BISMARCK, N.D. -- [box score] The Bemidji State University volleyball team was defeated by University of Mary (N.D.), 3-2 (31-33, 30-25, 33-31, 29-31, 15-12) in the first ever Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference meeting between the teams Friday evening in Bismarck, N.D. The loss drops the Beavers to 6-10 on the season and 2-4 in league play.

Brittney Burns (Jr., OH, LeSueur, Minn.) led all players with a career-high 26 kills on a BSU single-match record 91 total attempts. She added 25 digs for her team-leading eighth double-double of 2006.

Offensively, the Beavers struggled to generate much of an attack in addition to Burns'. The junior accounted for 50 percent of the team's kills (26 of 52) an nearly 40 percent of BSU attempts (91 of 239). Brie Groskreutz (Fr., OH, Reedsburg, Wis.) and Jennifer Janckila (So., MB, Appleton, Wis.) each honed in on double-figure kill totals with nine and eight respectively.

Just as BSU has proven over and again this fall, its defense will force opposing teams to work to find the floor with any attempt. As a team, the Beavers recorded more digs on the evening than in any match since 1990. Freshman Allison Kunde (Burnsville, Minn.) played a major roll in that posting a career-high 28 while Groskreutz added 27 and Burns tallied 25-each career marks.

Janckila recorded a match-best four blocks as the Beavers and Marauders each posted seven team blocks.

UM out hit BSU finishing over .200 (78-37-253) while BSU finished under .100 at .092 (52-30-239 for the third time this season. Each of the sub-.100 hitting performances have ended in a loss for the Beavers.

The Marauders had four players gathering 10-or-more kills. Tatiani Santos paced the team with 19 while Katie Hogan contributed 18 while hitting for a match-high .288 hitting percentage (18-3-52).

The Beavers came out of the blocks to earn a 1-0 lead in the match garnering the victory 33-31 showing a brief glimpse of what was to come in the two-hour and forty-minute match, needing extra points to take the game. After dropping the second game 30-25 and game three 33-31, the Beavers forced the fifth game rallying from a 28-24 deficit to win the fourth game 31-29. In game five the Beavers ran out of luck falling 15-12 in the stanza and 3-2 in the match.

The Beavers are now 5-3 all time versus Mary (N.D.) and have dropped its last three contest to the Marauders.

The Beavers (6-10; 2-4 NSIC will attempt to snap is current five-match losing skid tomorrow (Sept. 23) when they travel to Aberdeen, S.D. to battle NSIC foe Northern State University in a 4:30 p.m. tilt.

-bsu-