GOLDEN, COLO. – With a program DII school game mark of 30 kills, senior Averey Yaksich helped lead the University of Sioux Falls (1-1) to a season opening 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 20-25, 15-12) victory against Grand Valley State at the Oredigger Classic at the University of Colorado Mines. The Cougars split on the day after falling to Colorado Mesa, 3-0, in the second match of the day.

But the day opened nicely for USF and Yaksich, who was all-NSIC during the 2018 season. She not only had her best career game with 30 kills on 70 attacks for a .300 hitting mark but is the first in school history in the DII era with 30 kills in a match. In fact, Yaksich had a previous high of 16 kills on three different occasions during 2017 and 2018. Her 70 attacks were also a career high (44 vs Winona State, Nov. 2, 2018) and second in USF's DII era (Emily Johnson, 1^st, 74, Oct. 20, 2014 vs Northern State).

In leading USF to the season-opening win, she also had a service ace and 10 digs as they collected a double double.  USF also had 12 kills on 24 attacks for a .417 hitting mark by freshman Jordyn Kuper while senior Krista Goerger had six kills on nine attacks and had 48 assists with 12 digs. Nicole Jacobson also had a solid performance against GVSU with nine kills, four service aces and eight digs. TiaRose Nagami added a team-high 21 digs as the Cougars had 73 for the game. USF was also bolstered by a serve game that included eight service aces.

"We got off to a really strong 2-0 start against Grand Valley State University.  I was proud of the way our team stepped onto the court with poise and focus," said Mathews, noting the history-making performance of Yaksich, who now has 558 career kills for ninth on the USF career chart (551, Samantha Lovell, 2012-14).

"When GVSU tied the match at 2-2, we maintained our discipline during the long rallies that ultimately decided the outcome.  GVSU is a talented and physical team, but we held the upper hand by staying committed to our system when it mattered most," said Mathews, whose team will play Midwestern State and Colorado Christian on Saturday.

For the match, USF hit at least 41 percent or better in all five sets. The Cougars jumped out to a 2-0 lead by rallying for come-from-behind wins in the opening two sets as a 25-23 win in set one and a 25-23 victory in set two. The Cougars out-hit GVSU, 58 percent (14-of-24) to 54 percent (13-24) in the first set that included three ties and two lead changes. In the second set, both teams were on fire hitting as the team had 15 ties and nine lead changes. The Cougars jumped to an 18-11 lead before GVSU rallied to take a 23-21 lead. Then USF won four straight points to take the win. USF hit 15-of-23 for 65 percent while GVSU was 15-of-25 for 60 percent. In the next two sets, GVSU took a 25-22 and 25-20 decisions as they out hit USF. In the third set GVSU hit 12-of-22 for 54 percent an USF was 12-of-25 for 48 percent. In the fourth set, GVSU hit 52 percent on 11-of-21 hitting with USF just 10-of-24 for 41 percent.

In a highly competitive and back and fourth final set, the Cougars were not going to be denied as USF hit 53 percent in the final set on 7-of-13 hitting while GVSU was at 42 percent at 6-of-14. It was a tight battle as the team traded points with USF take a 6-3 lead before GVSU won five straight points for an 8-6 lead. Then, USF rallied for a 10-9 advantage on a service ace by Jordyn Hamm. After GVSU took a 11-10 lead USF won four of the last five points with a kill by Yaksich off an an assist from Tiarose Nagami and a service ace by Nicole Jacobson closing the match. In the final set, the team battled through nine ties and six lead changes.
 
In the second match of the day, Cougars dropped a 3-0 decision (25-19, 25-19, 25-8) to Colorado Mesa as the Cougars hit just .115.  

The Cougars were led by Yaksich, who had nine skills on 32 attacks with a .094 hitting mark while Jordyn Kuper had seven kills on 18 attacks and hit .167. USF had 22 set assists from Goerger who who had four skills on nine attacks. Tia Rose Nagami led USF with 11 digs and also added two assists.

CMU controlled the match throughout as they hit 43 kills on 91 attacks for a .374 hitting mark. They had three service aces and 37 digs.  In a match with 13 tie scores and seven lead changes through the three sets, CMUhit 65 percent in the opening set on 13 kills in 20 attacks. USF ahad 12 kills on 36 attacks but hit just .167 with six errors. USF had 14 skills o 28 attacks for a .286 hitting mark but CMU was 13-of-19 on kills and attacks for 68 percent. In the final set, USF hit a negative .094 with eight kills on 24 attacks and eight errors.
 
While USF had some problems with attacking errors, Matthews was pleased with his team's effort. "We played as hard as we could against Colorado Mesa, but they simply outplayed us during this match.  They're a good team that passes defends very well, and they can score in the middle as well as the pins," he said. "Even though it was tough, our team never faltered in holding steadfast to our mission: to play the best volleyball we can, no matter the circumstances.  Because of that, I'm as happy about this match," he said.
 
MATCH NOTES - Overall, Yaksich led USF with 41.5 points with 4.88 kills per set on 39 kills in 102 attacks and a .235 hitting percentage. Jordan Kuper had 21 points with 19 kills as USF hit 192 as a team with a 12 kills per set average. USF's senior setter Krista Goerger had 70 assists for the game and now has 2,467, which ranks first all-time.