The Sioux Falls volleyball team came concluded its three-match swing through the Peace Garden State with a 3-1 victory against the University of Mary (29-27, 21-25, 25-17, 25-18), Saturday evening in the McDowell Activity Center in Bismarck.
The Cougars improve to 10-6 (2-5 NSIC) while U-Mary remains wanting for a league win at 0-7 and drops to 3-11 overall.
The USF offense seemed to be clicking on all cylinders as the squad recorded a .258 attacking percentage after being held to a .156 clip in last night's loss to Minot State. USF had 55 kills on 128 attacks, while committing 22 attacking errors.
Senior setter Alexa Reed (46 assists) fed the two-headed monster of juniors Emily Johnson and Kate Hart from the opening serve. Johnson finished with 14 terminations and eight digs, while Hart had 13 kills along with a team-high four blocks.
Sophomore Michelle Ritland continued to shine in her first season as a starter, flooring 10 kills and adding three stuffs at the net. Jordan Calef added six kills and three block assists.
Reed chipped in five kills on seven swings (.714) and is on pace to be the first Cougar setter to record 100 kills in more than a decade (Coty Fitts). Andrea Odbert led the Cougars' backrow defense, finishing with 18 digs and serving up two aces.
USF took the match's first point via a Marauders attack error and led 2-1 after a Ritland termination, but U-Mary rattled off seven straight points to take a commanding 8-2 lead. The Marauders were up 10-3 when USF started chipping away; a mini 4-1 run fueled by two Hart kills narrowed the deficit to 11-7. After U-Mary earned the sideout, the Cougars snagged eight of the next eleven points to tie the set at 15-15. U-Mary then netted two straight points, but the Cougars tied it and regained the lead at 21-20 with an Odbert ace. The margin was two for the Cougars with the following double-stuff from Hart and Ritland when U-Mary rallied to knot the game at 23. U-Mary got the sideout on the Cougars' first two points and consecutive Marauder stabs gave the home team set point at 26-25. Johnson and Calef delivered a huge block to tie the set while the Marauders grabbed another set point at 27-26, they gifted USF a point with a service error and that was enough for the Cougars, who finally closed out the set 29-27 with a Calef/Hart combo rejection and a Johnson ace.
USF continued to carry the momentum to open the second set, pulling ahead 7-4 despite the Marauders pocketing the first two points of the frame. The Cougars would go on to hold a three-point lead at the 12-9 mark, only to see U-Mary battle back once again and tie the score at 13 after a Cougar attacking miscue. U-Mary took its second lead of the set moments later, at 15-14, off a kill by Alexia Jacobs. The Cougars used markers by Calef and Ritland to tie things at 17-17. The teams traded the next six points to make the score 21-21 before U-Mary broke Odbert's serve with a backcourt kill for the 21-20 advantage. USF's Hart found the floor to tie it again, only to see the Marauders counter with a skein of four straight points to even the match with the 25-21 set two win.
Tied 8-8 in set three, the Cougars utilized two kills each from Calef and Johnson along with four U-Mary attack hiccups to move in front 17-11. USF handed the Marauders the next two scores on attack errors, but the Cougars countered with two straight points and cruised to the 25-17 victory.
USF jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the fourth set, before a kill by the Marauders briefly interrupted the run. U-Mary's troubled set in the middle of the frame let the Cougars double them up at 12-6. The Marauders dialed up consecutive aces to rally within three at 12-9, but all the momentum shifted when USF claimed six of the next seven points for a commanding 18-10 lead. The Cougars refused to play their third five-setter in as many days as they never let U-Mary get within five points the rest of the way. The always tricky Reed pounded an unassisted kill to clinch the set 25-17 and the match for the Cougars.
The Cougars held a 46-41 advantage in digs but were outblocked for the fifth straight contest (8-7). USF returns home next weekend to host Upper Iowa and Winona State. Friday night's match versus the Peacocks is USF Volleyball Alumni Night and all Cougar alumni are welcome to attend.
