BEMIDJI, MINN. -- Bemidji State (11-9, 3-2 NSIC), equaling last year’s total in wins, completed a weekend sweep of league opponents with a 3-1 victory over MSU-Moorhead (9-8, 2-3 NSIC) tonight at the BSU Gymnasium. The Beavers downed Northern State, 3-1, last night.

The highlight was the BSU blocking game as it totaled 12.5 on the night - the sixth occasion that the squad has gone for 10 or more blocks in 2003.

“ We always get fired up for Moorhead,” said head coach Kim Falkenhagen. “Our blocking was on tonight. McDougall and Piper were working well together. Their timing was there and they were penetrating the net and going for it.”

BSU took control in game one with a 9-4 opening run. After tying the score twice at 10 and 20, the Dragons rattled off five of six to take a 26-23 lead. Two straight kills by senior Kristin Peterson sparked BSU to come within a point at 27-28, but MSU-Moorhead scored the final two points to win 30-27.

Game two was all Bemidji State as the hosts raced out to a 15-9 advantage. After BSU forced MSU-M into its second time-out, the Beavers scored six straight and eight of 10 to lead 24-13. Two Lisa Smith kills ignited the run for the Beavers. From there, one of junior Heather Haugen’s three service aces tied the match at one game apiece. BSU won 30-20.

The third game saw BSU crawl back after a slow start. MSU-M held a 4-1 lead before BSU countered with a 9-2 spurt to lead 10-6. Seven kills, two blocks and one service ace was how BSU notched 10 points to just two on the part of the Dragons. That was a key stretch as Bemidji State led 20-10. MSU-Moorhead gave a push, scoring five of the next seven, but BSU was too much, winning 30-18.

After falling down 10-8 in the fourth game, BSU claimed eight of the next 10 to go up by a count of 16-12. MSU-Moorhead could never recover scoring only single points for the rest of the way. Senior Nicole McDougall and sophomore Christa Anderson ended the match fittingly with a block assist. The Beavers won 30-20.

Powered by a .417 (17-2-36) mark in the second game, BSU hit .237 (66-24-177) overall on the night. The Dragons hit .125 (51-31-160). Both teams totaled 145 digs between them with BSU notching 70.
Peterson and Lisa Smith tied for the team-lead with 15 kills. Both players added 18 and 12 digs, respectively, for double-doubles. Haugen added 12 kills while junior Kristine Engman posted 13 digs. Junior Kristin Smith tallied 53 assists and nine digs.

MSU-Moorhead was led by the 16 kills by Courtney Syvertsen. Setter Susan Kolbow had 43 assists and 11 digs while Becca Gilbertson posted a game-high 22 digs.

BSU will host its final non-conference opponent of the season in North Dakota on Tuesday night. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. in the BSU Gymnasium.


NOTE: Bemidji State holds a slight 54-51-1 advantage in the all-time series with MSU-Moorhead...Despite dropping game one, BSU wins the match for just the second time in 10 matches when losing the first game this season...BSU went for more than 10 blocks on the night for the sixth time this season, the most since the 2001 season (9 times)...BSU moves to 5-0 at home on the season and have won eight of the last nine at the BSU Gymnasium...The 11 season wins is the most since the 1999 program had 25...Kristin Peterson’s double-double is her 23rd career and sixth in her last eighth match.