FARGO, N.D -- The Omaha volleyball team opened a three-match road swing Friday evening, falling 3-0 (19-25, 31-33, 15-25) to North Dakota State at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. The Mavericks are now 6-13 (3-3 Summit League) on the year, while the Bison improve to 13-5 (4-2).
 
Leaders for Omaha
Freshman Bella Sade posted a match-high 12 kills to lead the Mavericks, hitting .292 and adding five digs, a block and an ace. Two Mavericks had double-double performances: senior Sydney O'Shaughnessy with 30 assists and 12 digs and junior Abby Bergsten with 11 kills and a career-high 14 digs. O'Shaughnessy's was her team-leading 10th double-double of the season, while Bergsten's was her second.
 
A shift in the lineup saw sophomore Gessica Gdowski make her first career appearance at libero, and she finished with a team-leading 15 digs alongside three assists and two aces. Sophomore Chloe Dousette chipped in 12 digs and five kills.
 
Leaders for North Dakota State
The Bison were led by 10 kills from Erika Gelzinyte, and Mikaela Purnell finished with a match-high 25 digs. Brianna Rasmusson had a match-leading 35 assists with eight digs, four kills and two blocks.
 
Team Stats
NDSU hit .206 as a team to Omaha's .090 and had a 9-3 blocking advantage.
 
Inside Set 1
Bergsten and Sade accounted for five kills apiece in the opening set, hitting .500 and .571, respectively. NDSU took a 10-5 lead to open the match, but the Mavericks cut it to 11-10 using a 5-1 run with kills from Bergsten and Sade. The Bison responded with a 7-0 run to go up 18-10 and later took their largest lead at 23-14. A kill apiece from Bergsten and Sade, plus a block from the duo, cut it to 23-18, but NDSU finished it off at 25-19.
 
Inside Set 2
Five different Mavericks registered kills to open up the second set, and Omaha built a 7-3 edge before NDSU's first timeout. The Bison then used a 5-0 spurt to erase the Mavericks' lead, tying the set at 9-9. Omaha regained it on back-to-back kills from O'Shaughnessy and Dousette, but NDSU went up 15-13 after a 5-0 run.
 
The set stalled three times up to 19-19, and the Bison brought it to set point at 24-20. The Mavericks then strung together a 4-0 run with two Sade kills, an NDSU attack error and a Bergsten ace to knot the set at 24-all. A back-and-forth battle pushed it to 31-31 on another Sade kill, but the Bison prevailed with a Jessica Jorgensen kill and a Rasmusson block to edge the Mavericks, 33-31.
 
Inside Set 3
NDSU never trailed in game three and assumed an early 12-3 advantage after an 8-0 run. The Bison closed the set with a score of 25-15 to complete the match.
 
Up Next
Omaha continues its road trip with a visit to Oral Roberts on Sunday, Oct. 15. The match is set for 1 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla., and links to live stats and video will be available on OMavs.com.