ABERDEEN, SD. -- The Bemidji State (13-12, 4-4 NSIC) volleyball team dropped its first two games to Northern State (9-14, 3-6 NSIC), but roared back to defeat the Wolves, 3-2, for its first victory in Aberdeen, S.D. since BSU took a 3-1 contest, Oct. 24, 1997.

“ We started out real slow there in the beginning,” said head coach Kim Falkenhagen. “But then we woke up and started fighting. We figured out what we were doing wrong and came back strong.”

The Beavers fell 25-30 and 28-30 in games one and two but bounced back with wins of 30-27, 30-26 and 15-10. It was the first five-game win for Bemidji State this season and the first since a victory against Northern State, Oct. 26, 2002.

Overall, BSU was limited to a .096 (14-9-52) hitting percentage in the second game but posted a .196 (75-32-219) mark on the night. Meanwhile, the guests held NSU to a .145 (67-33-235) hitting mark. The Beavers also totaled 108 digs and seven blocks - the digs is a season-high and the most since they had 133 vs. SW Minnesota State, Oct. 18, 2002.

Junior Kelly Piper led the Beavers with 19 kills and chipped in 17 digs for her sixth career double-double. Piper also added a career high .456 hitting mark (19-3-35).

“Piper was really on fire tonight,” said Falkenhagen. “She went out there and really did some good things for us. I think the team fed off that spark she provided.”

Senior Kristin Peterson pushed her double-double streak to four straight matches and sixth in her last seven affairs as she tallied 15 kills and 17 digs. Junior Heather Haugen recorded 15 kills while senior Lisa Smith notched 12 kills and 16 digs. Juniors Kristine Engman and Kristin Smith tied career-high marks with 23 digs. Smith added 62 assists, which is a season-high and her fifth 60+ assist career effort.

Tara Sauter came away with her second career triple-double with 11 kills, 49 assists and 15 digs to lead the Wolves. Jessica Bates tallied a game-high 25 kills while Monica Inge dug 29 balls in the loss.

Bemidji State comes back home for a two-match set against #13 Concordia-St. Paul and Winona State this Friday and Saturday. Both contests have been moved up as Friday’s match begins at 6:00 p.m. against the Golden Bears while the Warrior affair is slated to begin at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday in the BSU Gymnasium.


NOTE: The Beavers now hold a 29-17 all-time edge against Northern State and have won three straight in the series...Head coach Kim Falkenhagen now is just one win shy for having the second-most wins in a rookie campaign - she has 13; Pat Rosenbrock tallied 14 in 1975...The last time BSU had two or more players with at least 20 digs in the same match was vs. SW Minnesota State, Oct. 18, 2002 when Kelly Piper had 24, Karri Turk had 21 and Heather Haugen had 25...The 219 total attempts for BSU is the most since it went for 276 vs. SW Minnesota State, Oct. 18, 2002...Kristin Peterson pushed her double-double amount on the season to 14 and career total to 27, both are tops on the active players list...BSU moves to 8-0 when Kristin Smith has 55 or more assists in her career...Entering the night, Bemidji State was tied with SW Minnesota State and MSU-Moorhead for third in the NSIC standings - SMSU had the night off while the results between MSU-M and UM-Crookston were unavailable at the time of the release.