THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State (9-4, 3-0 Summit) volleyball team returns home this week hosting Oral Roberts (2-14, 0-4 Summit) on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. The Bison will conclude the week hosting Denver (11-4, 3-1 Summit) on Saturday. First serve is set for 11:00 a.m., at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.
 
MATCH COVERAGE
GoBison.com: Both contests will feature live statistics and will be streamed on the Summit League Network for subscribers. The Thursday night match against Oral Roberts will also be available statewide on WDAY Xtra for subscribers. Links to live stats, live video and audio can be found at GoBison.com/coverage.
 
PROMOTIONS
Thursday night will be the annual pink match to spread awareness for cancer. The team will wear pink alternate jerseys to go along with a pregame cancer recognition. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and the first 100 will receive a free t-shirt. The full 2025 volleyball promotional schedule can be found here.
 
TICKETS
General admission tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for youth ages 3-17, and reserved tickets are $15. Match day tickets are sold at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse and are also available at GoBison.com/tickets. Doors open one (1) hour prior to the match. Free parking is available in Visitors Lot E.
 
LAST TIME OUT
NDSU moved to 3-0 in Summit League play with a 3-1 win over Omaha last Saturday. Lauren Jansen led the way with a match-high 17 kills and nine digs, while Baily Randall contributed her second double-double of the season with 15 kills and 12 digs. Arianna Blohm also reached double digits in kills with 12 to go along with a team-high five blocks. Cathy Porter picked up her third double-double of the season with a season-best 25 assists and 10 digs. Rya Borer closed out the top performers with a team-best 17 digs on the defensive end.
 
THE SERIES VS. ORAL ROBERTS
This will be the 40th all-time meeting between NDSU and Oral Roberts dating back to 1982 with the Bison leading the series, 26-13. The Bison are 7-3 over the last 10 meetings with the Golden Eagles, including a 3-2 win in Tulsa last season. Arianna Blohm posted 12 kills with a .357 hitting percentage and Maddy Dombeck handed out a match-best 27 assists with 10 digs. Under head coach Jennifer Lopez, the Bison are 2-0 when facing Oral Roberts for the annual pink match. The Bison are 7-0 in the last nine seasons in the pink match under Lopez.
 
ORAL ROBERTS CONNECTIONS
Sadie Johnson is the younger sister of Sophie Johnson, who is a graduate student defensive specialist for Oral Roberts. Sophie started her career at Southwest Minnesota State with a stop at South Dakota State last season.
 
THE SERIES VS. DENVER
This will be the 31st all-time meeting between NDSU and Denver dating back to 1983 with the Pioneers leading the series, 20-10. NDSU has dropped the last two meetings against Denver, including a 3-1 loss in the first round of the Summit League Tournament last season in Kansas City. Maddy Dombeck passed out a team-best 29 assists against the Pioneers.
 
BISON SWEEP SUMMIT LEAGUE WEEKLY AWARDS
Lauren Jansen was named the Summit League Offensive Peak Performer of the Week for the first time in her career, while Rya Borer was tabbed the Summit League Defensive Peak Performer of the Week for the first time in her career. NDSU was the second team in the league this season to sweep the weekly awards, joining South Dakota on Sept. 9.
 
3-0 START TO SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAY
For the second time in the last four seasons, the Bison have opened Summit League play with a 3-0 record. It marks the best start to league play for NDSU since it started the 2022 season with a 5-0 mark. NDSU is one of three teams in the Summit League to start with a 3-0 record, joining St. Thomas and South Dakota State.
 
THE BBF ADVANTAGE
The Bison have started the season with a 6-0 mark at home, including a 3-0 sweep over North Dakota in front of 1,205 fans to begin Summit League play. It marks the first time since 2020 that the Bison have won each of their first six home matches. Dating back to last season, the Bison have won each of their last eight matches at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, which is the longest streak since winning 10 straight from 2019-20.
 
BRING OUT THE BROOMS
The Bison started the season with back-to-back sweeps after topping Bowling Green, 3-0, and Temple, 3-0. It marked the first time since 2011 that NDSU opened the season with back-to-back sweeps. NDSU has recorded four sweeps in its first 13 matches this season.
 
LOCKED IN FROM THE SERVICE LINE
NDSU was one of the most effective teams in the Summit League at the service line last season after leading the league with 1.65 service aces per set. The Bison have carried that into this season and currently rank second in the Summit League with 1.83 aces per set, which ranks 43rd in the nation. Baily Randall leads the Bison with 0.48 aces per set, which is slotted third in the Summit League.
 
MIDDLE PRODUCTION
Arianna Blohm leads NDSU with 52.0 total blocks and is averaging 1.08 blocks per set, which ranks sixth in the Summit League. She's also one of the most efficient offensive players in the lineup with a team-best .314 hitting percentage. Blohm has totaled 100 kills on 226 attempts with only 29 errors this season. Her 100 kills rank third on the team.
 
CONSISTENT START
Lauren Jansen has reached double digits in kills in 11 of the first 13 matches this season. She leads the team with 162 total kills and is averaging a team-high 3.38 kills per set. Jansen has contributed two double-doubles in each of the last four matches, including a season-high 19 kills with 12 digs at Kansas City.
 
IMPACT FRESHMAN
Rya Borer has been in the starting lineup each of the first 13 matches in her freshman season. She has tallied double digits in digs in 11 of the first 13 matches and leads the Bison with a team-best 186 digs, which ranks fourth in the Summit League. Borer is also slotted second in the league averaging 3.88 digs per set.
 
UTILITY PLAYER
After only appearing in two matches primarily as a setter against Montana and Idaho, Emily Bruss has also checked in as an outside hitter. She has contributed 12 kills and notched her first career double-double with 20 assists to go along with 11 digs in the win at Kansas City. Bruss appeared in 18 matches in her freshman season at setter and has totaled 278 career assists, which ranks second on the team among active players on the roster.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Senior middle blocker Ally Barth and junior outside hitter Lauren Jansen were selected to the Summit League Players to Watch list. Entering the 2025 season, Barth has posted 190 blocks over the last two seasons and has tallied 389 kills. Jansen has tallied 371 kills and is averaging 2.41 kills per set over two seasons. The Plainfield, Ill., native has also contributed 49 service aces, including a career-best and team-high 34 last season.
 
SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON POLL
The Bison were picked to finish sixth in the Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll and garnered 32 points. South Dakota State earned the top spot with 62 points and six first place votes.
 
RUNNING THE OFFENSE
The Bison return 61.9 percent of their assist production from last season after Maddy Dombeck and Emily Bruss combined for 692 assists in their freshman season. Dombeck handed out a team-best 464 assists over 26 matches last season, while Bruss added 228 over 18 matches.
 
EXPERIENCE IN THE LINEUP
NDSU returns seven starters from last season: Baily Randall, Arianna Blohm, Maddy Dombeck, Emma Tallman, Lauren Jansen, Emily Bruss and Ally Barth. Barth leads the team with 81 matches played over four seasons, while Blohm has appeared in 68 matches over three seasons.
 
PORTAL ADDITIONS
The Bison added three players in the offseason through the transfer portal. Cathy Porter joined the Bison after two seasons at Hillsborough Community College and totaled 550 assists over 43 matches. Abi Banitt joined the Bison after two seasons at SIUE. She posted a team-high 355 digs in her freshman season, which ranked ninth in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). Zoe John joined the Bison after one season at Pacific and appeared in 23 matches with 96 kills.
 
YOUNG BISON
The Bison have six newcomers on the roster this season, including three true freshmen: Natasha Kidd, Abby Carpenter and Rya Borer. The roster is constructed of 56 percent underclassman with three freshman, one redshirt freshman (Sadie Johnson) and five sophomores (Tanith Roush, Maddy Dombeck, Layla Haritatos, Emily Bruss and Zoe John).
 
LOOKING BACK AT THE 2024 SEASON
The Bison posted a 12-14 (8-8 Summit) overall record last season. NDSU made its third straight appearance in the Summit League Championship before falling short against Denver in the first round. It marked the first time in three seasons that the Bison didn't advance to at least the semifinal round.
 
BIG SHOES TO FILL
NDSU has been working to replace two of the most successful players in program history each of the last two seasons. Kelley Johnson wrapped up her career in 2023 and finished with the most assists in the NDSU Division I era with 4,019, which ranked sixth all-time in Bison history. She was a two-time Summit League Setter of the Year and two-time All-Summit League First Team selection. Ali Hinze finished her career last season and totaled the most kills in the NDSU Division I era with 1,767, which ranked fifth in Bison history. Hinze earned All-Summit League honors all five seasons, including being named to the first team in 2022 and 2023.
 
THIS IS OUR HOUSE
The Bison have called Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse home since 1978 and have notched a 423-112 overall record at home during that span. NDSU picked up its 400th win at the BBF after sweeping Kansas City, 3-0, on Oct. 1, 2022.
 
TAKIN' CARE OF BUSINESS IN THE CLASSROOM
NDSU earned the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 13th straight year in 2024-25. The award recognizes collegiate and high school programs across the country that maintained a year-long grade-point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale. The Bison registered a 3.63 cumulative GPA last season.
 
UP NEXT
NDSU will travel to South Dakota State on Thursday, Oct. 16. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.