UND drops two on Friday at Lobo Invitational - University of North Dakota Athletics (2024)

UNM Athletics

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• Box Score 2

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 8/31/2024 12:31:00 AM | Jacob Pumphrey, FightingHawks.com

Fighting Hawks lose opener to UC Irvine in four sets, fall in five-set thriller to host Lobos

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – It was a tough day for North Dakota volleyball on Friday at the Lobo Invitational. The Fighting Hawks suffered a four-set setback in the season opener dropping its matchup with UC Irvine, before returning to the Johnson Center to battle host New Mexico in a thrilling five-set affair that ended with the Lobos fending off match point in sets three and four to win in five sets. UND drops to 0-2 to start the year.

In the season opener, the first matchup ever between the Fighting Hawks and Anteaters, UND jumped out to a 1-0 match lead behind a defensive effort that forced UCI into a -0.024 attack clip. NoDak picked up four blocks in the opening frame including a pair of assisted stops from graduate Elizabeth Norris and senior Jarolin de los Santos Lugo. The first of the two gave UND a 6-4 lead and the second evened the first set at 8-8.

While the veteran Hawks were active on the defensive side, true freshman Cala Cooper impressed in the opening set of her collegiate debut as she delivered four kills, a solo block and assisted Santos Lugo on a kill to send North Dakota to set point where junior Katy Riviere promptly ended the frame with the first of four NoDak service aces on the afternoon.

UCI responded and built a 20-14 lead in the second set, before the Fighting Hawks tallied six of the next eight points. Kills from Santos Lugo and junior Paige Barber, each on helpers from Norris, preceded a 4-0 run by the Hawks that included a kill from Cooper, back-to-back put aways from sophom*ore Lauren Perugini and blocks assists from Cooper and classmate Vanessa Washington, who recorded her first career kill earlier in the frame. The aforementioned run pulled UND to 21-19 of the Anteater lead, but UCI closed out the set with a 4-0 run of its own.

In set three, Barber opened scoring with a kill and Cooper teamed up freshman Marianna Rivera for a block and an early 2-0 UND lead. UCI answered with a 5-0 run and the Fighting Hawks managed to get as close as 8-7 of the Irvine advantage, but the Anteaters would lead by no less than three for the remainder of the set following the media timeout.

Credit the Fighting Hawks who stayed in the fight battling UCI to take an 8-7 lead early on in set 4. The action was highlighted by a pair of kills from Barber, a second ace by Riviere and a pair of block assists from Santos Lugo who was joined by Norris for the seventh point and Perugini for the eighth point and the lead.

A 3-0 run ensued for UCI to give the Anteaters a 10-8 lead and Norris answered with a solo block to pull UND to within a point. However, that was as close as the Fighting Hawks would get as an 11-5 stretch for UCI grew its lead to 21-14 before winning 25-19 for the third-straight set.

The nightcap, which got off an hour after the original start time, saw the Fighting Hawks attack fast grabbing the first two sets over New Mexico with a 25-22 win in the opener, before hanging around to rally back and grab the second set 27-25.

UND opened the match on a 5-1 run, weathered a 6-2 UNM run and then traded points on an 11-9 advantage to take an 18-15 lead. An Izzie McCormick service ace stood as the 20^th point of the match for UND to set the stage for three kills from Cooper and two from Santos Lugo to take the opening frame. In set two, kills by Perugini gave UND its first lead at 7-6 and then again at 9-8. UNM grabbed a 12-10 advantage and managed to hold off the Fighting Hawks to push its lead to 23-21. Riviere notched a kill and two UNM attack errors pushed a relentless UND effort in front at 24-23, before kills from Perugini and Timperley and block assists by the former and Santos Lugo gave the Fighting Hawks the second frame victory.

UND faced match point in the third set at 24-22, led 24-23 in set four and tied the fifth set 9-9, but was unable to close out the match.

The Fighting Hawks finish opening weekend action on Saturday with a quick turnaround in an 11:30 a.m. start against Tulane from inside UNM's Johnson Center. The match can be viewed on the Mountain West Network and live stats are available at FightingHawks.com.

VS UC IRVINE

Postgame Notes

• The largest run of the match for either team was a five-point run for the Anteaters early on in set three that took UCI from a 2-1 deficit to a 5-2 lead
• Three true freshmen, Cooper, Rivera and Washington, made their collegiate debuts in the season opener, while redshirt freshman Olivia Edlund saw the floor for the first time for UND
• Barber and Cooper each recorded 11 kills to lead the UND attack
• Santos Lugo followed with seven kills and recorded a UND-best seven blocks
• UND's dozen total blocks are the fourth most in a single match under HC Jesse Tupac
• Norris matched her career highs in assists (32) and total blocks (5.0)
• Libero Maddy Hornyak led with ten digs
• UCI's Hunter Riedl led the Anteaters with 17 kills and Katie Smith followed with 13
• Irvine's Nicole Feliciano dished out 23 assists and eight digs

How It Happened
Set 1: UND, 25-19
Set 2: UCI, 25-19
Set 3: UCI, 25-19
Set 4: UCI, 25-19

AT NEW MEXICO

Postgame Notes

• The Fighting Hawks recorded a dozen total blocks for the second-straight match marking the first time under Tupac that UND registered consecutive outings of a dozen or more stops at the net
• UND's .183 attack clip is the fifth highest for the Fighting Hawks in a loss since the start of 2022
• Three players registered double figures in kills as Cooper topped the 11 she delivered against Irvine with 17, while Riviere finished with a career-high 14 and Perugini added 11
• Riviere hit a career-best .382 (14-1-24) and Cooper followed at .364 (17-5-33) to cap a nice effort nine sets into her collegiate career
• Santos Lugo's day saw her post UND career highs in all major statistics including a new career-best kills mark with nine in the nightcap
• Norris reached 30 assists, and Timperley matched her career high with two dozen
• Libero Izzie McCormick delivered a team-high 17 digs
• The Lobos' Kialah Jefferson led all players with 20 kills and Naomi Chankoumi added 18
• UNM's Madeleine Miller recorded 39 assists

How It Happened
Set 1: UND, 25-22
Set 2: UND, 27-25
Set 3: UNM, 27-25
Set 4: UNM, 28-26
Set 5: UNM, 15-12

For more information on North Dakota volleyball, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media @UNDvolleyball.

-- UND --