September 28, 2016

Photos credits by Nicholas Hauser and Kaden Huntrods

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) hit .323 Wednesday evening, cruising past in-state rival Mount Marty (S.D.) in three consecutive sets at DSU Fieldhouse (as part of DSU Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night).  The Trojans won their second straight match after defeating the Lancers 25-19, 25-18 and 25-18.

Dakota State improved to 4-12 overall record.  Mount Marty, a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, dropped their fourth straight match and fell to 6-11 overall record.

Trailing 5-2 in the opening set, the Trojans went on a 6-1 scoring spurt to grab an 8-6 lead.  During the scoring run, the Trojans got a pair of kills by Tessa Weeldreyer and a pair of service aces by Carly Rozell.  Taylor Stratton also recorded a service ace during DSU's scoring run.

The Trojans hit an astounding .591 after earning a 25-19 win for a 1-0 match lead.  DSU smashed 13 kills with no errors in 22 attempts.  Mount Marty had 14 kills with 4 errors in 28 attempts for a hitting percentage of .357.

Dakota State fell behind 9-3 in the second set.  After scoring three straight points to trim MMC's lead to 9-6, the Lancers took a 10-6 lead after a kill by Brooke Bennett.

The Trojans went on to score nine straight points – with five coming from Lancers' attack errors – to overtake a 15-10 lead.  MMC could get no closer than three points at 15-12 and 17-14 as the Trojans closed the second set with an 8-4 run for a 25-18 victory, extending DSU's match lead to 2-0.

Dakota State outhit Mount Marty 13-9 in the second set.  The Trojans registered a hitting efficiency of .276 (5 errors in 29 attempts) while holding the Lancers to minus .062 (11 errors in 32 attempts).

Both DSU and MMC went back-and-forth through the first 30 points of the third set.  Down 16-14, the Trojans scored six consecutive points to overtake a 20-16 lead over MMC.  Stratton had a service ace, Clarissa Blick produced a kill, and Blick, Weeldreyer and Kylie Martin each recorded a block assist during DSU's scoring run.

The Trojans would close the third set with an 11-2 outburst for a 25-18 victory, securing the match in three sets sweep over the Lancers.

DSU outhit MMC 15-9 in the third set.  The Trojans produced a hitting efficiency of .229 (4 errors in 48 attempts) while the Lancers were held to .093 (5 errors in 43 attempts).

Weeldreyer and Blick each smashed 10 kills for Dakota State.  Blick recorded a hitting percentage of .435 while Weeldreyer hit .368 in the match.  Kirstin Johnson added 7 kills while hitting .462.  Carly Rozell also had 7 kills. 

Kaylee Vander Wal produced 16 set assists for the Trojans.  McKenna DeMoe added 15 assists.

Chelsey Davis led DSU's defense with 16 digs.  Bailee Steffensen added eight digs. 

Rozell registered a match-high four service aces for Dakota State.  Stratton added two aces.  Vander Wal and Weeldreyer each had a service ace.

Johnson and Weeldreyer each recorded three block assists for the Trojans.  Martin and Blick each added two block assists.

Sierra Kloth led the Lancers with 10 kills and a hitting percentage of .300.  Bennett added eight kills.  Rachel Reiff and Hillary Thege each had five kills. 

Amber Dysthe had 14 assists for MMC.  Lindsey Jaixen added 10 assists and two service aces.  Taylor Murtha also had two service aces.

Bre Thege collected 13 digs for Mount Marty.  Morgan Hay added 10 digs.

Dakota State racked up a total of 41 kills in the match and committed just nine attack errors in 99 attempts.  Mount Marty hit .117 in the match with 32 kills and 20 errors in 103 attempts.

The Trojans had 49 digs and 8 service aces in the match.  The Lancers recorded 44 digs and 5 service aces.

DSU registered six blocks while MMC had one block.

Both teams will be meeting for the second meeting one month later on Oct. 27 in Yankton, S.D.

Dakota State resumes back to North Star Athletic Association conference action this weekend with a pair of matches in North Dakota.  The Trojans will make a visit to Dickinson State (N.D.) on Friday evening.  First serve is set for 8 p.m. (Central Time)/7 p.m. (Mountain Time) at Scott Gymnasium.

On Saturday afternoon, Dakota State travels to No. 22-ranked Jamestown (N.D.) for a 3 p.m. match-up at the Hansen Center.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director