November 4, 2016
La CROSSE, Wis. – Dakota State (S.D.) held the North Star Athletic Association's conference leader No. 3 Viterbo (Wis.) to .154 hitting percentage Friday evening at R.W. Beggs Senior Gymnasium, but the V-Hawks held on to sweep the Trojans in three straight sets by the scores of 26-24, 25-17 and 25-15. It was the third straight match that DSU faced the NAIA's Top 25 nationally-ranked team.
Dakota State fell to 11-20 overall record and 5-10 record in North Star conference play. Viterbo, who already claimed the NSAA conference regular-season outright title, won their 32nd straight match to raise their overall record to 35-2 and 15-0 NSAA conference record.
The V-Hawks opened up with a five-point lead at 9-4 in the opening set, but the Trojans answered back by using a 13-8 run to tie at 17-17. Both teams went back-and-forth before VU secured the first set by winning the final two points at 26-24. The V-Hawks were held to .041 hitting percentage (13 kills with 11 errors in 49 attempts) while DSU hit .022 (10 kills with 9 errors in 46 attempts).
Tied at 10-10 in the second set, Viterbo used an 8-1 run to grab an 18-11 lead and never looked back. The V-Hawks took a 2-0 match lead after winning the second set at 25-17.
With DSU leading 3-2 in the second set, VU went on a 7-1 outburst and sealed the match by winning 25-15.
Clarissa Blick smashed nine kills and collected nine digs for Dakota State. Carly Rozell added seven kills. Taylor Stratton had four kills. McKenna DeMoe produced 16 assists, while Kaylee Vander Wal added eight assists.
Chelsey Davis led the Trojans' defense with 17 digs. Hannah Bauer added 13 digs. Kirstin Johnson and Tessa Weeldreyer each registered four block assists. Rozell had three block assists. Blick and Stratton each had two block assists.
Sara Biermaier had a match-high 20 kills for the V-Hawks. Aubrey Aspen added seven kills. Amelia Grahn tallied a double-double of 31 set assists and 18 digs.
Baylee Gross collected 20 digs for VU. Danielle Green recorded eight block assists.
Viterbo outhit Dakota State 41-27 in the match. The V-Hawks committed 22 attack errors in 123 attempts while the Trojans hit .016 (25 attack errors in 126 attempts). VU had 10 team blocks compared to DSU 8 team blocks.
Dakota State concludes their regular-season schedule Saturday afternoon. The Trojans visit Waldorf (Iowa) in the North Star Athletic Association conference action. First serve from the Hanson Fieldhouse is set for 3 p.m. in Forest City, Iowa.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
