SIOUX FALLS, S-D. – With a block party at the net and another standout effort from its senior class, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (16-11, 11-8 NSIC) earned a 3-0 (25-23, 25-11, 25-10) sweep of Bemidji State on Friday night at the Stewart Center before a large crowd.

The Cougars improved to 11-8 in the NSIC and 16-11 overall with their fifth win in nine matches. It was a fun night for the Cougars as they played before a huge contingent of USF students. As they had a big night across the board. On Saturday, USF will wrap up the regular season with a 4 pm match against Minnesota Crookston on Senior Day. Following the match Saturday, the program will honor it five seniors Krista Goerger, Kenzie Byers, TiaRose Nagami, Averey Yaksich and Marlee Schneider.

"Bemidji State always battles us and we have to be on our best game to defeat them. I am glad we established an early lead and maintained it throughout the match. Our blockers did a phenomenal job scoring at the net and it was fun to see all of our seniors play well in what could be their final weekend of volleyball," said USF Head Coach Dan Mathews.

In the win over Bemidji State, the Cougars hit .350 with 39 kills on 80 attacks and 10 errors. USF, which had a 56-30 total point advantage, had an 11-4 edge in blocks and a 7-0 mark in service aces. USF was led by Yaksich who had a match-high 11 kills on 26 attacks as she hit .231. She now has a school-record 428 kills on the season. Also for USF, freshman middle blockers Jordan Kuper had nine kills on 18 attacks and hit .333 with two block solos and three block assists. Fellow freshman middle blocker Jordyn Hamm registered six kills on 10 attacks with a .600 hitting mark.

Another senior with a big contribution was senior Kenzie Byers with four kills on seven attacks for a .429 hitting mark. Sophomore Nicole Jacobson also was stellar with seven kills on 12 attacks and a .500 hitting mark while recording 13 digs. Senior Krista Goerger had 33 set assists and four block assists. With those 33 assists, Goerger surpassed 1,000 for the season at 1,021. She is the first player in school history to surpass 1K in assists twice and is just 12 away from moving into third. Goerger has the second highest total of 1,057 assists in 2018.

Scoring Summary --
In a closely contested, back and forth set one, the Cougars took a 25-23 decision. Early in set one, Yaksich had three kills as the Cougars jumped to 12-8 lead.  However, BSU had a 7-3 run to draw even at 15-15 with USF. Then, Jacobson followed a service error with a kill and Jordan Kuper hammered home her kill for an 18-15 lead. The Cougars hit .194 with 13 kills on 36 attacks and had five blocks and two service aces.

In set two, the Cougars led 9-5 early and then finished on a 16-6 run to win, 25-11. The Cougars registered a .400 hitting mark while registering 11 kills with four blocks and four service aces.  

With a block assist from Goerger and Jordyn Hamm, the Cougars open the third set with a 7-2 advantage.  After a Kenzie Byers kills, the Cougars took a 13-6 advantage. Another Kuper kill helped USF take a 16-7 advantage and the Cougars cruised to a 25-10 win and the match.