Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Five players in double figures in the kill column, four players with 20 or more digs and a career-high 67 assists from junior setter Megan Gilbraith were not enough as the Northern State University Wolves let a 2-0 lead slip away Tuesday evening.  The visiting Jamestown College Jimmies rallied past a pair of match points in the fourth set to pull out the 3-2 non-conference victory by set scores of 28-30, 23-25, 25-19, 28-26, 15-13.

The Wolves slipped to 9-14 overall on the season, but remain at 4-10 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play, while the Jimmies improved their season mark to 18-7 with the win.  The Jimmies are a perfect 11-0 in the Dakota Athletic Conference.

Both teams came out firing in the first set and never let up throughout.  All told, the match featured 38 ties and 14 lead changes, including 15 ties and seven lead changes in the fourth set alone.

NSU prevailed in sets one and two, despite a late surge from the Jimmies in the second stanza.  The Wolves led by as many as 7 at 23-16 and looked to be pulling away for the win.  However seven straight serves from Samantha Revering, coupled with three NSU attack errors brought Jamestown surging back into contention, tying the set at 23-all.  The Wolves, however, recovered to salvage the win on back-to-back kills from sophomores Claire Kopfmann and Becka Meiser.

Set three looked to be another nail biter until the Jimmies pulled away from a 10-9 edge to post a 21-14 advantage, then scored the final three points of the set to force another set.

Set four was a return to the battle established in the opening stanzas, as neither squad was able to keep momentum squarely on its side of the court.  Jamestown managed 3-point leads at various points throughout the set, but the Wolves never let the Jimmies get too far away, clawing back to force ties at every point from 21 on.

The Wolves eventually carved out a pair of set and match points, but each time, JC's Revering thwarted both attempts with two of her 16 kills on the night.  Shannon Fee and Katie Zent followed the second Revering kill with back-to-back kills to pull out the 28-26 set win and force the match to the fifth and final set.

This time it was the Wolves who opened up with a strong 7-4 lead early.  NSU stretched that lead to 11-6 midway through before the offense came to a skidding halt.  Jamestown came roaring back with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 12-all and scored seven of the final nine points of the match to pull off the improbable comeback.

Offensively, Kopfmann put down a career-best 20 kills to lead the way, while adding a pair of solo blocks along the way.  Meiser added 16 kills, while juniors Jordan Schaffer and Whitney Morsching had 15 apiece.  Junior outside hitter Kayla Ystebo also had 12 kills to go along with 22 digs.

The Jimmies, however, held the Wolves to just a .188 hitting percentage as a team, racking up 12 team blocks in the process.  Fee was in on four of those, including a pair of solo stuffs, while putting down a match-best 24 kills.  Revering and setter Kayla Fee had 23 digs apiece to lead the Jimmies' defensive effort.

NSU remains at home to face MSU Moorhead and Minnesota Crookston this weekend.  First serve for Friday's match against the Dragons is set for 7 p.m., while Saturday's contest will start at 6 p.m.  Both matches will be held in NSU's Wachs Arena.