BISMARCK, N.D. - Notching their second straight league victory, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball shook off a first-set loss to defeat University of Mary, 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19), on Saturday night. The Cougars improve their overall record to 8-5 with a 2-3 mark in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
 
After a slow start to the match on offense, USF's sophomore duo of Makenna Rockeman and Lexi Scott led the Cougars to a four-set win. Rockeman posted 18 kills and Scott added 11 with setter Sydney Schaap dishing out 37 assists to pace the Sioux Falls attack.
 
The defense was stellar in both phases as the front line combined for 14 total blocks, including two solo stuffs from Scott while Schaap and Jordan Calef each added a solo block and five block assists. Abby Folk led the USF back row with 15 digs and Kelli Holloway posted 10 as the two facets of the Cougar defense held U-Mary (7-7, 2-3 NSIC) to a .118 attack percentage on the night.
 
USF managed just seven kills in the first set and fell behind U-Mary 1-0 in the match with a 25-21 defeat. The Cougars bounced back quickly to tie the match entering the intermission with a 25-23 win in the second set.
 
After an 18-18 tie in the first set, U-Mary pulled away behind Thayna Silva, who finished with 11 kills for the Marauders. To start the second set, USF steadily built a lead kills from four different Cougars, and they held a 13-8 advantage. The Marauders would claw their way back to tie the set at 19-all and again a 20-20, but Schaap sent abck a U-Mary attack on her own then teamed up with Scott for another block to give the Cougars a three point lead. After two kills from U-Mary, Rockeman put the finishing touches on the set win, drilling kills for a 25-23 win.
 
In the key third set, each team went on a substantial run and extra points were needed as the Cougars held off the Marauder comeback with a 27-25 victory and a 2-1 lead in the match. Sioux Falls trailed at 7-6 before Scott, Schaap, Aubrey Milne, and Rockeman sparked a 5-0 run with a quartet of kills to force a U-Mary timeout.
 
The stoppage in play wouldn't slow down the Cougars as Rockeman tacked on four more kills to continue what would end up as a 14-3 run and a 20-10 USF lead. USF succumbed to numerous errors and UM's Lauren Randall connected on five of her match-high 20 kills to help the Marauders fight off three set points and earn one of their own. Schaap and Scott thwarted U-Mary's chance to take the third set with another block, stuffing Randall's attempt at her eighth kill in the third frame. After a U-Mary error, Rockeman again stepped up and converted USF's fourth set point effort with a  kill to the 27-25 victory.
 
After stealing back the crucial third set, Sioux Falls would close the match with a steady offensive effort and a 25-19 win in the fourth. Scott connected on consecutive kills to bring USF into a tie at 8-8 then she added another to spark a 4-0 run that culminated in a 12-10 USF lead after one of her two solo blocks. From that point, USF would never trail despite U-Mary tying the score twice.
 
Calef broke the first tie with a kill then combined with KaSandra Springer for a block to snap the second tie. Springer added a kill as the Cougars began to pull away and Scott connected on her 11th termination to force UM into their final timeout. Rockeman set the Cougars up with match point after her 18th kill and Calef shut the door on U-Mary with her solo block for the 25-19 win.
 
Sioux Falls now returns home to host MSU Moorhead and Northern State on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, respectively.