 0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-14)

After winning a tough first set that saw 15 ties and six lead changes, South Dakota State rolled through UMKC in three sets to keep its Summit League Tournament hopes alive on Saturday at Frost Arena on Senior Night.

The Jackrabbits improve to 9-15 overall and 8-7 in the Summit League, while UMKC falls to 10-15 overall, 6-8 in league play.

Ellyce Youngren led the Jackrabbit attack with 12 kills, and hit .450 in doing so (12-3-20). Fiona Jones also recorded 12 kills in the win.

Kelsey Knoche led UMKC with eight kills.

Thyele Rechatiko led the Jackrabbits with 38 set assists, and in her final match at Frost Arena, Stacey Wernert led the Jacks with 20 digs.

The Jackrabbits and Kangaroos exchanged points all through the first set, with no team gaining an advantage or more than two points until UMKC went up 23-20.

The Jacks answered with a 5-0 run to win the set 25-23, and never trailed in again for the rest of the match.

For complete results, please visit www.gojacks.com and www.umkckangaroos.com

IUPUI 3, Oral Roberts 1 (19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-20)

TULSA, Okla. -- It was the kind of statement victory that the IUPUI volleyball team wanted to make heading down the stretch of The Summit League season.  Having never won in Tulsa, the Jaguars dropped the opening set of their match versus Oral Roberts but swept the next three, taking a 3-1 win on Saturday night at the Cooper Aerobics Center, 19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-20.

IUPUI (17-9, 9-6 Summit) had not won consecutive conference matches since the beginning of the month and had dropped 15 straight matches at Oral Roberts (10-12, 6-7 Summit).  However, after falling behind early, the Jaguars' attack got rolling as Kalyse Reimbold led the way with 21 kills and a .353 hitting percentage.  Lindsey Weber had one of the finest performances of her freshman season with 15 kills.

Defensively, the Jaguars were stout, finishing with 109 digs on the back row.  A week after posting a career-high 27 digs, Shari Bernhardt eclipsed the mark with 29.  Weber's 21 gave the freshman a career high and a double-double for the match.  Rachel Holmes chipped in 19 digs, while Reimbold joined Weber on the double-double list with 13 digs.

Danielle Goodnight posted 49 assists on IUPUI's 59 kills to go along with 14 digs.  The 49 helpers drew Goodnight within 32 assists of the Jaguars' all-time record.

At the net, the Jaguars had 6 total blocks, out-performing Oral Roberts, who had 5 blocks in the match.

After dropping 15 straight matches in Tulsa, one could be forgiven if they viewed the first set as harbinger of things to come for the Jaguars.  After falling behind early, the Jaguars closed to within a point at 20-19 before a Joana Gruber kill got the Golden Eagles back on track.  ORU scored the last five points of the set to wrap up the set.

Still, the Jaguars did not panic, breaking a 9-9 deadlock in the second set to go up 14-11 after Weber and Reimbold combined to give the Jags four of their five points over the stretch.  Two kills from Weber along with an ace from the freshman and a Reimbold kill forced Oral Roberts into a timeout.

Having earned the lead, IUPUI did not let up, holding a sideout advantage over the Golden Eagles the remainder of the set.

With both teams knowing that momentum and control of the match hung on the result of the third set, it was ORU who got out to the early lead, building a 14-10 lead before the Jaguars rallied.  Two Golden Eagles errors helped the Jaguars close the gap, but back-to-back-to-back kills from Reimbold, Goodnight and Weber knotted the set at 15, prompting Oral Roberts into taking a timeout.

After the 75-second break, the Golden Eagles took their final lead of the set, 16-15, on an IUPUI service error.  However, an attack error tied the set and Bernhardt immediately broke the deadlock with a service ace.  After a block by Holmes and Monica Suding and another Goodnight kill, the Jaguars led, 20-17, causing ORU to burn their final timeout of the set.

This time, the break did not help the Golden Eagles as the Jags cruised, using kills from Weber and Suding to open a six-point advantage at 23-17 before wrapping up the set with consecutive kills from Weber and Reimbold.

Feeding off the momentum from the third set, the Jaguars quickly erased an early deficit to go up 12-8 after Suding and Weber combined on a block and Suding followed it up with a kill on a feed from Goodnight.  Though Oral Roberts attempted to thwart the momentum with a timeout, two straight ORU attack errors helped push IUPUI's advantage to five points at 16-11, forcing the Golden Eagles into their second timeout of the set.

With no timeouts remaining, the Golden Eagles were helpless as the Jaguars grew their lead to six after a Goodnight fed Reimbold for the cross-court kill to make it 20-14.  After ORU staved off one match point for IUPUI, it was Suding who clinched the match for the Jags on a slide from Goodnight, giving head coach Steve Payne his first win in Tulsa.

For complete results, please visit www.iupuijags.com and www.orugoldeneagles.com

Valparaiso 3, Oakland 2 (24-25, 18-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-6)

VALPARAISO, Ind. - Freshman Meghan Bray set a new school record with a 30-kill performance, hitting .274, and freshman Brittany Holbrook added a 15-kill performance, but it was not enough for the Oakland University volleyball team (16-7) as the Golden Grizzlies dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker to Valparaiso (18-8) on Saturday.

The 30 kills mark the highest total of the rally-scoring era, and tie the Oakland University all-time record, set by Karen Ill against Northwood on October 6, 1995.

Oakland raced ahead to a 2-0 match lead after a 26-24 win in the opening set and a 25-18 win in set two, but Valpo charged back with a 25-22 win in the third set and a 25-21 win in the fourth. The Crusaders took a 15-6 win in the final set to seal the match victory. OU hit .341 in the opening set and .317 in the second set, but could not get over .200 in the final three sets.

Sophomore Ashley Nevelle dished out a match-high 51 assists, while junior Alli Kirk added a match-high 22 digs. Bray added 10 digs, while junior Brittany Dunn added 11. Sophomore Jenna Lange led the OU blocking effort with five block assists.

For complete results, please visit www.ougrizzlies.com