PITTSBURG, KAN. – The University of Sioux Falls (5-3) had a second straight 1-1 day and finished 2-2 at the Gorilla Classic on Sept. 10-11. The Cougars lost to St Mary's (TX), 3-1 (22-25, 20-25, 26-24, 13-25) before rebounding with a 3-0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-15) decision over Northwest Oklahoma State. On Friday, the Cougars lost to Pitt State, 3-2, but had a 3-0 win over Truman State.
After playing in two highly competitive environments, USF Head Volleyball Coach
Dan Mathews likes what he is seeing from his USF squad.
"We happy with a 5-3 record going into NSIC play. We learned what this team is capable of, and we also saw where we need work. We're very excited to continue on our path of growth. I'm certain that we will only raise our competitive level as we improve in training each day," said Mathews, whose squad opens the NSIC season on the road at Minnesota Crookston on Sept. 17 (6 pm) and Bemidji State on Sept. 18 (1 pm).
St. Mary's (TX) 3 USF 1 (22-25, 20-25, 26-24, 13-25)
The Cougars dropped a 3-1 decision to St. Mary's (Texas) by scores of 22-25, 20-25, 26-24, 13-25. USF was outhit, .205 to .104 as the Cougars converted 42 kills on 135 attacks with 28 errors SMU was at .205 with 48 kills on 132 attacks with 21 errors. USF was led by
Averey Yaksich with 10 kills as she reached double digits for a sixth time in seven matches and her 31
st time in her career.
Madison Wassink added eight kills (.261 hitting mark) with four service aces.
Jordyn Hamm had seven kills while
Krista Goerger had four aces and 19 assists.
Marlee Schneider added a career-best 11 assists. USF had 12 service aces which is the second best total of the year.
"We were unable to match St. Mary's offensive production in this match. As a result we were out-hit by over .100 efficiency points. They did a great job creating scoring opportunities through quality first contact. A bright spot for us was Madison (Wassink), who came off the bench to lead us in attacking percentage for the match," said Mathews.
The opening set was controlled by SMU as they led, 18-13. After USF rallied within one, SMU closed the set at 25-22. USF was outhit, .219-to-.129. St. Mary's had 13 kills to 11 for USF, which held the edge in service aces, 3-2, but had seven hitting errors.
In the second set, St. Mary's jumped to a 10-1 lead and despite a USF rally to tie it, earned a 25-20 decision. After trailing 10-1, Goerger had a pair of service aces which help USF go on a 15-5 run and tie the match at 15-15. However, St. Mary's responded with four straight points for a 19-15 advantage. Then, SMU used a 6-5 advantage to close out the set at 25-20. USF was outhit, .194-to-.179. USF had 10 kills on 28 attacks but committed five errors. While USF had six service aces, they failed to record a block.
In the third set, USF jumped to a big advantage before SMU rallied late to tie the match at 24 and then Yaksich's eighth kill of the match and a SMU hitting error gave USF a 26-24 win. The Cougars jumped to a 4-0 lead as
Madison Wassink supplied two kills and SMU had a pair of hitting errors. Then,
Jordan Kuper and Goerger both had kills for a 7-1 lead. With her sixth kill of the match, Wassink helps USF to a 12-7 lead. SMU scored three straight points to cut the lead to 12-10. Two kills and a service ace by Yaksich provided USF with an 18-15 advantage. At 24-19, SMU scored five straight to tie the match before a kill by Yaksich and then a hitting error provided USF with a set at 26-24.
In the final set, SMU jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and built the lead to 18-8. The Cougars couldn't get untracked and fell, 25-13. In that final set, USF had just seven kills on 28 attacks with 11 errors for a negative 0.143 hitting mark.
USF 3 NW Oklahoma State 0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-15)
With a season-high .562 hitting percentage (45K-4E-73A), USF rolled to a 3-0 win over NW Oklahoma State to conclude the tourney and the pre-conference season. USF, which tied a season-best 13 service aces, outscored NW Oklahoma State, 61-23 in points, 45-21 in kills, 13-2 in aces, 37-21 in assists and 34-18 in digs.
Individually, USF was led by Jacobson with a season-best 13 kills and .632 hitting mark. She added three aces and five digs for a team-high 16 points. Yaksich added eight kids and a .538 hitting mark with two aces and six digs. Goerger had three kills, three service aces and 31 assists. Both
Jordyn Hamm and
Jordan Kuper had six kills.
"We finally re-captured some of the spirit we had during our first tournament in Colorado," said Mathews. "Our offensive tempo got back on pace, our defensive effort picked up drastically our service received was much cleaner and we hit some bullets from the serving line. It was a great way to end the preseason," he said.
In the opening set, USF had 16 kills and hit .600 as they rolled to a 25-10 win. USF jumped out to a 10-4 lead and led 12-7 after a kill by Kuper off an assist from Goerger. With a 6-0 run, USF led 19-9 after Albrecht's kill. USF closed the set on a 6-0 run.
USF had another solid hitting performance in the second set as they converted 13 kills on 25 attacks with just one error for a .480 mark. They opened up a 4-1 lead off two aces from Jacobson. Then another 4-1 run pushed the lead to 13-5. After a 5-1 run, USF took an 18-7 lead and closed the set on three straight aces from Jordan Hamm for the 25-15 decision.
USF closed the match by rallying for a third set win at 25-15. The Cougars trailed 6-3 before going on 6-0 run for a 9-6 advantage. NW Oklahoma State tied it at 9-9 and 11-11 before USF closed on a 14-4 run for the win as they hit .609 on 16 kills in 23 attacks and two errors.
Tournament Assessment – Over the course of the four matches, USF was 2-2 and finished with a .239 hitting mark to .131 for opponents. The Cougars averaged 12.13 kills with 182 kills on 465 attempts and 71 errors. USF had 159 assists, including 121 by Goerger, who now has 2,741 career assists and a USF record everytime she competes. Goerger also had a team high eight service aces USF was led by Yaksich with 49 kills on 137 attacks and a .226 hitting mark. With 18 kills today, she has 637 in her career which is just 11 behind Kate Hart (2013-14), 648, for seventh all-time at USF. Jacobson had 34 kills for 2.62 per set and added five service aces as USF had a 35-25 margin on the serve.
TiaRose Nagami led USF with 43 digs (3.31 per set) while Goerger and Jacobson both had 28 and Yaksich, 25. USF finished with 20 blocks and outscored opponents, 237-to-185.
