Box Score Boxscore (PDF/HTML)
BROOKINGS, S.D. – The UNO volleyball team faced its first Summit League foe in a non-conference match on Tuesday night, falling 3-0 (26-24, 25-13, 25-16) at South Dakota State in front of 1,021 fans at Frost Arena. With the loss the Mavericks drop to 1-7 on the year, while SDSU improves to 6-2.
Middle blockers
Lizzy Mach and
Brittany Hanssen, along with junior outside hitter
Natalie Ebke, led the Mavs with seven kills apiece. Mach, a junior from Wahoo, Neb., hit .429 for the night with just one attack error, while Hanssen finished at .222 and chipped in a pair of blocks.
Senior libero
Angie Reicks moved up to third all-time in school history for career digs, totaling 21 digs against the Jackrabbits. Reicks now has 1,613 in her career, just ahead of Amy Gradoville (1987-90), who had 1,604.
South Dakota State was paced by Kelli Fiegen, who hit .471 with nine kills while also adding two blocks. Kelly Herrmann contributed eight kills for the night, and Ellyce Youngren finished with seven kills and no attack errors. The Jackrabbits posted a .320 team attack percentage to UNO's .074, in addition to seven team blocks for the night.
Nebraska Omaha nearly took the opening set, but SDSU squeaked by with a 26-24 decision. With the Jacks up 23-18, UNO went on a 5-0 run to tie it at 23-all behind back-to-back kills from Mach and Hanssen and a service ace by Reicks. Ebke then put the Mavs ahead by one with her kill, but SDSU capitalized on three UNO errors to take the game at 26-24.
The Jackrabbits then came on strong in the second game for a 25-13 win. In set three, Nebraska Omaha kept it close and knotted the score at 14-14, but five straight unanswered scores put the momentum on SDSU's side and pushed the Jackrabbits to a 26-15 win. South Dakota State hit .500 as a team in the final set and earned the match sweep.
Tonight marked the first meeting between the two schools since 2003, when both were members of the North Central Conference. UNO, which is reclassifying to Division I, will begin a full conference schedule in the Summit League beginning in 2012-13.
UNO returns to action Sept. 9-10, traveling to the Premier Volleyball Classic in Denver, Colo. On Friday, the Mavs face Seattle Pacific and Cal Baptist at Noon and 3:30 p.m., respectively, followed by matches against opponents to be determined on Saturday.
