By Patrick Stumpf
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) – Junior Megan Powers and sophomore Lydia DeWeese both tallied a team-best 15 kills in a game this season, but the Green Bay volleyball team was outlasted in five-sets on the road (27-25, 24-26, 18-25, 29-27, 11-15) against North Dakota in the Phoenix's tournament-opener at the UND Classic in Grand Forks, N.D., on Thursday night. The loss came in Green Bay's first five-set match of the season.
In what turned out to be a tightly-contested match from start to finish, the Phoenix got off to a fast start in front of the home-dominated crowd at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, winning the first set by a score of 27-25 off a service ace by senior libero Jillian Bauer.
After the Phoenix appeared to take control of the ensuing set, leading 21-16, UND answered on the arm of freshman Courtney Place, who recorded four of the next five-straight North Dakota points to even the set at 21, eventually spurring a late-rally and a 26-24 set-equalizing win.
UND would pull away in the third frame by a score of 25-18, until things would once again go down to the wire in the fourth, as Green Bay ultimately extended the match in a back-and-forth battle, 29-27, to force a tie-break.
In the end, though, North Dakota got too much from its duo of Place (game-high 19 kills) and senior McKenzie Hart (game-high 31 digs), who began the day ranked No. 1 in the nation at 6.33 digs-per-set. Bauer, who was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday, was second only to Hart at 6.29 digs-per-set.
The victory marked UND's eighth-consecutive home win in five-set matches, while improving its record to 13-1 over the last 14 games in Grand Forks, N.D.
With their performances, DeWeese and fellow-sophomore Abby Jeffcoat (seven kills) eclipsed 100 and 150 career kills, respectively. Senior setter Emily Riese added a season-high 53 assists for the Phoenix.
Green Bay (4-3) will continue in the UND Classic tomorrow afternoon when it takes on Jacksonville State (4-3) at 2:30 p.m. followed by Drake (6-2) at 5:00 p.m.
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