September 18, 2015
MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) opened up their North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) volleyball conference play Friday evening, visiting Mayville State (N.D.) at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse. DSU's Kirstin Johnson smashed a pair of kills to break up a 14-14 tie into a 16-14 decisive fifth-set victory, gaining a 3-2 thriller on the road.
Dakota State extended their season-high winning streak to four matches and won their second straight road match, raising their overall record to 8-9. Mayville State fell to 5-9 overall record. The Trojans had defeated the Comets for the third time in the last four meetings.
Trailing 21-19 in the first set, DSU scored five straight points – with three coming from Alicia Karst's kills – to earn a 23-22 lead. After the Comets saved DSU's set point to tie at 24-24, the Trojans closed the first set by scoring the final two points by Kylie Martin's and Carly Rozell's kill for a 26-24 victory and a 1-0 match lead.
The Comets and Trojans went through a see-saw battle in the second set, where the Trojans opened up with a 14-10 lead. MSU answered back by scoring five straight points before DSU tied it at 15-15. At 20-20, Mayville State closed with a 5-2 scoring run for a 25-22 victory, evening the match at 1-1.
Dakota State scored the first two points of the third set before Mayville State went on a 10-3 scoring run for a 10-5 lead. The Trojans could not get no closer than two points at 18-16 as Comets held on to a 25-20 third set win, earning a 2-1 match lead.
At 9-9, DSU stormed with an 8-1 scoring run to grab a 17-10 lead – thanks to MSU's four attack errors during Trojans' scoring run. The Trojans held off Comets' late comeback after holding a 24-18 lead, while MSU scored five consecutive points before Tessa Weeldreyer recorded a kill to even the match at 2-2.
Dakota State raced to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set, but the Comets answered back with four straight points to tie at 5-5. Leading 14-13, the Trojans were unable to close the match as Mayville State's Megan Kolness smashed a kill to tie the fifth set at 14-14.
DSU scored the final two points of the fifth set by a pair of kills by Kirstin Johnson for a 16-14 thrilling victory, holding off the Comets for a 3-2 match victory.
A total of 34 ties and 15 lead changes were recorded during the five-set match.
Rozell and Weeldreyer each smashed 15 kills for the Trojans. Rozell had a double-double after recording 19 digs. Kirstin Johnson added 14 kills and recorded an impressive hitting percentage of .407 in the match. McKenzie Werner and Martin each had seven kills.
Rachel Johnson produced 33 set assists for Dakota State. Kaylee Vander Wall added 28 assists.
Chelsey Davis led DSU's defense with 27 kills and just committed one error in 40 receptions. Allison Thielsen collected 17 digs and recorded 23 receptions.
Weeldreyer registered three solo blocks and six block assists for the Trojans. Karst added five block assists. Rozell had a solo block and three block assists.
Dakota State had a season-high 12 service aces in the match, led by Rozell with three service aces. Thielsen, Vander Wal, Weeldreyer and Davis each had two aces.
For Mayville State, Jen Puncochar tallied a double-double of 17 kills and 13 digs. Remington Werner had 14 kills. Stephany Wold recorded 12 kills.
Kolness had a match-high 55 assists and smashed 7 kills for the Comets.
Jordan Johnson led MSU's defense with 35 digs. Gretchen Freed added 17 digs. Sydney Boom had 11 digs.
Kyla Bugner had five block assists for Mayville State. Werner added four block assists and a solo block.
Both teams had 65 kills in the match. MSU hit .207 (65 kills with 27 errors in 184 attempts) compared to DSU .180 hitting percentage (65 kills with 30 errors in 194 attempts).
The Trojans out-blocked the Comets 14-12.
Dakota State continues their NSAA conference action Saturday afternoon as they visit Valley City State (N.D.). First serve is set for 2 p.m. at Graichen Gymnasium in Valley City, N.D. Mayville State hosts Presentation (S.D.) on the same day, starting at 11:30 a.m. at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
