ST. PAUL, Minn.   –  The North Dakota State volleyball team went on the road and blanked St. Thomas, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at Schoenecker Arena.

With the win, NDSU improves to 8-9 (2-3 Summit), while St. Thomas drops to 2-12 (1-3 Summit) on the season. The contest marked the first meeting since 1986 and first in the Division I era between the two programs.

Ali Hinze paced the Bison with a match-high 13 kills to go along with seven digs and .296 hitting percentage. Kelley Johnson handed out a match-best 35 assists and added in eight digs with two aces. Kaylee Hanger chipped in a team-best 10 digs with two aces and two assists.

The Bison jumped out in front doubling up the Tommies in the opening frame, 10-5, after Hinze connected on a kill. Both teams then settled in trading points until NDSU closed the frame on a 4-2 run featuring back-to-back kills from Hinze to end the set, 25-23.

Neither team was able to pull away in the set second set that featured a match-high 12 tie scores. The Bison were able to seize momentum late constructing a 6-1 run to make the score 22-16 after a ball handling error. NDSU went on to close out the frame, 25-18.

The Bison carried the energy over into the third set and capitalized on attack errors to open up a three-point edge, 15-12. NDSU then put the frame out of reach rattling off four straight points capped off by a service ace from Abby Stark to stretch the lead to 21-14. The Bison closed the frame, 25-18, and earned their second sweep of the season.

NDSU will be back in action on Thursday against Denver (12-2, 3-1 Summit). First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.