Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
North Dakota
Wildcat volleyball falls to North Dakota in four
11/3/2013 3:33:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
OGDEN, Utah – The Wildcats put up a valiant effort against the Big Sky's best on Saturday, but it wasn't quite enough.
Despite a 14-kill, nine-dig night from junior outside hitter Audrey Biggs, the Weber State University women's volleyball team had its two-match winning streak snapped with a 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16 setback to Big Sky Conference-leading North Dakota at Swenson Gym.
Sophomore outside hitter Rebecca Fuchs added 12 kills, seven digs and a trio of service aces for the Wildcats, who fell to 3-11 in Big Sky play (7-21 overall).
Sophomore setters Samantha Staker and Whitney Hunt had 21 and 19 assists, respectively, while junior libero McKay Tarbox added 15 digs.
North Dakota (13-1 Big Sky, 18-8 overall) was led by Anna Pioske's 21 kills.
The match was fairly even in most offensive categories, with UND coming out with a strong blocking performance that was the ultimate difference in the tight match. North Dakota finished with 16 team blocks, with three players recording at least five – led by Ronni Minkeby's eight block night.
North Dakota opened up early leads in the first two sets and never trailed in either en route to taking a 2-0 advantage in the match. Weber State fought back in the third set, taking an early 4-3 lead and holding the advantage to the finish line to make it 2-1.
After battling close early in the fourth set, North Dakota slowly edged ahead from a slim 13-11 lead to a 21-12 advantage before closing it out.
Weber State will return to action this weekend on the road when it travels to Montana State on Friday and then faces Montana on Nov. 9.
