October 25, 2014
JAMESTOWN, N.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) could not find answers to Jamestown's (N.D.) blazing offense attack Saturday afternoon in the battle of top two volleyball North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) teams at then Hansen Center. The nationally-ranked Jimmies rolled past the Trojans in three straight sets by the scores of 25-15, 25-13 and 25-14.
Dakota State dipped their overall record to 18-14. The Trojans fell into a two-way tie for second-place in the NSAA conference standings with Mayville State (both teams with 5-3 NSAA record). Jamestown, No. 18 in the latest NAIA Volleyball Coaches' 'Top 25' national rankings, raised their overall record to 19-6 and earned their second straight NSAA regular-season volleyball conference title outright (9-0 NSAA record).
The Jimmies raced to a 9-3 opening lead in the first set. DSU was able to cut their deficit to 9-6, but UJ closed out the first set with a 16-9 scoring run to earn a 25-15 victory. Jamestown hit .435 in the opening set (12 kills with 2 errors in 23 attempts). Dakota State was held to negative .034 (7 kills with 8 errors in 29 attempts).
Tied at 4-4 in the second set, Jamestown reeled off seven straight points to grab an 11-4 lead. The Jimmies never looked back as they extended their match lead to 2-0 with a 25-13 victory. UJ outhit DSU 15-9 in the second set. The Jimmies hit .591 compared to the Trojans' .227.
Jamestown scored five straight points to kick off the third set. Dakota State could get no closer than two points at 7-5 as the Jimmies secured the match with an 18-9 closing run (25-14). UJ had 14 kills in the third set compared to DSU 7 kills.
Caitlin Pick led the Trojans with seven kills. She hit .294 in the match. Tessa Weeldreyer and Alicia Karst each added four kills.
Stacey Westby tallied 17 assists and 7 digs for DSU.
Karst led Dakota State with three service aces. Weeldreyer and Brittney Anderson each had an ace.
Janna Johnson recorded seven kills for the Jimmies. Madison Wendel, Naomi Walther and Kaitlyn Bollingberg each added six kills.
Aubrey Beaumont produced 19 set assists for UJ. Kaia Buck added 17 assists.
Alaina Brown had five service aces and ten digs for Jamestown. Amanda Kramer collected 21 digs.
Wendel had three total blocks (6 block assists) for the Jimmies. Anderson added three blocks.
Jamestown outhit Dakota State 41-23 in the match. The Jimmies recorded a hitting percentage of .438 (6 errors in 80 attempts) compared to the Trojans' .057 (18 errors in 88 attempts).
UJ had 11 team blocks in the match. DSU had three team blocks.
Dakota State looks to bounce back in the winning column as they conclude their regular-season with a three-match home stand at DSU Fieldhouse. The Trojans welcome their long-time rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) in the final non-conference tune-up on Tuesday night. There will be a junior varsity match at 6 p.m., followed by a varsity match at 7:30 p.m. Camouflage Night is the theme for DSU's home volleyball match on Tuesday.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
