SIOUX FALLS – Averey Yaksich had 19 kills and hit .432 to lead the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-12) sweep of the University of Mary on Friday night at the Stewart Center. Tonight, senior setter Krista Goerger had 39 assists which pushed her career total over 3,000 (3,008), which is a mark no previous USF setter has reached.

USF, which defeated U-Mary for a seventh straight time, earned a third straight win on the season as they improved to 10-6 overall and 5-3 in NSIC play. Yaksich, who ranks third in NCAA DII and first in the NSIC with 262 kills, had her sixth double double of the season, including in each of the past three matches. Yaksich, who is approaching 800 career kills (781), finished with 13 digs.

As a team, USF hit .357 with 51 kills on 112 attacks with just 11 errors. USF also had six total blocks, 61 digs, 47 assists. Aside from Yaksich, freshman Jordan Kuper had 11 kills on 22 attacks for a .455 hitting mark. She now has double-digit kills in five straight matches and tonight added three block assists.

"Mary is a team that is a lot better than their record. No win in the NSIC comes easy and this was no exception," said USF Head Coach Dan Matthews. "I was impressed by their tenacity on defense. Ultimately, being disciplined in our system earned us the points to provide us with a victory," he said.

Early on USF was in a close first set as the teams traded points before the Cougars scored four straight, including kills by Yaksich and Nicole Jacobson, who had nine on the night, provided a 13-9 lead. After a time out, U-Mary, which hit .116 in the opening set on 10 kills, rallied to tie USF at 13-13. Two kills by Jacobson enabled USF to take a 20-18 lead and a kill from Yaksich gave USF a 25-22 win. The Cougars hit .293 in the set with 18 kills on 41 attempts and was 15-of-22 on side-outs.

In the second set, the Marauders took a 12-11 lead when Ellis Nehkyah, who led the team with 10 kills, converted at the net for a 12-11 lead. But, USF battled back and had an 11-4 run to take control with a 22-15 advantage. From there, USF closed the set with a 25-18 win on a Jacobson kills. In the second set, USF had a .250 hitting mark on 15 kills in 44 attacks. U-Mary was at .095 hitting with 10 kills on 42 attacks.

At the end of the second set and throughout the third set, USF was in firm control with a run of 39-to-18. In the final set, USF hit .630 with 18 kills on 27 attacks and just one error on their way to a 25-12 decision. U-Mary hit .226 with 10 kills on 31 attacks but the momentum favored USF which picked up its 11th match win in 12 matches since 2012 when the Cougars began to play in the NSIC.

"What separated us down the stretch was a couple of big offensive runs by Averey Yaksich and Jordan Kuper which was made possible by an improved defensive effort from our back row defenders," said Matthews, whose team will face Minot State at 2 pm on Saturday afternoon at the Stewart Center. "It is wonderful to string wins together but the level of the NSIC demands that we focus on the match just ahead of us and that we stay rooted in who we are," he said.