October 21, 2017

OMAHA, Neb. – Dakota State (S.D.) smashed a total of 105 kills Saturday afternoon, fueling to a pair of 3-0 sweeps over Bethel (Kan.) and Grace (Neb.) in a triangular held at Jim Classen Gymnasium.  The Trojans earned their fourth victory in the last five matches.

Dakota State, which concluded their non-conference schedule Saturday, improved to 9-20 overall record.  Bethel fell to 6-19 overall record, while Grace dropped to 6-20 overall record.

The Trojans return back to the North Star Athletic Association conference action on Tuesday evening.  DSU plays their last road regular-season match, visiting Mayville State (N.D.) with a junior varsity match at 5 p.m., followed by a varsity match at 7 p.m.

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Bethel (Kan.) 0 – FINAL (25-22, 25-22, 25-17)

After falling behind 12-5 in the opening set versus Bethel of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC), Dakota State stormed back with a 14-6 to earn a 19-18 lead.  At 20-20, the Trojans closed the first set with a 5-2 run for a 25-22 victory and 1-0 match lead.

DSU outhit BU 20-12 in the first set.  The Trojans hit .366 (5 attack errors in 41 attempts) compared to Threshers .257 hitting efficiency (3 errors in 35 attempts).

Dakota State and Bethel went through a see-saw battle in the second set.  The Trojans extended their match lead to 2-0 after a 25-22 set two victory.  DSU smashed 18 kills (.343 hitting efficiency) in the second set compared to BU 8 kills (.238 hitting percentage).

Knotted at 6-6 in the third set, DSU used an 8-1 scoring outburst to grab a 14-7 lead and never looked back.  Dakota state secured the match after a 25-17 set third victory.  DSU outhit BU 17-6 in the third set.

Three Dakota State players recorded double-digits kills, led by Carly Rozell with 13 kills.  She hit .400 in the match.  Samantha Zell added 12 kills and recorded an impressive .579 hitting efficiency.  Maddie Polzin had 10 kills with a hitting percentage of .714.  Anna Schwint had eight kills.  Kaylee Spreier and Jazmayne Williams each had six kills.

Rachel Johnson contributed a season-high 34 set assists for the Trojans.  Kendra Steffen added 16 assists.  Rozell had two service aces.  Johnson, Alwaise Villa and Williams each registered a service ace.

Williams led DSU's defense with nine digs.  Rozell and Villa each had seven digs.  Zell had a solo block and three block assists.

Abby Kurtzer and Katie Neira each had eight kills for the Threshers.  Kelsie Anderson produced 21 assists.  Avery Myatt recorded three service aces.  Rachel Bustillos collected 15 digs.

Dakota State powered with 55 kills in the match and recorded a season-high .336 hitting percentage (16 errors in 116 attempts).  Bethel recorded a hitting efficiency of .156 (26 kills with 12 errors in 90 attempts).

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Grace (Neb.) 0 – FINAL (25-14, 25-22, 25-19)

Dakota State and Grace met again eight days later after the first meeting (DSU swept Grace at DSU Fieldhouse on Oct. 13).  The Trojans completed the season series sweep over the Royals with a three-set victory at Jim Classen Gymnasium.

Trailing 11-9 in the first set, Dakota State roared with a 16-3 outburst for a 25-14 set one victory.  The Trojans hit an impressive .400 hitting percentage with 20 kills while only committed 4 attack errors in 40 attempts.  The Royals were held to .077 hitting efficiency (8 kills with 5 errors in 39 attempts).

DSU's match lead grew to 2-0 after holding off Grace 25-22 in the second set.  The Trojans had 15 kills compared to the Royals 14 kills.

Holding an 18-16 lead in the third set, DSU closed the match with a 7-3 scoring run for a 25-19 victory.  Dakota State outhit Grace 15-12.

Rozell posted a double-double of 19 kills and collected 19 digs for DSU.  She hit .444 in the match.  Spreier added 10 kills and registered a killing efficiency of .318.  Zell had seven kills.  Polzin had six kills.

Johnson produced 28 assists, while Steffen had 20 assists for the Trojans.  Johnson, Mallory Testerman, Rozell and Williams each recorded a service ace.

Spreier had two block assists for Dakota State.  Polzin, Zell, Rozell and Schwint each had a block assist.

Aaliyah Dunbar led the Royals with 10 kills and registered a hitting percentage of .409.  Becca Entz had nine kills.  Alicia Peirece had eight kills.  Taylor Thompson had a double-double of 32 assists and 10 digs. 

Chloe Corbet had 22 digs for GU.  Dunbar had three block assists.

Dakota State smashed 50 kills in the match compared to Grace 34 kills.  The Trojans hit .283 (14 errors in 127 attempts) while the Royals hit .146 (16 kills in 123 attempts).

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director