UMD Women Sweep Souix Falls

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The #9 UMD volleyball team defeated a scrappy Sioux Falls club in straight sets on Saturday, making this the fifth weekend this season in which the Bulldogs haven’t recorded a loss. This helps to make sense of their record, which is now 15-1.

Despite what the 3-0 match result might indicate, credit should be given to the Cougars for keeping things competitive for much of the match, including early in the first set. In fact, the set was at dead-heat all the way until a score of 16-16. In this stretch, things were all knotted up a total of 11 times. That’s when the Bulldogs decided to untangle things a little bit, starting with a 5-0 run which made the score 21-16 and forced a timeout out of the Cougars at 20-16. The Bulldogs were able to expand this newfound breathing room, going on a 4-2 run to close out the set at a score of 25-18. When she was called upon, Daak was nothing short of spectacular for the Bulldogs offensively, registering a team-leading five kills on six attempts for an unheard of hitting percentage of .833. Madison Gordon led the Bulldogs with 15 assists.

The start of the second set showed just how unconcerned the Cougars were with playing the role of underdog in this matchup, regardless of the results of the first set. Sioux Falls jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in this one. They’d be able to maintain their small hold on the match until a score of 6-2, when the Bulldogs started to come to life. Three straight Bulldog kills made the score 6-5. This seemed to give UMD some momentum- after-all, they’d proceed to go on a 10-2 run from this point (13-2 from the moment the score was 6-2 Sioux Falls) to suddenly be in possession of a commanding 15-8 advantage of their own. This is in spite of a Cougars timeout at 11-8, an attempt to cool down the surging Bulldogs. UMD would need every bit of this big lead down the stretch, as Sioux Falls didn’t go down without a fight. Late in the match, the Cougars had clawed to within four at a score of 23-19, forcing a timeout out of UMD head coach Jim Boos. This could very well have been the start of a brutal breakdown for the Bulldogs; luckily, it wasn’t. They’d score two quick points out of the timeout to wipe their hands of the set 25-19 and move into the third frame with a 2-0 match advantage. Cianna Selbitschka led the Bulldogs in kills this set with seven. Gordon did herself one better with 16 assists.

Once again, the Cougars were unfazed by playing against the odds. They survived a few small Bulldog leads to start the third set and eventually had an 11-9 lead of their own to show for it. The Bulldogs then went on a 4-0 run to make the score 13-11 and the lead theirs- no bother, Sioux Falls came right back and made things even again at 13-13. This is where it looked like the wheels might finally fall off of the Cougars’ bus for good, if only due to a lack of time. The Bulldogs went on a 7-3 run to bring the score to 20-16. It would take a late rally for the Cougars to stay alive, and it was a late rally that they summoned. In fact, they’d wait just a little bit longer until a score of 23-20 Bulldogs to really kick things in gear- perhaps they thrive off of pressure. Two Cougars kills from Nicole Jacobson made the score 23-22 and threw the Bulldogs themselves into the hot seat, forcing them to cling to their one-point advantage. Maybe the Bulldogs don’t mind pressure, either- for the second set in a row, they came out of a late timeout to snag two more points and close out the set. Set three ended at a tight score of 25-22, the match ending at a much-less threatening 3-0 score that, again, might be a little deceptive. It was Lanoue’s turn in this third and final set to notch a team-leading seven kills, hers coming on an impressive .455 hitting percentage. Gordon had a thing for patterns in this set- she closed this one out with 17 assists.

When the dust cleared on a tight 3-0 affair, the Bulldogs found themselves with some solid offensive totals relative to the amount of sets they played. Selbitschka let all Bulldogs with 14 kills. Gordon again led the club in assists with 48. Kaylyn Madison had a team-leading 12 digs, but Selbitschka was right on her tail with 11 of her own. As if things couldn’t’ get sweeter for Selbitschka, she also crossed 500 career digs in this match, joining Gordon as one of two Bulldogs to hit this achievement this season. When it came to blocks, Daak had a team-high three block assists.

Sioux Falls didn’t have a player hit double-digit kills on the afternoon, but their offensive output was as dispersed as could be. Two Cougars tied for the team lead in kills with eight, those being Courtney Holsteen and Sadie Voss. Elise Gillen had a team-high 20 assists. Jacobson led the way with eight digs. Jordyn Hamm had a big night in the blocking department, racking up five block assists and a solo block.

UMD closes out the weekend having beaten two NSIC squads that were a combined 10-3 in conference play before matching up with the Bulldogs. It’s not for nothing that Sioux Falls managed to snag a set from #4 St. Cloud State on Friday, something teams not named #1 Wayne State had struggled mightily to do all year. Remember SMSU, the seventh-ranked team in the nation that the Bulldogs were able to knock off in five sets Friday? The Mustangs went the distance again on Saturday- this time, though, they prevailed. Their opponent? St. Cloud State. Perhaps the Cougars stealing a set on Friday diminished the Huskies’ power. All of this makes Tuesday’s matchup between UMD and St. Cloud State- and the new AVCA Poll that comes out on Monday- all the more interesting.

To close things out, how about a word from Selbitschka, the do-it-all player of the afternoon who said of her 500 digs accolade that she “didn’t even know (she) was that close until someone mentioned something right before the match.” What Selbitschka did know and still knows is three-fold:

“I think (hitting 500 digs is) a really great accomplishment to have, but I couldn’t have gotten this far without the support and help from my teammates,” Selbitschka said. “We knew this weekend was going to be a battle and a grind, but we rose to the challenge and showed everyone what the Bulldogs can do. It was a great weekend for us, and now we go back to work as we face St Cloud on Tuesday and know we are going to have to battle against them.”