September 13, 2016
VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) and Valley City State (N.D.) opened up the North Star Athletic Association volleyball conference season Tuesday evening at Graichen Gymnasium. The Vikings registered .386 hitting percentage, 8 service aces and 8 blocks to sweep the Trojans in three straight sets by the scores of 25-12, 25-18 and 26-24.
Dakota State fell to 2-10 overall record and 0-1 NSAA conference record. Valley City State lifted their overall record to 2-7 and 1-0 NSAA record.
The Vikings raced to a 16-3 lead in the opening set and never looked back for a 25-12 victory. VCSU hit .647 (12 kills with 1 error in 17 attempts) in the set and recorded six service aces. DSU was .125 hitting efficiency (7 kills with 5 errors in 16 attempts).
DSU and VCSU tied the second set 10 times. Knotted at 16-16, Valley City State used a 9-2 scoring surge to close the set with a 25-18 to take a 2-0 match lead. Valley City State outhit Dakota State 13-9 and .478 to .057.
Dakota State could not convert their set point opportunity at 24-23 as the Vikings closed out the match by scoring the final three points of the third set. A total of seven ties were recorded in the third set.
Carly Rozell smashed nine kills and hit .300 in the match for the Trojans. Clarissa Blick added five kills. Tessa Weeldreyer recorded four kills. Kirstin Johnson and Kylie Martin each had three kills.
Kaylee Vander Wal produced 13 assists and a service ace for DSU. McKenna DeMoe had seven assists. Hannah Bauer earned a service ace.
Chelsey Davis led Dakota State's defense with seven digs.
Megan Johnson recorded nine kills for the Vikings. Clarissa Olson, Autumn Johnson and Taylor Sharp each had seven kills. Taylor Balkan collected 16 assists, while Meagan Schwarzrock had 15 assists.
Jaycee George collected 10 digs for VCSU.
Hailie Wilds led Valley City State with three service aces. Nicolette Bloomer and Schwarzrock each had two service aces.
Olson registered three block solos for the Vikings. Bloomer had a solo block and three block assists.
VCSU outhit DSU 38-27 in the match. The Trojans hit .120 (18 errors in 75 attempts), while the Vikings committed 11 errors in 70 swings.
Valley City State recorded .930 service percentage with eight service aces and five service errors in 71 attempts. Dakota State was 84.9 percent from the serving line (2 service aces and 8 errors in 53 attempts).
Dakota State looks to bounce back in the winning column Friday evening as they continue their NSAA conference play on the road. The Trojans visit Mayville State (N.D.) at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Mayville, N.D.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director