DeKalb, Ill. - After weeks of work and anticipation for their first match of the 2015 season, the buildup proved to be bigger than the actual match as the Tigers needed just over an hour to make quick work of South Dakota State on Friday, Aug. 28. Led by their junior outside Lexi Elman, the Tigers kicked off the NIU Invitational in DeKalb, Ill. with a three-set sweep of the Jackrabbits to pick up a season-opening victory for the fifth-straight year.

Set scores for the match were: 25-17, 25-15, 25-8.

Shaking off the rust from the offseason and looking to integrate new pieces into the lineup, the Tigers wasted no time getting into a high-paced rhythm that overwhelmed the Jackrabbits en route to the season-opening sweep. Never trailing in any of the three sets in the match, the Tigers jumped out to quick leads in all three frames of action to force South Dakota State on their heels and into mistakes. Going to their big arm on the outside early and often, Pacific got Elman on a roll right out of the gate that resulted in eight kills in the opening set on just 13 attacks. With their junior finding holes on the outside, the middle opened for senior Holland Crenshaw and junior Alicja Wilk as the veteran duo combined for five kills on 10 swings. 

The two in the middle continued their steady play at the net in set two as the pair combined for eight kills on just 11 attacks with Crenshaw, who was playing her first match for the Tigers after transferring to Pacific in the fall, finished the set a perfect 4-for-4 on the offensive side of the net. Playing in system for most of the day, the Tigers won the serve and pass battle as Pacific's passers kept the Tigers' in rhythm while the service game kept the Jackrabbits from getting into their offense. Much of the success for the Tigers' behind the service line came from one arm as sophomore Maycie LaBass bombed the opposing side with eight aces, five coming in the second set alone. Her serve got the Tigers off to a 4-0 start in the set as she picked up two of her five aces in the first four points while she picked up three more during a five-point stretch that pushed Pacific's lead from an easy 13-6 to an insurmountable 18-6.

After comfortably taking the opening two sets, the Tigers kicked it into overdrive in what would be the third and final set of the afternoon as Pacific ran out to a 10-2 lead en route to its 25-8 victory. The eight points given up to the Jackrabbits in the set tied for the third-best scoring defense for the Tigers in a single set in rally scoring history as Pacific outhit South Dakota State, .455-to-.100 in the frame. Overall, the Tigers made just two hitting mistakes in 22 attacks as they put away 12 kills. While Elman netted three on four attacks, the surprise of the set came from redshirt-freshman Alex Holt who found her groove with three kills on four swings on the rightside. Holt, who redshirted last season, made her first career start for the Tigers after moving to the rightside for the first time in preseason camp just a few weeks prior. In addition to Elman and Holt, setter Kimmy Whitson got in on the action as well as she killed three balls on three swings while controlling the offense. 

In all, the Tigers hit .387 as a team with Elman posting a match-high 15 kills on a career-best .565 hitting. She would also add 10 digs for her 15th career double-double. Just behind Elman, Crenshaw came up just one kill shy of double figures as the senior middle tallied nine kills on .571 hitting. Defensively, the Tigers held the Jackrabbits to .114 hitting (19-11-70) while picking up 38 total digs which was paced by their libero, Katrin Gotterba, who notched 11 in the match.

LaBass' eight aces in the match ties her career-high after she dropped in eight against Mississippi Valley State as a freshman in 2014. Additionally, the eight ranks tied for the fourth most in a single match in Pacific's storied volleyball history.

Pacific's 25-8 win in set three was just two points shy of their single-set scoring record set against Loyola (Chi.) in 2012 at Stanford when the Tigers dismantled the Ramblers, 25-6.

The Tigers are back in action at the NIU Invitational on Saturday, Aug. 29 when they play two against Iowa and Northern Illinois. Pacific takes on Iowa at 12:30 pm PT to start the day while ending the tournament at 5:00 pm PT against the host Huskies.