Western Illinois Turns Back North Dakota State in Home Opener, 3-2

FARGO, N.D. - Samantha Fournier had 17 kills and Bridget Murphy made 32 digs to lead Western Illinois to a 19-25, 25-16, 25-15, 23-25, 15-8 win over North Dakota State in Summit League women's volleyball Friday, Sept. 21.

Setter Sarah Fetter added 48 assists and 17 digs for the Fighting Leathernecks, who evened their record at 7-7 overall and 2-2 in The Summit League.  North Dakota State fell to 4-9 overall and 1-2 in the league.

A crowd of 1,173 at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse for the NDSU home opener watched the Bison lose to a league opponent at the BBF for only the third time since 2007.

Western Illinois outhit North Dakota State .242 to .167 and outdug the Bison by an 85-73 margin.  The Fighting Leathernecks had a 6-5 edge in total blocks.

NDSU middle hitters Megan Lambertson and Carissa Whalen combined for 32 kills.  Lambertson hit .463 with 21 kills and only two errors, and Whalen hit .364 with 11 kills.

The Bison scored on 17 kills and hit .389 as a team in the first set, but Western Illinois seized the momentum in the second set.  NDSU made four errors on a 7-0 run and the Leathernecks scored six of the final seven points to even the match 1-1 at intermission.

Western Illinois closed out the third set on a 10-2 run and threatened to end the match in four sets.  Catherine Yager's kill tied the fourth set at 21, Lambertson put the Bison ahead 24-23 with a kill, and a Western Illinois error forced a fifth set.

The Leathernecks took advantage of three NDSU errors to go ahead 4-0 in the fifth and never trailed the rest of the way.

Libero Andrea Henning made a team-high 23 digs and Lauren Cammack had 13 for the Bison.  Yager finished with 45 assists and nine digs.

Ann Miller had 15 kills and Katie Hosteng added 11 for the Leathernecks.

North Dakota State hosts IUPUI at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22.  The Jaguars are 9-6 overall and 3-1 in the league after a five-set win at South Dakota State Friday night.