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Jacks top Gonzaga in five sets
SPOKANE, WA -- South Dakota State got a career-high 20 kills from Kaitlin Klingemann and 21 kills from Kelli Fiegen, and they needed all of them to defeat Gonzaga on Friday at the Gonzaga Tournament in Spokane, Wash.

The Jackrabbits, who improve to 3-2 with the win, came back from an 0-2 set deficit to win by the set scores of 17-25, 22-25, 25-22, 29-27 and 15-13. The Bulldogs fall to 1-3 on the season with the loss.

In addition to the 20-kill performances, the Jacks got 10 kills each from Margit Hansing and Bailey Philippot. Hansing also added a career-high 15 digs for her second career double-double. Fiegen got her 21 kills in 37 swings with just two errors for an impressive .514 hitting percentage. She also added a pair of solo blocks and nine block assists for her second career double-double. Klingemann took 39 swings with six errors for a .359 hitting percentage, and added four block assists and a team-high three services aces.

Shay Birath led the SDSU defense with 20 digs, Lexi Fowler added 11 digs to go with her match-high 39 set assists.

Savannah Blinn led a trio of Bulldogs with double figure kills with 20. Kylie Edinger added 17 and Meredith Crenshaw 16 kills in the loss. Jordan Gasser led the Zags with 23 digs.

After dropping the first two sets, the Jackrabbits led for the majority of the third set, only to see the host Bulldogs battle back to tie the set at 21 and then 22, before the Jacks closed on a 3-0 run to end the set and extend the match.

The fourth set featured 23 tie scores and nine lead changes. Gonzaga failed to capitalize on two match points at 24-23 and 25-24. The Jackrabbits held on, and forced a fifth set when they capitalized on their third chance at set point.

The close play continued into the final set, which saw 10 ties and four lead changes. Trailing 12-11, SDSU got a Kill from Klingemann to tie the set and then went on top for good at 13-12 on a Fiegen kill.

The Jackrabbits return to action on Saturday, when they take on Eastern Washington at 11 a.m. PT, before closing the weekend on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT against UC Riverside.

Courtesy:  South Dakota State University

USD volleyball struggles in sweep by North Dakota
GRAND FORKS, ND -- The USD volleyball started off the UND Classic on Friday with a 3-0 loss to North Dakota, 25-18, 26-24, 25-10.

The Coyotes (3-2) couldn't contain North Dakota attackers Lisa Parlich and Felicia Ulrich. Parlich had 15 kills in 18 attacks while Ulrich had 12 kills in 17 attacks. As a team, North Dakota (2-2) had a 52-25 kill advantage.

Amber Aschoff (Ankeny, Iowa) led the Coyotes with 11 kills, the rest of the Coyotes were contained by the North Dakota defense. Kendall Kritenbrink (Gretna, Neb.), who was second on the team in kills, did not play in the match.

Sophomore libero Riley Haug (Gretna, Neb.) led the Coyotes in digs with seven, while junior Tori Kroll (Germantown, Wis.) notched 20 assists. Sophomore Melissa Firtko (Racine, Wis.) added four blocks to the USD effort.

The Coyotes will be back in action on Saturday when they play Stephen F. Austin at 11 a.m. and Green Bay at 5 p.m. Live stats for those games will be available through www.undsports.com.

Courtesy:  University of South Dakota

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