SIOUX FALLS - Gaining separation in the conference standings, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball was dominated Minnesota Crookston in all phases to earn a commanding 3-0 (25-16, 25-12, 25-12) sweep on Friday night. With the win, the Cougars built a two-match lead in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings with a 7-6 record in league play and they improve their overall record to 13-6. Minnesota Crookston drops to 9-12 on the season with a 5-8 mark in the NSIC.
Sioux Falls hit three season bests as a team, finishing with a .507 attack percentage as a team while holding the Golden Eagles to a .030 mark. From the service line, the Cougars recorded 12 aces, marking the second time they reached double figures in the category and tying the second-most in a three-set match since USF joined Division II and the NSIC in 2012.
Directing the offense to their season-best attack percentage,
Sydney Schaap dished out 36 assists while spreading the wealth -- five different Cougars finished with at least five kills. Leading the way on offense was
Bria Barfnecht, who tied teammate
Jordan Calef with a match-high 10 kills, and finished without an error on 13 attempts. Calef committed just one attack error as she was one of three Cougars to record an attack percentage greater than .500.
Wasting no time building a lead, USF used three service aces to build a 7-2 lead in the first set. After Minnesota Crookston pulled within three, the Cougars reeled off a series of runs to distance themselves from UMC. Schaap connected on a second service ace with Brafnecht and
Makenna Rockeman adding kills. Calef was in on two blocks as USF built a seven-point advantage. The Sioux Falls lead dropped to five before the Cougars reeled off four straight points for a 25-16 lead.
In even more dominating fashion, the Cougars recorded five more service aces and cruised to a 25-12 victory. Four different Sioux Falls hitters connected on kills in the opening seven points and
Aubrey Milne drilled five of her seven kills as part of two five-point runs for the Cougars. Sioux Falls added another run featuring kills from
Lexi Scott, Rockeman and Calef to earn their first set point. Minnesota Crookston connected on three service aces but they 17-point deficit was too much and Rockeman finished the set with a kill for a 25-12 victory.
Coming out of the intermission, USF rolled to another dominating win and it started with a 9-2 run out of the gates. Calef had four kills and Rockeman added her third ace. Once the lead was trimmed to five, the Cougars pushed forward again, using a kill and
Abby Folk's team-high fourth ace for a 17-8 lead. Rockeman and Brafnecht continued to lead for the Cougars and Milne added the final kill for their second straight 25-12 win to complete the sweep.
Defensively, Rockeman and Folk tied for the USF-high eight digs and Kelli Hlloway added seven. Calef was big up front, recording four block asissts, having her hand in all four of USF's blocks on the night.
The Cougars close out their home stand with a 4 p.m. match against Bemidji State on Saturday, Oct. 22.
