SIOUX FALLS - Continuing to pull away in the conference standings, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball downed Bemidji State, 3-1 (25-21, 27-25, 22-25, 25-18), on Saturday evening. The Cougars push their record to 14-8 overall with an 8-6 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
 
Sioux Falls was sluggish out of the gate and used several late runs to avoid dropping sets to Bemidji State, but the steady offense of USF's middle blockers Jordan Calef and Lexi Scott and outside hitter Makenna Rockeman carried the Cougars. Rockeman tied BSU's Jessica Yost for the match-high with 19 kills while Calef and Scott both had 14 kills and attack percentages above .350.
 
As a team, the Cougars hit .254, but their defense limited BSU to a .220 mark. Abby Folk tied a season-high with a match-high 20 digs on Saturday and Rockeman claimed her fifth double-double of the season, adding 10 digs to her 19 kills.
 
It was an offensive start for both teams in the opening set as USF posted 14 kills with a .323 attack percentage and Bemidji State tallied 12 kills at a .290 clip. The Cougars held an early lead but BSU wouldn't roll over. Calef and Scott helped the Cougars build a three point advantage at 15-12, but Yost and Amanda Tronick, who finished with 14 kills herself, helped the Beavers gnaw back and take a lead at 21-20. Once a service error provided the sideout for USF to serve, Rockeman connected on two aces and a kill to close out the set, 25-21.
 
In the second set, the Cougars needed multiple comebacks to pull ahead 2-0 in the match. After pulling ahead 10-9, The Cougars dropped the next six points, but quickly erased that deficit with Calef registering three kills and Bria Barfnecht adding two to give the Cougars a lead at 20-19.
 
However, BSU reeled off three straight then the Cougars responded with a 3-0 run of their own. Scott followed a kill by Yost to give USf their first crack at a set point, up 24-23, but the Bemidji State fought it off with a kill and earned their own set point opportunity after a USF error. Rockeman made sure the Cougars would take a 2-0 lead into the intermission, drilling two kills for USF's second set point chance and Folk delivered an ace for the 27-25 win.
 
The Cougars figured to return from the intermission and finish with their second straight sweep, but Bemidji State battled to a 25-22 set victory, forcing a fourth set. USF built a 6-2 lead before the Beavers went on a 13-4 run to take control of the set. The Cougars clawed their way back to a one-point deficit at 22-21, but it was too late and BSU closed it out 25-22.
 
Much like their non-conference victory over Bemidji State, USF dropped a set before responding in a big way. After the third-set loss, the Cougars tightened up their defense and secured the needed victory. Sydney Schaap handed out 49 assists, but it was two blocks early in the fourth set that helped the Cougars build a lead. Schaap was great all weekend, and she added four more service aces, picked up five digs and posted five more blocks on Saturday.
 
USF jumped out to a 9-2 lead and stretched it to 12-4 after a Calef kill and two bad sets by BSU. Scott added a kill and Rockeman notched her final termination of the night as the Cougars pushed ahead to 20-11. Calef started the final run for USF with a kill then a block with Barfnecht, and Scott put the finishing touches on the victory with two kills for a 25-18 win.

The Cougars now hit the road for four consecutive matches beginning at St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 28 and 29, respectively.