OMAHA, NEB. -- Bemidji State (6-6, 0-0) will be glad to head home after finishing 0-3 at the North Central Region Challenge as BSU dropped 0-3 contests to #23 South Dakota State (7-5) and South Dakota (9-4) today. The Beavers were handed a 30-16, 30-18 and 30-25 loss by SDSU and 30-25, 32-30 and 30-16 defeat by the Coyotes.

“ I totally changed the lineup around today,” said head coach Kim Falkenhagen. “We played our best in the second match (against South Dakota). Kathryn McCannell set that whole match and did a great job.”

Against the Jackrabbits, Bemidji State started slow but fought back in the last two games. Overall, BSU had more blocks (5-3) but was outhit .252 (44-17-107) to .009 (28-27-116). The Beavers improved vs. South Dakota hitting .381 (20-4-42) in game two and finished with a .164 mark (42-20-134).

Despite suffering a dislocated kneecap yesterday, Kathryn McCannell set personal bests in assists in each of the matches on her way to 53 for the day. She posted 37 assists and added a career-high three blocks against South Dakota.

Senior Kristin Peterson led the club with 21 kills in the two matches with a team-best 15 vs. South Dakota. Junior Kristine Engman tallied 23 digs including a 22-dig effort against USD. That performance was a season-best and second highest of her career. Junior Kelly Piper, who had sat out five matches prior to the tournament, had two double-digits in digs totaling 23 today.

Bemidji State returns home for a non-conference match against Wisconsin-Superior. Match-time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at the BSU Gymnasium on Tuesday. Then, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference season begins with a two-match swing at Winona State and Concordia-St. Paul next Friday and Saturday.

NOTE: In the overall series with #23 South Dakota State, SDSU leads 10-5 while South Dakota notched that mark against BSU at 5-5...Outblocking #23 South Dakota State 5-3, BSU drops to 5-2 in 2003 when having more blocks than its opponent...Kristine Engman’s career high in digs is 23 done against MSU-Moorhead, Oct. 15, 2002...Kristin Peterson has hit for 10+ kills in nine of the 12 matches this season and four out of the last five.