September 10, 2016

OMAHA, Neb. – Dakota State (S.D.) completed the College of Saint Mary (Neb.)/Grace (Neb.) Volleyball Tournament with another split on Saturday at Lied Activity Center.  The Trojans fell to William Penn (Iowa) in four sets (31-29, 25-20, 11-25 and 25-23), but bounced back in the winning column with a four-set victory over host-team College of Saint Mary in four sets (22-25, 25-23, 25-15 and 25-23).

Dakota State finished the tournament with a 2-2 record, improving their overall record to 2-9.  William Penn is 3-9 overall record after the victory, while CSM fell to 5-3 overall record.

The Trojans remain on the road Tuesday as they open up the North Star Athletic Association volleyball conference play.  DSU travels to Valley City State (N.D.) with the first serve set for 7 p.m. at Graichen Gymnasium in Valley City, N.D.

William Penn (Iowa) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 1 – FINAL

The Statesmen won a thrilling opening set by a score of 31-29.  DSU outhit WPU 16-15 in the first set, but committed 15 attack errors compared to WPU 11 attack errors.

William Penn took a 2-0 match lead over Dakota State after winning the second set 25-20.  WPU smashed 18 kills in the set compared to DSU 14 kills.

Dakota State extended the match into fourth set after hitting an impressive .440 (14 kills with 3 errors in 25 attempts), cruising to a 25-11 set three victory.  The Statesmen was held to negative .115 hitting percentage (5 kills with 8 errors in 26 swings).

The Trojans fell short in the fourth set by two points at 25-23, securing the match victory for William Penn.  WPU tallied 16 kills in the set.  DSU had 12 kills.

Tessa Weeldreyer led the Trojans with 17 kills and a hitting percentage of .361.  Samantha Zell added 13 kills and recorded .313 hitting efficiency.  Taylor Stratton smashed eight kills.  Kylie Martin had six kills.

Kaylee Vander Wal and McKenna DeMoe each produced 20 set assists for Dakota State.  Vander Wal posted a double-double with 11 digs.

Hannah Bauer collected 19 digs for DSU.  She also had two service aces.  Chelsey Davis tallied nine digs.

Weeldreyer recorded five block assists for Dakota State.  Zell and Carly Rozell each had four block assists.

Claire Simmons earned 19 kills for WPU.  Savanna Hartman added 15 kills.  Kathleen Steffen collected 23 assists, while Haley Smith had a double-double of 20 assists and 10 digs.

Ashley Miller led Statesmen's defense with 24 digs. 

The Trojans outhit Statesmen 56-54 in the match.  DSU hit better than WPU, hitting .158 (29 errors in 171 attempts) in the match compared to WPU's .121 (33 errors in 173 attempts).

DSU had 11 blocks while WPU had 7 blocks.

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

The Flames opened up the match with a 1-0 lead after winning the first set at 25-22.  CSM hit .286 (16 kills with 4 errors in 42 attempts) while DSU hit .179 (15 kills with 8 errors in 39 attempts).

Dakota State knotted the match at 1-1 after earning a 25-23 set two victory. 

The Trojans would take a 2-1 lead after dominating the third set at 25-15.  DSU hit .313 in the set (15 kills with 5 errors in 32 attempts) compared to CSM .048 hitting efficiency (9 kills with 7 errors in 42 attempts).

DSU hangs on to win set four at 25-23, securing a four-set victory.  It was the first road victory of the season for the Trojans.

Rozell led Dakota State's offense with 16 kills and hit .519 in the match.  Clarissa Blick added a double-double of 10 kills and 11 digs.  Weeldreyer had 7 kills.  Kirstin Johnson recorded six kills. 

Vander Wal registered a double-double of 27 set assists and 10 digs for the Trojans. 

Davis had a match-high 31 digs for DSU.  Bauer added 18 digs.

Johnson led the Trojans with six block assists.  Rozell recorded five block assists. 

Dani Carlson earned 17 kills for the Flames.  Allie Majerus added 13 kills.  Cassidy Yong had a double-double of 38 assists and 13 digs.  Payton Robley led CSM with 15 digs. 

Dakota State hit .199 in the match, smashing 51 kills with 22 errors in 146 swings.  College of Saint Mary was held to .101 hitting percentage (48 kills with 30 errors in 178 attempts).

The Trojans recorded six service aces (two from Rozell and Blick) compared to the Flames' three service aces.

DSU had 9.5 team blocks in the match while CSM had 6 team blocks.

Dakota State collected 88 digs compared to College of Saint Mary 67 digs.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director