NDSU Salvages Road Split With 3-1 Win at Western Illinois

MACOMB, Ill. - Brynn Joki and Megan Lambertson had 14 kills apiece to lead North Dakota State to a 25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 25-19 win over Western Illinois in Summit League women's volleyball Saturday, Oct. 20.

Danielle Dombeck got her second straight double-double with a career-high 11 kills and 10 digs for NDSU, which upped its record to 10-13 overall and is part of a three-way tie for fourth place at 6-5 in The Summit League with a split of its two-match road trip.

Samantha Fournier had 16 kills and Mallory Gibson made nine blocks including five solo stops for Western Illinois.  The Fighting Leathernecks fell to 9-14 overall and 3-9 in the league.

NDSU trailed by seven late in the first set but closed on an 11-1 run.  It was 22-19 before Lambertson had a pair of kills to tie it, Joki had two kills out of a Western Illinois timeout to make it 24-22, and the Leathernecks made their only two attacking errors of the set during NDSU's six-point run.

The Bison opened up a 5-1 lead in the second set and never trailed.  NDSU led by as many as six points, but it was 22-20 before Joki and Lambertson had back-to-back kills to reach set point.  Lambertson hit .600 with six kills and no errors in the second set.

NDSU never recovered from a 4-1 deficit in the third set.  Western Illinois led by as many as nine at 19-10 before a four-point NDSU run, and the Bison closed within 21-17 on a Joki kill and Lambertson ace to force a Leatherneck timeout.

Kills from Catherine Yager and Carissa Whalen broke a 16-16 tie in the fourth set and sparked a 7-1 Bison run to put the match away.  Western Illinois hit -.027 with seven kills and eight attacking errors in the fourth set.

Yager completed her seventh double-double of the year with 48 assists and 10 digs as the Bison outhit Western Illinois by a .242 to .190 margin.  NDSU libero Andrea Henning made 17 digs.

North Dakota State is scheduled to host league-leading Fort Wayne at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, and fourth-place Oakland at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27.