Box Score Berkeley, Calif. - North Dakota State beat Butler 3-1 on Friday in the first match of the Cal Tournament. The Bulldogs (3-4) responded to a first set setback with a 25-21 win in the second set before dropping the final two. Ali Hinze dominated for the Bison (4-3) with 20 kills, 11 digs, two aces and two block assists.

Set 1: North Dakota State 25-21
The Bulldogs and Bison went back-and-forth early before NDSU went on a 5-0 run to take a 9-5 lead and eventually extended it to 12-6. Butler rallied to get within two on multiple occasions including 23-21 late, but it could not get any closer. Mariah Grunze sparked the Bulldog offense in the first set with four kills and one ace.

Set 2: Butler 25-21
Grunze and Grace Boggess put down two kills each to get the Bulldogs out to a 10-6 lead. A later 4-0 run on Madison Friebel's serve (including an ace from her) increased the Butler lead to 17-11. The Bison would get to within three at 23-20, but kills by Boggess and Amina Shackelford sealed the set for the Bulldogs. Grunze and Shackelford led the Butler offense with four kills each during the second set.

Set 3: North Dakota State 25-16
A 10-0 run midway through put the Bison up 18-8, and Butler would not get much closer throughout the remainder of the set. Last season's Summit League Freshman of the Year Ali Hinze led NDSU with three kills during the scoring streak, part of her match-high 20 on the day. Melody Davidson (three), Boggess (two) and Shackelford (two) had multiple kills for Butler during the set.

Set 4: North Dakota State 25-15
After a 4-1 Butler lead thanks to kills from Shackelford, Grunze and Brittany Robinson, NDSU came back to go up 13-7. The Bulldogs responded with a 4-0 run, but they would get to no closer than two points from the Bison lead the rest of the way. Elana Brueggemann came off the bench and provided a spark with two kills and a block assist in the final set.

Stat of the Match:
The Bison had a hitting percentage (.254) about 100 points higher than the Bulldogs (.153) for the match.

Inside the Box Score:
-Grunze led the Bulldogs with 10 kills and added three digs, one ace and one block assist for 11.5 points.
-Davidson led the team with 12 points on nine kills, two solo blocks and two block assists.
-Shackelford and Boggess contributed nine and eight kills, respectively.
-Madison Friebel filled up the stat sheet with 37 assists, nine digs, three aces and a kill in returning to her home state.

Up Next:
Butler will be back for its second match on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Nevada.