'Dons Fall to Bison in Four

Friday, October 21

Fargo, N.D.

8:00 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

15-7, 8-3Summit

North Dakota State

17-8, 10-2Summit

IPFW

North Dakota State

Photo by: Lucas Carter

10/21/2011 10:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE

FARGO, N.D. - Despite winning the opening frame, the IPFW Mastodons fell in four sets to the North Dakota State Bison on Friday evening 22-25, 25-21, 25-10, 25-16.

Emily Spencer led the team with 14 kills, while Jessie Manwaring added a dozen and Kendall Wienkes eight. Megan Steenhuysen dished out 38 assists, as Tessa McGill had a match-high 24 digs. Spencer, Wienkes, and Jen Milligan each had two service aces, while Manwaring and Haley Emenhiser had two blocks apiece.

The first set saw the teams going back-and-forth, with the hosts ahead early at 5-3. The Mastodons responded with five straight points including back-to-back kills from Wienkes and an ace from Milligan to push ahead to an 8-5 advantage. IPFW would not trail again in the set, leading by as many as seven at 20-13, before fending off a late rally to take the opener 25-22.

The second frame saw the Bison jump ahead early at 3-0 and 6-1; however, IPFW ended up with a 16-15 lead following a McGill kill. Following a NDSU timeout, the hosts out-scored IPFW 10-5 to split the first two sets heading into the intermission.

North Dakota State dominated the third set, never trailing, and holding the Mastodons to just 10 points in the frame, taking a one-set advantage in the match with the 25-10 win.

The Mastodons found themselves trailing 8-4 in what ended as the deciding set, before IPFW knotted the score at eight and nine; however, that would be the final tie score in the contest, with the Bison pulling away late to win the fourth set 25-16.

Two-time Summit League Player of the Year Chrissy Knuth led NDSU with a match-high 16 kills, while setter Jennifer Lopez had 45 assists and 11 digs in the win.

The Mastodons close out its road trip on Saturday evening when the squad travels south to Brookings, S.D. to take on the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State University in an 8 p.m. (EST) first serve.

~Dons~