Mixed results for @UNCBearsVB on Friday in Fargo

Friday, September 1

Fargo, N.D.

11am

University of Northern Colorado

1-3

University of San Francisco

1-4

San Francisco

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

9/1/2017 8:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

UNC swept the first match of the day, before being swept

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

FARGO, N.D. – Northern Colorado (1-4) volleyball went 1-1 on Friday after sweeping San Francisco University and than were swept themselves by North Dakota State University.

Sweeping the Dons
The Bears earned their first victory of the season after sweeping the San Francisco Dons (1-4) on Friday morning.

Northern Colorado established its presence at the net immediately with kills from Emily O'Neil and Sarah Wyland for a 3-0 lead. The two teams exchanged points, with San Francisco taking a small 9-7 lead over the Bears. UNC would take the lead back with two more kills from O'Neil and a serving error on USF. The set stayed close until back-to-back kills from freshman Taylor Muff gave the Bears a 17-13 advantage. Her five kills in the first would only be part of Muff's impressive performance for the match. UNC would win the first set 25-20 on back-to-back kills from Ryleigh Haynes.

It was all Northern Colorado in the second set and the team started out on a 7-2 run, with kills from Muff, O'Neil, and Kim Weissmann. With the Bears leading 9-4, Muff had an incredible sequence that put the Dons away early. Muff recorded three-straight kills and a block assist to give the Bears a 14-4 lead. UNC would coast to a 25-14 set win and go up 2-0 on USF.

The third set remained tight with seven lead changes and neither team was able to separate from the other. Northern Colorado finally did get some breathing room near the end of the match and held a 23-20 lead after two kills from Muff. The team held on for a 25-21 win and sweeping the Dons off the court.
Northern Colorado put together strong offensive and defensive performances on Friday morning. UNC hit a season-best .437 attack percentage and held USF to .179, a season best for the Bears defense.

Freshman Impact
Taylor Muff gave her best performance in her young career, after recording 14 kills with a .407 attack percentage and three total blocks. The other freshman Bears also had their presence felt in the match as Daisy Schultz recorded a new career high with 19 assists. Jadyn McCartney and Kaitlyn Detlefsen both scored their first kills as Bears with McCartney finishing with four and Detlefsen finishing with two.

Head Coach Lyndsey Oates-On team efficiency
"I thought Taylor Els had a good match for us defensively and passing. She was really a stabilizer on the court for us. Taylor was the one able to keep us consistent with all of the different lineups. We played a lot of people and everyone went in and contributed. Other than our serving errors, we played efficiently."

-On Muff's match
"We wanted to set our eight side a lot. I thought Taylor Muff handled that very well. She scored efficiently and made good decisions. She had a good match and it's a part of her growth as a freshman."

The Bison defend their home court

UNC could not carry over the momentum from its match against USF and was swept by North Dakota State (1-2).

The match started out well for the Bears and the team used kills from Alex Kloehn and Emily O'Neil to get an early 6-4 lead. The two teams tied 13 times and had six lead changes in the first. Bison outside hitter Erika Gelzinyte powered the team to take a 19-17 lead late in the set. NDSU would push the Bears to the brink with a 24-19 lead, but UNC responded with a 4-0 run on a service ace from O'Neil and a Taylor Muff kill. The rally would fall short and the Bison won the set 25-23 to go up 1-0 in the match.

The second set followed the same pattern as the first, with the Bears starting out with an early lead. UNC and NDSU would go back-and-fourth just as they had in the first. Kloehn stepped up with two big blocks and two kills. Kortney Lockey was more aggressive with her attack and added her own pair of kills. NDSU, however, would again pull away late and take a 20-16 lead before the Bears pulled them back with a 4-1 run to leave the score at 21-20. Kills from Gelzinyte and Allie Mauch would give the Bison the 25-21 set victory and a 2-0 lead.

Unfortunately for UNC, the third set did not follow the pattern and NDSU built an early lead and that they never relinquished. Mauch continued to power the Bison and they established a 16-9 lead. Kim Weissmann would knock in two kills to bring the score to a more manageable 14-19 deficit. NDSU would not collapse however and they completed the sweep with a 25-18 set victory.

Offense was not at a premium on Friday night for either team as they both hit below .100, with UNC at .092 and NDSU at .095.

Player Focus
Alex Kloehn had a good game in the loss with nine kills and a .304 attack percentage. She also added five blocks. Taylor Els recorded 17 digs and two service aces on the back row. Emily O'Neil had another good game with seven kills and four blocks.

Reoccurring issue
Northern Colorado continued to have issues at the serving line with 12 serving errors from seven different players. Head Coach Lyndsey Oates discussed this issue, "We have to start with first contact. 21 points on passing and serving isn't good enough. We shot ourselves in the foot with service errors. That made it difficult to get anything going on our side of the net." The Bears did however record a season-high six serving aces so there is progress being made.

Moving Forward
"I'm not sure if we've found our team identity yet and so were working through some tough issues. We will get better because of this match. Give credit to NDSU; they're a good defensive team. Their libero's digs slowed down our left side attack."-Coach Oates

No time off
The Bears will be back on the court in Bentson Bunker Field house tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.