November 7, 2015

Photos credits by Kaden Huntrods

MADISON, S.D. – Bellevue (Neb.) outhit Dakota State (S.D.) 51-33 Saturday afternoon to gain a 3-0 sweep (27-25, 25-19 and 25-17) in the North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Volleyball Postseason Tournament's quarterfinals at DSU Fieldhouse.  Both Bruins and Trojans are two of the teams in the top four of the NSAA's conference standings, meeting in the quarterfinals round in the South Division's No. 3 seed vs. No. 2 seed match-up.

The Bruins opened up with an 8-3 lead in the first set.  Trailing 16-11, the Trojans stormed back by using a 9-1 spurt to gain a 20-17 lead.  BU answered back with a 7-2 scoring run before DSU saved two set points to tie at 24-24. 

Bellevue secured the first set by scoring the final two points for a 27-25 victory, taking a 1-0 match lead.  The Bruins smashed 18 kills in the opening set, but committed 10 attack errors in 52 attempts.  The Trojans hit .175 with 12 kills and 5 errors in 40 attempts.

The Bruins and Trojans went back-and-forth in first 17 points of the second set.  Leading 9-8, Bellevue went on a 14-7 scoring run to take a 23-15 lead.  DSU went on to score four straight points, but could not get any closer as the Bruins scored the final two points of the second set for 25-19 victory and 2-0 match lead.

Bellevue hit .317 in the second set (17 kills with 4 errors in 41 attempts) compared to Dakota State .189 hitting percentage (12 kills with 5 errors in 37 attempts). 

The Trojans scored the first three points of the third set to grab a 3-0 lead.  With BU down 8-5, the Bruins went on a 5-0 scoring run for a 10-5 lead and never look back.  Bellevue closed the game with a 7-2 run for a 25-17 victory, advancing to the NSAA's Final Four at Viterbo (Wis.) next weekend.

BU outhit DSU 16-9 in the third set.

Alicia Karst led the Trojans with 10 kills.  She recorded a hitting percentage of .588 in her final career collegiate volleyball match at Dakota State.  Tessa Weeldreyer added seven kills.  Carly Rozell had six kills. 

Rachel Johnson produced 19 set assists for DSU.  Kaylee Vander Wal had 10 assists.

Chelsey Davis led the Trojans' defense with 18 digs.  Allison Thielsen, who also played her last career collegiate volleyball match, registered 11 digs and a service ace.  Rozell had 11 digs.

Rozell and Weeldreyer each had three block assists for DSU.

Marylyn Mozena smashed 11 kills and a hitting efficiency of .455 for Bellevue.  Shayla Scanlan added 10 kills.

Beth Walker nearly recorded a triple-double for the Bruins, recording 33 assists, 11 digs and 8 kills. 

Rachel Wald and Taylor Holz each had 13 digs for BU.  Lauren Colpitts had 12 digs.

Rachel Barr collected six block assists for Bellevue.  Mozena had four block assists.

The Bruins hit .219 in the match (51 kills with 21 errors in 137 attempts) while the Trojans recorded a hitting efficiency of .174 (33 kills with 13 errors in 115 attempts).

BU had 9.5 blocks compared to DSU six blocks. 

The Bruins recorded five service aces and a serving percentage of .921 (6 errors in 76 serves).  The Trojans served better with a percentage of .935 (4 errors in 62 serves).

Dakota State ended their 2015 stellar season with an impressive 20-14 overall record, their first back-to-back 20-win seasons in 20 years.  The Trojans also earned 10 conference victories, the most conference victories since 2004 in the former Dakota Athletic Conference with a 10-4 record.

Bellevue lifted their overall record to 22-16, will move on to the semifinals Friday in La Crosse, Wis.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director