September 11, 2015

OMAHA – Dakota State (S.D.) was unable to get back in the winning column Friday afternoon after dropping a pair of four-set matches on the first day of the College of Saint Mary (Neb.)/Grace (Neb.) Volleyball Tournament at the Lied Fitness Center.  The Trojans fell short to Mount Mercy (Iowa) and host-team College of Saint Mary.

The Trojans fell to 4-9 overall record this season.  Mount Mercy raised their overall record to 11-3 after defeating a pair of North Star Athletic Association schools (also defeated Mayville State, N.D. in four sets Friday).  College of Saint Mary improved to 4-3 overall record.

Mount Mercy (Iowa) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 1 – FINAL

Mount Mercy defeated Dakota State in four sets by the scores of 25-21, 25-21, 25-27 and 25-12.

Carly Rozell smashed 12 kills for the Trojans.  Tessa Weeldreyer added eight kills.  McKenzie Werner had six kills, while Kylie Martin had five kills.  Rachel Johnson posted 18 assists and 12 digs.  Kaylee Vander Wal had 10 assists.

Chelsey Davis led Dakota State with 18 digs. 

Cori Peterzalek posted a triple-double of 14 kills, 21 assists and 12 digs for Mount Mercy.  Olivia Coe added 13 kills.  Abbie Perez produced 24 assists and 11 digs.  Lauren Stopko had 22 digs and three service aces.

Mount Mercy outhit Dakota State 58-41 in the match.  The Mustangs hit .242 (22 errors in 149 attempts) while the Trojans hit .153 (19 errors in 144 attempts).

The Trojans had seven blocks compared to the Mustangs six blocks.

College of Saint Mary (Neb.) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 1 – FINAL

The Trojans recorded a hitting percentage of .300 (15 kills with 3 errors in 40 attempts) to open up with a 25-17 first set victory.  The Flames were held to negative .024 (6 kills with 7 errors in 42 attempts as DSU grabbed a 1-0 match lead.

CSM rallied back to tie the match at 1-1 after hitting .220 in the second set for 25-19 victory.  The Trojans outhit the Flames 14-13, but DSU committed seven attack errors compared to CSM four attack errors.

College of Saint Mary held on to a 25-22 third set victory to grab a 2-1 match lead.  DSU was unable to force the fifth and decisive set as the Flames held on for a 26-24 fourth set victory.

Tessa Weeldreyer smashed 13 kills and hit. 290 in the match for Dakota State.  She had a double-double in the match, recording 13 digs.  Kirstin Johnson added 10 kills and recorded a hitting efficiency of .476.  Carly Rozell tallied nine kills, while Kylie Martin had seven kills.

Rachel Johnson recorded her third double-double of the season, collecting 22 assists and 10 digs.  Kaylee Vander Wal added 21 assists and 9 digs.

Chelsey Davis led the Trojans' defense with 26 digs.  Allison Thielsen and Hannah Bauer each added 18 digs.

Weeldreyer had four block assists for DSU.  Davis recorded two service aces.

Mallory Babic had a double-double of 13 kills and 20 digs for the Flames.  Elaine Kramer added 12 kills and 9 digs.  Alexis Anderson recorded 9 kills.

Cassidy Yong produced 40 assists for CSM.  She had seven digs and two service aces. 

Bailee Gofta had 26 digs for College of Saint Mary.  Bailee Gofta recorded 20 digs and four services aces. 

Dakota State outhit CSM 55-47 in the match.  The Trojans hit .192 compared to the Flames .146 hitting percentage.

DSU had a season team-high 106 digs in the match, while CSM had 98 digs.  The Flames had six blocks compared to the Trojans four blocks.

Dakota State looks to end their five-match losing skid Saturday as they continue in the CSM/Grace Volleyball Tournament.  The Trojans play York (Neb.) at 12 noon and Southwestern (Kan.) at 2 p.m.  The matches will be held at the Lied Fitness Center.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director