FARGO, N.D. – The Gaels (1-2) weekend in the state of North Dakota ended with yet another thriller of a volleyball match, as Saint Mary's went the distance with the unbeaten North Dakota State Bison (3-0), falling 3-2. After falling behind 2-1, the Gaels rallied to force a decisive fifth set, and even led by as many as four late in that final set, but the Bison, charged with their home fans behind them, were able to keep that goose egg in the loss column, downing the Gaels to cap the weekend of action.
The Gaels opened up the match on a 4-1 run with a pair of kills from Mya Allen in her first collegiate start, and held that three point lead all the way to a 10-7 scoreline. The Bison responded with a 4-0 run to take their first lead, before the Gaels refound their footing, playing all the way to a 17 all stalemate. Three Bison kills and three Gael errors gave NDSU a six point cushion, as they would close out the opening set with a 25-19 victory. A trio of Gaels racked up three kills; Mya Allen, Genevieve Bane and Anaya Thrower. Bane added three digs and an ace to her set one docket, while Thrower was ultra efficient with her three kills coming on just four swings. Alayna Pearson led the Gaels in set one with four digs, while Ivona Lazovic totalled 12 assists and three digs in the opening set.
Set two was a tightly contested back and forth affair, featuring 13 ties and 18 lead changes. The Gaels trailed 20-18, but rallied back to tie things up at 20 on back-to-back Genevieve Bane kills. A Tessa Schouten kill made it 24-22, but the Bison came storming back to force bonus volleyball at 24 apiece. Back to back kills from Bane and Schouten would end the set however, as Saint Mary's became the first team to take a set against North Dakota State this season. Genevieve Bane racked up the kills in set two, with five, while Tessa Schouten added four. Ivona Lazovic stayed hot with 13 more assists and three more digs.
Set three was the antithesis of set one, with the Bison leading wire-to-wire in the 25-18 victory. The Gaels trailed by as many as 11 before taking nine of the final 12 points, to make things a little closer late, but NDSU was eventually able to sideout their way to victory. Genevieve Bane and Gracie Vohs each added three more kills, with Bane adding her third ace of the match.
In response to a trouncing in set three, the Gaels responded with a dominant performance of their own in set four, riding four straight points to open the set, all the way to a 25-17 victory to stave off their second straight four set defeat. The fourth set was the Clarissa Klein show for the Gaels, with five kills on six swings and three aces.
It was all Gaels early in the fifth set, as for a majority of the frame, the Gaels looked as though they were primed to be the first team to knock off North Dakota State in 2025. The Gaels worked up a 12-9 lead, but couldn't polish off the final three points of the set, as NDSU closed things out on a 6-0 run to finish off the victory. Genevieve Bane (5) and Clarissa Klein (3) combined with all eight of the Gaels final set kills, with Ivona Lazovic assisting on all eight, and adding a pair of aces. Unfortunately, the Gaels defense could not rise to the occasion in the final stanza, as NDSU closed out the match by hitting 0.500 in set five.
Genevieve Bane did a bit of everything for the Gaels, tallying 20 kills, four aces, five digs and two blocks. Clarissa Klein chipped in 12 kills on 23 swings and no errors after a quiet day yesterday. Ivona Lazovic also had a brilliant bounce back game after not seeing much time yesterday, with 49 assists, six aces and eight digs. The six aces were the fifth most in a single match in program history. As a team, the Gaels tallied 15 aces, third most in a single match in program history. Defensively, Alayna Pearson reached double-digit digs again with 11.
THEY CAN DO IT ALL
This statement was true today for both Genevieve Bane and Ivona Lazovic. Bane was the unsung offensive leader for the Gaels with 20 kills and four aces, while also chipping in five digs and two blocks. Bane now has run her double-digit kill match streak to 12 in a row. Lazovic went for 49 assists, quarterbacking the Gaels attack, while also logging six aces and eight digs. The six aces were the fifth most in a single match in program history and were the most since Ella Sandt's six in 2023. Lazovic also dropped in three successful dump kills on four attempts.
WEEKEND IN REVIEW
The Gaels went 1-2 in their first weekend under Head Coach Tyler Hildebrand, taking six of 14 sets. While many new names were called for the Gaels, Genevieve Bane demonstrated that she is still the leader of this squad, with 46 kills and nine aces. Ivona Lazovic started at setter in two of her first three collegiate matches, with 77 assists and six aces, while Alayna Pearson has tallied 51 digs as the Gaels starting libero, with no other player logging more than 17. At the net, Anaya Thrower led the way with nine blocks, with Tessa Schouten right behind her with eight. The Gaels led in kills in all three matches, with more than 50 in each of the first three.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will head to Waco, Texas next weekend for the Baylor Classic. The first day of the event will be on September 5, when they will take on Northwestern at 12:30 PM, and host Baylor at 5 PM.
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