August 26, 2016

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Dakota State (S.D.) continued their stretch of their non-conference schedule, facing opponents from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Friday in the Red Raider Invitational hosted by Northwestern (Iowa) Friday at Butlman Center.  The Trojans could not get their first win of the season after falling to Briar Cliff (Iowa) in four sets and nationally-ranked No. 13 Dordt (Iowa) in three straight sets.

DSU fell to 0-3 overall record, while Briar Cliff and Dordt are 1-1 after the first day of the tournament.

Briar Cliff (Iowa) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 1 – FINAL

Briar Cliff defeated Dakota State 3-1 in DSU's first tournament match of the day by the scores of 25-21, 19-25, 25-13 and 25-14.

The Chargers and Trojans went back-and-forth in the opening set.  After the 10th tie in the first set at 17-17, Briar Cliff surged by using an 8-4 closing run to secure a 25-21 set one victory and 1-0 match lead.

Dakota State and Briar Cliff went through eight ties in the second set.  At 12-12, the Trojans knotted the match at 1-1 after closing the second set with a 13-7 run to secure a 25-19 victory.  The Chargers were held to negative .054 hitting percentage with 8 kills and 10 errors in 37 attempts.  DSU had 10 kills in the second set.

The Chargers hit .205 in the third set to earn a 25-13 victory, regaining a 2-1 match lead.  BCU outhit DSU 12-7 in the third set.

At 10-10 in the fourth set, Dakota State went on a 4-0 run – thanks to a pair of service aces by Tessa Weeldreyer – to grab a 14-10 lead and forced the Chargers to call timeout.  After the timeout, Briar Cliff scored 15 straight points to secure the match after a 25-14 fourth set victory.  BCU had 14 kills and hit .355 in the set compared to DSU 5 kills and minus 0.098 hitting efficiency.

Weeldreyer smashed a career-high 17 kills and hit .517 in the match for Dakota State.  She also recorded four service aces.  Samantha Zell and Carly Rozell each added five kills.  Kaylee Vander Wal produced 18 set assists, while McKenna DeMoe added 13 assists. 

DeMoe and Clarissa Blick each registered two service aces for the Trojans.  Chelsey Davis led DSU's defense with 23 kills.  Blick added 16 digs.

Kirstin Johnson and Weeldreyer each collected four block assists and a solo block for Dakota State.  Taylor Stratton, Zell, Rozell and Blick each had two block assists.

Courtney Schafer led the Chargers with 12 kills.  Nicolette Lavulo added 11 kills.  Laura Barry earned 13 assists.  Delaney Meyer and Ruthie Schmitt each had nine assists.

Breanne Hankins had a match-high 30 digs for Briar Cliff.  Emily Sanburg and Schafer each had three block assists.

BCU outhit DSU 46-36 in the match.  The Chargers hit .182 (21 errors in 137 attempts) while the Trojans hit .027 (32 errors in 147 swings).

Dakota State recorded 10 blocks compared to Briar Cliff 6 blocks.  The Trojans had eight service aces while the Chargers had seven aces.

#13 Dordt (Iowa) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 0 – FINAL

Dordt (Iowa), ranked No. 13 in the NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 national poll, rolled past Dakota State in the second match of the tournament Friday evening.  The Defenders posted scores of 25-12, 25-14 and 25-18.

Rozell led the Trojans' offense attack with seven kills and .300 hitting percentage.  Weeldreyer and Blick each added four kills.  Vander Wal had 10 assists.  DeMoe added six assists.

Johnson and Weeldreyer each recorded two block assists for Dakota State.  Hannah Bauer earned seven digs, while Davis had six digs.

Brooke Granstra smashed 19 kills for the Defenders.  Julia Lindbergh added 10 kills.  Jamie Gesink had a match-high 33 assists.  Jill Schouten had 13 digs.

Dordt outhit Dakota state 46-20 in the match.  The Defenders hit .340 (13 errors in 97 attempts) while the Trojans hit .069 (14 errors in 87 attempts).

Both teams had five blocks in the match.

Dakota State looks to earn their first win of the season Saturday afternoon as they play in the second day of the Red Raider Invitational.  The Trojans face Doane (Neb.) at 1 p.m. and conclude the tournament with a rematch with Morningside (Iowa) at 5 p.m., where the Mustangs defeated DSU in a five-set marathon last Tuesday at DSU Fieldhouse.  Both matches will be held at Bultman Center in Orange City.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director