@UNCBearsVB defeat Rattlers; Els & O'Neil earn All-Classic honors

Saturday, September 2

Fargo, N.D.

11am

University of Northern Colorado

2-4

Florida A&M University

1-5

Florida A&M

Northern Colorado

Photo by: Dean Popejoy

9/2/2017 7:54:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Northern Colorado goes 2-1 at the NDSU Classic

By: Matthew Kushar, UNCBears.com

FARGO, N.D. - After splitting matches on Friday, Northern Colorado volleyball won their final matchup in the NDSU Classic against Florida A&M.

UNC (2-4) defeated Florida A&M (1-5) in four sets and ended its first road trip of the season on high note.

The Bears looked to rebound after losing to North Dakota State the night before and came out focused in the first set. Emily O'Neil established herself early with a block and a kill to give the Bears a 6-4 lead. O'Neil's play was complemented by Kortney Lockey who drove in five, first-set kills. UNC used a 11-2 run for a 21-11 lead that put them in control against FAMU. A 25-14 victory gave the Bears a 1-0 lead in the match

The match turned into a tight contest in the second set as the two teams exchanged points through out the set. FAMU used a 6-0 run to get a 23-18 lead with kills from Nicole Abreu and Maria Yvette Garcia. Although the Bears were down late, the team battled back with a kill from O'Neil and a service ace from Ryleigh Haynes to cut the lead to one at 23-22. The Rattlers, however, would hold on for a 25-22 victory and tie the match at one.

FAMU carried over the momentum from set two and jumped out to a 6-3 lead and looked poised to take control of the match. However, the Bears front row defense had other ideas in the third set. O'Neil, Lockey, and Alex Kloehn all recorded multiple blocks in the set and the team had a 20-16 advantage late. The Rattlers had a late run in them and took a 22-21 lead, again powered by Abreu and Garcia. The Bears showed its resilience in the second set and they channeled it during the third. UNC won the set 25-22 on a pair of kills from Haynes to seal the set win and a 2-1 lead overall.

Northern Colorado was not thinking about playing a fifth set to end their road trip. Kloehn opened the set with a kill and a block to give the Bears momentum. The whole front row for UNC pressured the Rattlers from the beginning. Along with Kloehn, O'Neil and Lockey maintained their aggressiveness and Kim Weissmann came up with key kills to keep the team in front. Taylor Els put an exclamation point on her outstanding tournament by winning the match on a service ace.

Head coach Lyndsey Oates already sees the difference in her team from last night, "This was a good growth match for us. I thought we took steps forward in key areas." UNC hit .247 for the match and held FAMU to a .129 percentage.

Key Difference
The front row for Northern Colorado was the difference as the Bears recorded 11 blocks in the match and the Rattlers recorded zero. "Our middle stood well again and we managed a little better from our pin hitters."

Player Focus
Kortney Lockey was everywhere on Saturday morning, recording her first double-double of the season with 13 kills and 11 digs. She also added four blocks to her stat line. Emily O'Neil was not far away from a double-double with 10 kills and seven blocks. Kim Weissmann also tallied 10 kills and Ryleigh Haynes had a match-high 42 assists. Taylor Els set a career-high with four service aces and added a match-high 20 digs. North Dakota State's Brianna Rasmussen was named MVP and fellow Bison Emily Halverson and Erika Gelzinyte were all named to the All-Classic team. Florida A&M's Nicole Abreu and San Francisco's Nora Buvarp-Lavik round out the All-Classic team.

All-Classic Team
Emily O'Neil and Taylor Els were both selected to the All-Classic Team after the last match on Saturday night. O'Neil had 28 kills and hit .453, with 15 blocks over three matches. Els recorded 43 digs and 6 service aces during the tournament.

Final thoughts
"[The match] still highlighted a few things to work on. We have to limit our service errors and stay consistent on our serve receive. But I think we handled those errors better today."-Coach Oates