GRAND FORKS, ND --The Denver volleyball team defeated the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in five sets (25-17, 21-25, 36-38, 25-12, 15-10) Thursday at Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.

The win improved Denver's record to 8-9 overall and 7-2 in Summit League play.

The Pioneers offense was paced by Cassie Davis, who finished with a career-high 22 kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .309. Cadi Boyer added 12 and Molly Mirabelli chipped in with 10 as part of balanced Denver attack. Defensively, the Pios had four players reach double figures in digs, highlighted by Gianna Bartalo's 21, 14 from Briley Decker, and 13 more from Ryen Wilkens. From the front row, Boyer contributed eight blocks and Davis added six rejections.

The match was headlined by a record-breaking second set that ended in a 38-36 victory for the Fighting Hawks. The match breaks the record for the longest single set previously set by WIU in a 33-35 loss to South Dakota State. 

"Tonight was a great test for us and a great test character-wise," coach Megan Pendergast said. "I'm really proud of this group's resiliency, I'm really proud of how steady we stayed after a really long third set. Davis and Decker were fantastic tonight, Gianna was fantastic, Cadi was really solid blocking and attacking. All in all a really great night for us."

Game Notes

» Denver had three players in double figures in kills.
» Denver had four players in double figures in digs.
» Briley Decker had a team-high two aces in the win.
» Denver never trailed on the way to winning the fourth set 15-10.
» Cassie Davis had a career-high 22 kills for Denver.
» Denver got a team-high 21 digs from Gianna Bartalo.
» Denver attackers were helped by a match-high 47 assists from Briley Decker.

How It Happened

SET 1 | The Pioneers took control of the set-one lead at 2-1 and never trailed to win 25-17. Denver led by nine points at 13-4 before finishing off the set.

SET 2 | Denver then lost set two 25-21, tying the match at a set apiece. North Dakota grabbed the advantage for good at 8-7 in a set that was knotted up four times before the Fighting Hawks took over the lead.

SET 3 | Denver then dropped their second set in a row, falling behind in the match two sets to one. The Pioneers couldn't hang on in a back-and-forth battle, losing 38-36 in a set that featured 11 lead changes and was tied 25 times. Neither team had a lead of more than four points along the way.

SET 4 | Denver broke their two set losing streak and forced a fifth set with a 25-12 victory in set number four. The Pioneers grabbed control of the set at 3-2 and never looked back. Denver ended the stanza on a high note by opening up its biggest lead, 13 points, to close out the set. Denver also supplemented their offense with three aces in the set.

SET 5 | Denver rebounded from a 2-1 set deficit to take two straight sets, culminating in a 15-10 fifth-set victory, and lock down the 3-2 win. The Pioneers led from the first point on in set five to earn the victory. Denver ended on a high note, opening its biggest lead of the stanza, five points, to close out the set. got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked four North Dakota attacks in the stanza.

This article created using technology provided by Data Skrive.