November 10, 2017
La CROSSE, Wis. – No. 3 seed Bellevue (Neb.) outhit No. 6 seed Dakota State (S.D.) 60-35 Friday morning, ending Trojans' volleyball season at the North Star Athletic Association Volleyball Postseason Tournament's quarterfinals at R.W. Beggs Senior Gymnasium on the campus of Viterbo (Wis.). The Bruins won by the scores of 25-5, 25-22, 24-26 and 25-21.
FIRST SET
Bellevue, ranked No. 22 in the latest NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, raced to a 9-0 lead in the opening set and never looked back. The Bruins held the Trojans to five points in the first set, cruising to a 1-0 match lead after a 25-5 set one victory.
BU outhit DSU 14-2 in the first set. Bellevue hit .414 by committing just two attack errors in 29 swings. Dakota State was held to minus .167 hitting percentage (7 attack errors in 30 attempts).
SECOND SET
Dakota State and Bellevue went through a see-saw battle in the second set. Knotted at 10-10, DSU went on a 4-0 scoring to earn a 14-10 lead. The Bruins would answer back with a 6-2 run to tie at 16-16.
At 20-20, Bellevue closed the second set with a 5-2 run to extend their match lead to 2-0 after a 25-22 victory. The Bruins hit .258 (13 kills with 5 errors in 31 attempts) compared to the Trojans .194 hitting efficiency (11 kills with 5 errors in 31 swings) in the second set.
THIRD SET
Third set was almost the similar story in the second set with both teams battling back-and-forth. At 13-13, DSU went on a 4-0 run to gain a 17-13 lead over BU. The Bruins rallied back with a 10-4 run to regain their lead at 23-21.
A pair of miscues by BU helped DSU tied at 23-23. After a kill by Bruin Michaela Gardner for 24-23 lead, the Trojans saved BU's match point after Gardner's hitting error that resulted from a block assist by Gabby Herlyn and Anna Schwint.
Dakota State earned a 25-24 lead after another hitting error by Gardner. The Trojans extended the match into the fourth set at 26-24 after another block assist by Schwint and Jazmayne Williams.
DSU hit .150 in the third set with 12 kills and 6 errors in 40 attempts. BU was held to .093 hitting efficiency with 14 kills, but committed 10 attack errors in 43 swings.
FOURTH SET
Bellevue opened the fourth set with three straight points and never trailed to secure the victory. BU widen their lead to 20-13 before DSU scored four consecutive points to cut BU's lead to 20-17, but could get no closer.
The Bruins smashed 19 kills in the fourth set and hit .260 (6 errors in 50 attempts). The Trojans had 10 kills with 4 errors in 42 attempts (.143 hitting percentage).
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Kaylee Spreier paced the Trojans' offensive attack with eight kills. She hit .227 in the match. Bailee Steffensen, Herlyn and Williams each added six kills. Samantha Zell added five kills.
Rachel Johnson produced 15 set assists for DSU. Kendra Steffen added 10 assists. Johnson and Steffen each had four digs.
Williams led Dakota State's defense with 16 digs. Steffensen added 12 digs. Carly Rozell recorded 11 digs.
Zell and Herlyn each had two block assists for DSU. Steffen, Steffensen and Rozell each registered two service aces.
Garnder pounded with 21 kills for Bellevue. Andrea Carson added a double-double of 12 kills and 16 digs. Shayla Scanlan had 11 kills.
Maddie Squiers posted a double-double of 42 assists and 12 assists for BU. Fabiola Aviles collected 12 digs. Taylor Holz had 13 digs.
Mikaylah Gillespie had a solo block and five block assists for the Bruins. Scanlan added six block assists.
Bellevue hit .242 in the match (60 kills with 23 errors in 153 attempts) compared to Dakota State .091 hitting percentage (35 kills with 22 errors in 143 attempts).
The Bruins had 11 blocks, while the Trojans had 7 blocks. BU collected 75 digs. DSU had 57 digs.
ROZELL'S FINAL MATCH
It was the final career collegiate match for Trojan senior Carly Rozell. She finished as DSU's all-time kills leader with 1,481 kills. She also finished with 1,051 digs, 128 aces and 295 blocks during her impressive four-year career at Dakota State. Rozell was the first four-time North Star Volleyball All-Conference recipient.
Dakota State finished its 2017 season with an overall record of 12-24 (6-10 record in North Star conference matches). It was the seventh time in the last eight seasons that the Trojans finished the season with double-digit wins.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
