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DENVER, Colo. – Balanced No.6-seed North Dakota State upset No. 3 seed Omaha 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-21) in a Summit League tournament quarterfinal played Friday, Nov. 16, before 438 fans at Denver's Hamilton Gymnasium. The Bison reach the semifinals for ninth time in 11 trips to the tournament and the first No .6 seed to advance since the league went to six teams in 2013.
 
NDSU (9-19) plays No. 2 seed South Dakota (19-9) in Saturday's second semifinal at 7 p.m. Central Time. No. 4-seed Purdue Fort Wayne eliminated No. 5-seed North Dakota 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-16). The Mastodons play top-seed Denver in Saturday's first semifinal at 4 p.m. CT.
 
"We attacked every set and handled our business from start to finish, North Dakota State head coach Jennifer Lopez said. "We were just focused on what we needed to do offensively, defensively and who needed to make plays and just went out and attacked and scored more points.
 
"Sometimes the hardest part is teaching a young team how to finish and how to seek that success, but we stayed in a positive mindset and competitive one. We knew we need to play our game on all fronts."
 
Omaha (17-14), which swept the season series from NDSU, held off the Bison in the first set take an early lead. The match was tied 26 times with 11 lead changes.
 
However, North Dakota State kept pace with the Mavericks with long rallies. With the second set tied at 23-all McKenzie Burke delivered a kill and Emily Halverson recorded a block for the 25-23 win to knot the match at 1-1.
 
Alexis Bachmeier put NDSU ahead 20-16, but Omaha came back and the score was tied at 23 and 24-all. The Bison took advantage of a hitting error and then Halverson went right on the slide for the kill and 26-24 win.
 
North Dakota State jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set and never relinquished it. The Mavericks closed to within 22-20, but Halverson and Bachmeier combined on a block, Kalli Hegerle had a tip and Burke finished the set and the match with her 13th kill.
 
Burke's 13 kills led a trio with double-figure kills. Allie Mauch followed with 12 kills, while Halverson contributed 11 and hit .409, Bachmeier had seven and Bella Lien added five. Kalli Hegerle finished with 41 assists. Abbi Klos led the Bison with 15 digs and Bachmeier had 14. Lien and Halverson both had three blocks. Kaylee Hanger recorded three service aces, while Burke and Paige Schaffer each had two/
 
Omaha held a .199 to .157 advantage in hitting percentage and 10-7 edge in team blocks. The Bison had 54 digs compared to 51 for the Mavericks.
 
Sadie Limback had 15 kills and five blocks for Omaha, while Claire Leonard claimed 13 kills and Abby Bergsten added 10. Anna Blaschko had a match-high six blocks and Claire Mountjoy collected 13 digs. Sydney Case finished with 48 assists.