November 5, 2016

FORSET CITY, Iowa – After falling in the opening set by the score of 25-21 at Hanson Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon, Dakota State (S.D.) reeled off three straight set victories for a key 3-1 North Star Athletic Association Volleyball victory over Waldorf (Iowa) in the regular-season finale.  The Trojans won the last three sets by the sores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-14.

Dakota State improved to 12-20 overall record, while Waldorf dropped to 17-21 overall record.  Both teams finished in a two-way tie for sixth-place in the NSAA Volleyball conference standings with a 6-10 record.

The Warriors started the match with an 11-4 lead.  The Trojans answered back with a 6-1 scoring run to cut WU's lead to 12-10, but could not get any closer.  Waldorf won the first set by the score of 25-21.

Dakota State answered back in the second set after earning an 8-3 lead and never looked back.  The Trojans took advantage of 11 WU's attack errors for a 25-19 victory, tying the match at 1-1. 

Both teams went through a see-saw battle in the third set.  Knotted at 17-17, the Trojans used an 8-3 scoring run to gain a 25-20 set three victory and earned a 2-1 match lead.  DSU hit .258 in the third set (12 kills with 4 errors in 31 attempts) while holding WU to .054 hitting percentage (10 kills with 8 errors in 37 attempts).

Dakota State hit an impressive .429 in the fourth set, cruising to a 25-14 victory and secured the match.  The Trojans smashed 14 kills with just two attack errors in 28 attempts.  The Warriors hit .152 in the fourth set with 11 kills and 6 errors in 33 attempts.

Clarissa Blick registered a double-double of 13 kills and 14 digs for DSU.  She hit .323 in the match.  Carly Rozell added 10 kills, two service aces and recorded a hitting percentage of .308.  Kirstin Johnson smashed eight kills and hit .500.  Taylor Stratton had seven kills.  Tessa Weeldreyer recorded six kills.

Kaylee Vander Wal produced 20 set assists for the Trojans.  McKenna DeMoe added 15 assists.

Hannah Bauer led Dakota State's defense with 20 digs.  Chelsey Davis and DeMoe each added eight digs.  Johnson recorded two solo blocks.  Stratton and Weeldreyer each had a block assist.

Rebecca Bartnicki and Megan Perkins each had nine kills for the Warriors.  Mindy Poehler had eight kills.  Elisabeth Tramm tallied 19 set assists and 9 digs.  Valerie Riveral had 14 assists and 6 digs.

Briley Sullivan collected 19 digs for WU.  Erica Fee added 12 digs.

Dakota State outhit Waldorf 47-43 in the match.  The Trojans hit .214 (17 errors in 140 attempts) while the Warriors were held to .076 hitting efficiency (31 errors in 158 attempts).

The Trojans await to hear for the official pairings for the upcoming North Star Athletic Association Volleyball Postseason Tournament.  The top eight teams advance to the postseason conference tournament, with four quarterfinal matches to kick off on Tuesday evening.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director