Marissa Stockton, Middle Blocker/Right for the University of North Dakota Volleyball team, thinks the team’s rigorous non-conference schedule is vital to success once conference play begins.  

 “It’s about learning more about each other’s tendencies and how we meld together as a team,” Stockton said. “Playing tougher opponents gives us an even better opportunity to do that.”  

That strategy, especially after Thursday’s loss to the University of New Mexico, seemed to be in question. UND was 1-6 on the season after their 3-1 loss to UNM and was set to face two more formidable opponents in Green Bay and Montana. However, after that loss to UNM, they swept Green Bay winning 3-0 on Friday and beat Montana 3-2 Saturday at home.  

Thursday’s game against UNM started off in UND’s favor. They played a dominant first set beating UNM 25-17. However, they struggled to close out the second and third set despite having the lead in both sets, losing 25-21 in both the second and third. In the fourth set, despite a few signs of push back, UND fell 25-19. 

Stockton did not view Thursday’s loss as a disappointment.  

“I thought that game was so much fun,” Stockton said. “It was super competitive the whole time… I love that game.”  

Head coach Jesse Tupac also showed incredible confidence in the team’s ability, despite the outcome against UNM. 

“That team is a veteran team… that pushed us to the absolute limit. It was a fun opportunity for us to go out and challenge ourselves,” Tupac said. “We saw some really nice performances from both of our middle blockers and a lot of offensive balance across the board… really proud of our team for the growth that they had.”  

The faith was well placed. Like phoenixes from the ashes of Thursday’s loss, UND returned to the Betty to face Green Bay, a top 100 team. UND played three winning sets to sweep them.  

 They carried the momentum into Saturday defeating Montana, who also beat Green Bay earlier in the tournament, and is the former team of recent transfer Kaycee O’Dell in five sets.  

Even though UND made it past Green Bay and Montana, there is still an uphill battle before conference play and Tupac knows it.  

“We’ve got more opportunities before we even hit conference play to go challenge ourselves,” he said.

Maeve Hushman is a Dakota Student Sports Reporter. She can be reached at [email protected].