Bruin trio shine in five-set thriller over Vikings

Box Score
NSAA Standings

VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- Sophomore middle blocker Jacki Apel, sophomore libero Taylan Keefer, and senior setter Olivia Galas had career nights as the Bruins pulled out a thrilling 3-2 (25-21, 25-27, 25-22, 26-28, 15-8) victory at Valley City State University Saturday afternoon in North Star Athletic Association action at Graichen Gymnasium. 

The Bruins have now won six-straight matches, improving to 14-5 on the season and 5-0 in the NSAA. VCSU dropped to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in league play. 

Apel recorded her first career double-double, finishing with 19 kills and 11 blocks, both career highs. Apel hit .421 in the victory. 

Galas registered her second triple-double of the season, collecting 55 assists, 23 digs, and 10 kills while also adding six blocks. With her fourth assist in the first set, Galas became the third player in school history to record 6,000 career assists. She now has 6,051 assists, moving her into the No. 2 spot on the Bruins' all-time records chart. 

Keefer finished with a career-high 41 digs while adding eight assists. With her 22nd dig of the match, Keefer surpassed the 1,000-dig plateau for her career. She now has 1,019 career digs. 

As a team, the Bruins notched a season-high 132 digs while also adding 16 team blocks.

Senior Sierra Athen recorded her 10th double-double of the season after tallying 16 kills and a season-high 25 digs while adding five blocks and five assists. 

Sidney Sledge was the fourth Bruin in double figures, garnering 12 kills along with six digs. 

Bailey Nelson and Emma Lucas paced the Vikings with 16 kills apiece. 

Sadie Hansen recorded a double-double with 45 assists and 19 digs.  

The Bruins overcame an 18-12 deficit in the first set, closing the opener on a 13-3 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match with the 25-21 victory. Sledge had seven kills on nine errorless swings to pace BU in the opener. 

BU led 15-10 in the second frame after a kill by Athen, but VCSU fought back to tie the contest at 21-all following a block by Morgan Nelson and Morgan Freije on Athen. VCSU saved two set points before the Vikings took the second stanza, scoring three-straight points on a kill by Emma Lucas, an ace by JayCee Richter, and a block by Bailey Nelson and Morgan Nelson. 

Trailing 22-21, the Bruins scored four-straight points to take the third set, sparked by kills from Allie Kerns and Apel and a service ace by Keefer. Apel led BU in the third with four kills on five swings. 

The Vikings saved a match point in the fourth set and used kills by Danielle Hagler and Freije to force a fifth set with the 28-26 win. 

The Bruins dominated in the fifth set, hitting .424 with no hitting errors while adding 20 digs in the 15-8 deciding-set victory. Kerns had four kills and hit 400, while Apel tacked on five kills on 11 swings as BU earned its sixth-straight win. BU ended the match on a thunderous kill from Apel.  

The Bruins will head to Crete, Neb., on Tuesday, Oct. 4, for a 7 p.m. non-conference contest at Doane University.