Saint Mary's Spoils @UNCBearsVB Home Opener

Friday, August 26

Greeley, Colo.

7:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

0-1

Saint Mary's

1-0

Saint Mary's

Northern Colorado

8/26/2016 10:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Saint Mary's spoiled UNC's home opener with a 3-1 win

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado volleyball opened its 2016 season at home Friday night against the Saint Mary's Gaels, dropping the match 3-1.

Box Score

How It Happened

(8/26/2016) Volleyball vs Saint Mary's 8/26/16

UNC started the match fast, going up on SMC 8-1 as the Gales battled early errors during the set. The Bears held at least a six point cushion between them and Saint Mary's all the way through on the way to a 25-17 set win. During the set the Gales hit -.105 with 12 attack errors.

Northern Colorado took an early 5-3 lead in the second set, before all of the momentum shifted Saint Mary's way. With Lindsey Knudsen toeing the service line, Saint Mary's went on a 14-0 run to take control of the set. Knudsen had two serving aces during the run, while the team added in seven kills winning the set 25-12.

Following the intermission, both teams came out focused in the third set splitting the first 24 points.
SMC used a 7-2 run to break away from the Bears and take the set 25-17.

In the fourth set, the teams once again traded early points, trying to find an edge. It was Saint Mary's who once again was able to string together a run, this time a 6-0 one to go up 20-14 on the Bears. That run ended up being the deciding factor as the Gaels sealed the victory over UNC with a 25-17 fourth set win.

Game Changer
After taking advantage of Saint Mary's errors in the first set and gaining momentum, Northern Colorado looked to be in good shape when up 5-3 early in the second set. That's when SMC outside hitter Lindsey Knudsen stepped to the service line and led the charge of a Gaels 14-0 run. For the match, Knudsen finished with 11 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and two serving aces. Both aces came during the run.

Key Stat
Lyndsey Oates mentioned the importance of serving during the early part of the season, and it showed on Friday night. Saint Mary's served tough and accumulated seven aces to UNC's one.

Notables
- While most of the Bears offense struggled on Friday night, Alex Kloehn had a solid outing for the team. She led UNC in kills with 12 and attack percentage at .417.
- Following the first set, Northern Colorado hit below .100 for the remainder of the match. Overall, the team hit .083 with 25 attack errors.
- Senior setter Ashley Guthrie is one for one in the double-double department for 2016. She finished the night with 28 assists and 13 digs.

In Their Words

Head coach Lyndsey Oates

On the key factors in the game:
"I thought the biggest factor tonight was they ball controlled better than we did. What I mean by that is they were able to handle those chaos ball that were out of system and tough to handle. You expect to see those early on in the year, so whichever team handles that better is going to usually end up winning the match. You saw that happen tonight. They were high error in the first set, but after that they settled down and I thought that was the biggest factor."

About what the team is to expect tomorrow and how they have to respond:
"North Dakota State will be a different team than what we saw tonight. They do not run as fast of sets, they are very good up the middle. They are another team we are going to face, but run a very different style than what we saw tonight."

"There is not going to be a practice between today and tomorrow, so it's going to be more about an attitude check for us and how we respond after tonight."

Ashley Guthrie

On the difference between the first set and rest of the match:
"They stopped making errors. They didn't make a lot of adjustments, they were just playing good volleyball against us. Number 17 (Knudsen) had that big serving run during the second set and we just didn't respond well to it. I think the biggest factor was that the six of us on the court didn't make the adjustments we needed to when they would keep balls in play."

What's Next?
The Bears will have to shake off the loss quickly as they prepare for the second match of the season Saturday night against North Dakota State. Both UNC and NDSU will be seeking their first win of the season after Colorado State swept the Bison Friday. First serve for the match is set for 7 pm.

Saturday's match is the first Camper Reunion Night for Bears volleyball. All campers from this summer's volleyball camps will receive free admission to the match when they present the vouchered emailed to them. Tickets for the match can be purchased here.