Box Score

FARGO, N.D. -- Playing their first match away from The Jungle in nearly four weeks, the IUPUI volleyball team came out of the gate sluggish and struggled to recover, falling 3-0 to North Dakota State in front of 1,153 at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse on Friday night.

IUPUI (10-3, 3-1 Summit) struggled on their attack for much of the evening, hitting .111 for the match, while North Dakota State (9-2, 5-0 Summit) hit .292 on the night.  

Lindsey Weber led the Jaguars with 9 kills on the night, while Danielle Goodnight posted a double-double with 23 assists and a team-high 12 digs in the 10-25, 11-25, 27-29 defeat.

The Bison jumped all over the Jags in the opening set, taking a quick 7-2 lead to force IUPUI into a quick timeout.  While the 75-second break helped the Jags catch their breath in the electric atmosphere of the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, North Dakota State was able to stretch their lead to 10 at 18-8 after a block by Jennifer Lopez and Chrissy Knuth.

NDSU cruised to the set win from there, picking up seven of the final nine points in the set.

The Jaguars mixed up the starting lineup in the second set, but unfortunately, the results were similar, with the Bison jumping out to a quick 9-3 lead and forcing IUPUI into a timeout.  Another NDSU run pushed their lead to 11, causing the Jags to burn their final timeout of the set.

After the second break, IUPUI played the Bison even, with the teams trading points to the end of the set.

The momentum from the end of the second set may not have helped the Jaguars initially in the beginning of the third set, but they did play NDSU tougher.  Once again, the Bison jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead, forcing the Jaguars into a timeout.

However, after that break, IUPUI rallied to get back into the set, coming within a single point on one occasion in the middle of the set.  A Monica Suding kill brought the Jaguars to 11-10, while a block by Suding and Goodnight made it a 19-17 set and forced NDSU to burn their first timeout of the set.

The break did nothing to slow the Jags' momentum, as kills from Weber, Suding and Dana Gardner turned a two-point deficit into a 24-23 lead for IUPUI, giving the Jaguars set point.  Though the Bison knotted the set at 24, the Jags gained another set point at 26-25 when a NDSU attack error gave IUPUI the opportunity.

Unfortunately for the Jaguars, the Bison tied the set on a Lauren McLaughlin kill; a service ace gave the Bison the lead at 27-26 and they went on to claim the match victory three points later.

The Jaguars will look to split their weekend in the Dakotas when they travel south on I-29 to Brookings, S.D., for a match with South Dakota State on Saturday.  The match will begin at 7 p.m. CT.