The Basics
Score: No. 5 Denver 3, No. 4 North Dakota State 1
Records: Denver (13-14, 7-9 SL), North Dakota State (12-14, 8-8 SL)
Location: Swinney Center – Kansas City, Mo.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – No. 5 seed Denver ousted No. 4 seed North Dakota State, posting a tightly contested, four-set victory over the Bison in the opening quarterfinal of the 2024 Summit League Volleyball Championship at the Swinney Center.
 
Each of the Pioneers' three set wins came by the smallest of margins as they rallied from a five-point deficit in the fourth set to close out a match that saw them win the first set 30-28, the third set 26-24 and the fourth set 25-23. 
 
Who Stood Out
Three Pioneers reached double digits in the kills' column led by All-Summit League first teamer Cassie Davis. The graduate senior led the charge with a team-best 14 kills, four blocks, and three digs. Ava Reynolds contributed 11 kills and eight digs while Molly Mirabelli chipped in 10 kills on a .333 hitting percentage.
 
For the Pioneers, Briley Decker dished out 34 assists while Alayna Finucan tallied a team-best 16 digs.
 
North Dakota State was led by Ali Hinze’s double-double of 20 kills and 12 digs. Arianna Blohm followed with 12 kills and seven blocks. Defensively, Logan O’Brien led the Bison with 15 digs.
 
Maddy Dombeck and Eke Denessen finished the match with 29 assists and 12 assists, respectively.
 
Turning Points
After a thrilling first set that finished with Denver in front 30-28, North Dakota State evened the score with a 25-19 second set win. The Bison and the Pioneers would trade points back-and-forth for the first eight points of the third set until the Pios kicked it into high gear and went on an 8-1 run to push the score 12-5. NDSU clawed it is way back into the match and would tie the score 24-24 but DU ultimately took the set 26-24. The Bison seemed poised to force a fifth set by building a five-point advantage at 17-12 but the Pios would erase that deficit with a 9-4 spurt and eventually close out the victory. 
 
Notable

• The Pioneers have now won at least one match in 10 of their 11 tournament appearances and have a rematch with a South Dakota State team they swept in the 2023 semifinals.
• NDSU was looking to make its third straight semifinal appearance. 
• In the first set, there were 20 tied scores and seven lead changes between the two teams. The four-set match saw a total of 29 tied scores and 11 lead changes.
• Today’s double-double marked the eleventh of the season for NDSU’s Hinze.

Up Next
Denver will meet No. 1 South Dakota State at 4 p.m. CT Monday in the first semifinal match of the day.