MOSCOW, Idaho—Idaho and North Dakota battled into a fifth set on Saturday, in what has become a tradition of sorts between the two schools. In the three years since the start of the series, the two teams have played to five sets in five matches.

Idaho prevailed on Senior Night inside Memorial Gym, snapping a four-match losing streak to the Fighting Hawks, but it was not without a fight. Idaho gained a two-set advantage, forcing North Dakota to battle from behind. In the end, Idaho squeaked out the win, 25-20, 25-16, 21-25, 27-29, 15-13.

"The fight was everything," junior Reece Carman said. "Tonight we were absolutely relentless. We wanted it so bad. We knew that they were going to come out fighting. We knew that we were not going to beat them in three because they are a good team. I think we just refused to give up."



Idaho (15-10, 10-4 BSC) moved into a tie for the lead in the Big Sky North with UND. Sacramento State wrapped up the top spot in the conference on Saturday, meaning the winner of the north division gets the second overall seed at the Big Sky Tournament.

Sarah Sharp led all players on the night, matching a career-high with 24 kills. Carman set a season-high with 18 kills. Kaela Straw finished the night with 15 kills. DeVonne Ryter totaled 11 kills to go with her team-leading .500 attack percentage. The Vandals totaled a season-best 80 kills, finishing with a .271 attack percentage.

Junior Haylee Mathis recorded her fourth double-double of the season. She ended with 58 assists and 19 digs. Her 58 assists put her over the 1,500 mark for her career with 1,504 total assists. Junior Alycia Wodke also recorded a double-double, closing with 23 digs and 10 assists. 

The Vandals made it look easy in the first two sets on Saturday. Idaho jumped out to a 2-0 lead, looking like they were going to make it an early night against UND. Sharp 11 kills in the first two sets. Idaho hit .370 in the opening frame and netted a .286 attack percentage in the second. The Fighting Hawks could not get going on offense, hitting .051 in the second.

North Dakota (25-7, 10-4 BSC) came out strong early on in the third, opening with a 5-1 lead. The Vandals answered back with a 5-1 run to tie the match at six. A 5-0 run by Idaho gave the Vandals a 12-8 advantage. The Fighting Hawks came back and tied things at 13. IT was a late 4-0 run by UND that helped get them back in the match, claiming the set off a block from Julia Kaczorowska.

Idaho again got down early in the fourth, this time a 4-0 deficit. Carman closed out a 3-0 run that tied the match at six. North Dakota gained some separation with a 7-1 run, going up 16-9. Idaho did not give in, going on a 7-0 run take a 22-21 lead. The two sides traded set-points late, with UND gaining the upper hand, 29-27.

"I am really proud of our team," head coach Debbie Buchanan stated. "To go up two games and to really just keep battling. We almost came back and won game four. We stayed in there and made some great adjustments in game five and that was really the difference."

The Silver and Gold gained a 6-3 lead at the start of the fifth set, forcing UND into a timeout. The Fighting Hawks answered right back with a 6-1 run to take the lead 9-7. North Dakota got out to a late two-point lead, 13-11 when Coach Buchanan called a timeout. Sharp fired off a kill out of the break to help Idaho close on a 4-0 run. Carman scored the finisher for Idaho, taking the set 15-13.

"I would say this is the top-match for me [in Memorial Gym," senior Torrin Crawford added. "This is my favorite game. As a team, we just played so cohesively. To get a Senior Night win against North Dakota—there is nothing better."

Jordan Vail led North Dakota with 19 kills. Sydney Griffin recorded a double-double with 56 assists and 14 digs.

Idaho will end the season on the road against the Montana schools. The Vandals will be at Montana next Thursday and then Montana State on Saturday.