Offense powers UND volleyball to 3-2 win over West Virginia

GRAND FORKS — UND volleyball dominated the fourth and fifth sets en route to a 3-2 win over West Virginia Sunday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (25-20, 22-25, 23-25, 25-16, 15-8).

The win marks UND’s first victory over a Power 4 opponent since 2017. The Fighting Hawks beat Ole Miss in five sets on Aug. 25 of that year at the Rebel Invitational in Oxford, Miss.

The Hawks hit .419 in the first set to take an early lead. The hitting percentage dropped in the second and third, though UND was able to keep the score close.

UND (3-3) then hit .370 in the fourth and .261 in the fifth to win the sets by 9 and 7 points, respectively.

All told, the Hawks hit .289 in the win and only committed 12 attack errors.

The offensive success was UND’s best this season behind the .331 effort in a 3-1 win over Tulane.

UND was led offensively by Paige Barber with 14 kills and Katy Riviere, who ended with 13. Jarolin de los Santos Lugo, Lauren Perugini and Cala Cooper each added seven kills. De los Santos Lugo hit a career-high .583 in the win.

The Hawks also turned in another double-digit block performance, the fourth time in six games UND has ended with 10 or more total blocks. UND totaled 12 blocks to the Mountaineers’ 2.

Vanessa Washington led the way with eight blocks. De los Santos Lugo and Cooper each added four.

West Virginia, who leaves North Dakota with a 3-3 record, hit just .195 in the game. Cassidy Tanton hit a game-high 22 kills and Maddy McGath ended with 15 kills.

The Mountaineers went 1-2 in the tournament, their lone win coming at North Dakota State on Friday.

UND returns to the court at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12 against Belmont in the opening game of the UND Classic.