Faith Moldan

The SDSU volleyball team faced a tough opponent Friday night. Minnesota Duluth, ranked sixth in Division II swept the Jackrabbits in three games with scores of 30-25, 30-25 and 30-24.

SDSU kept the games close, but allowed UMD too many 3-4 point runs.

“We played well parts of each game. All a good team like Duluth needs is 3 to 4 point runs to run away with the game,” SDSU head coach Andrew Palileo said.

SDSU out-blocked UMD 11-8, but the Bulldogs held a 59-44 kill advantage and .257 to .151 advantage in hitting percentage. Sophomore Carley Boll recorded seven blocks (two solos, five assists).

Senior Sarah Biggerstaff also had five block assists. Biggerstaff moved past Liz Force (294 block assists from 1996-99) into third place on the SDSU career block assists chart with 296. She is five block assists short of career leader Roxie Rath.

Senior Kim Bostrom led the Jackrabbits with 11 kills, and Biggerstaff tallied nine kills. Sophomore Kristie Klusaw recorded 23 set assists and sophomore Stephanie Behm tallied 15 assists.

Defensively the Jackrabbits were led by senior Sarah Simet with 22 digs and Minette Ridenour with 13.

Trailing late in both games two and three, the Jackrabbits made attempts at coming back, but fell short.

“We had a game plan coming in and executed it the best we could,” Palileo said.

The Bulldogs also posted good numbers, with All-American Callie Zwettler recording 21 kills. Zwettler was just one of three UMD players to reach double figures in kills. Julie Lenci and Rachel Langseth each added 10 kills.

The Bulldog’s setter Greta Iisakka notched 50 set assists, while Libero Allison Boddy had 22 digs and Chelsea Meierotto had 12. Zwettler finished the night with a double-double with 10 digs.

With their 14th consecutive win, UMD is 14-1 for the season, while SDSU drops to 7-9 overall. SDSU hosts familiar opponent Northern Colorado at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7 at Frost Arena.

#1.885882:1473464131.jpg:volleyball10-5.jpg:Number 5, Seri Aamlid, takes to the air like a bird in flight.: