October 20, 2018

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) hit season-highs kills (79), assists (76) and digs (114) in 3-2 North Star Athletic Association volleyball contest at Mayville State (N.D.) Saturday afternoon at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.  The Trojans won their second straight NSAA conference matches, winning by the scores of 21-25, 25-19, 26-28, 25-14 and 15-12.

Dakota State, who kicked off the NSAA's second-half portion of the conference schedule with a 3-0 record, raised their overall record to 13-10.  The Trojans surpassed last season and two years ago wins total (each year with 12 wins) and recorded its most wins since 2015 (20 victories).  Mayville State suffered their second straight five-set NSAA home match (lost to Bellevue, Neb. on Oct. 19), falling to 17-13 overall record.

Coupled with Valley City State's (N.D.) 3-2 heartbreaker home loss to No. 7 Viterbo (Wis.) Saturday, the Trojans and the Vikings are currently in a tie for third place in the NSAA conference standings with a 6-4 record.  The Comets are in a two-way tie for fifth with Dickinson State (N.D.) with a 3-7 NSAA conference record.

FIRST SET

The first set saw a roller coaster series of runs by the Comets and the Trojans.  MSU opened up the match by scoring five straight points for a 5-0 lead before the Trojans answered back with a 7-3 run (8-7 MSU lead).

Mayville State then outscored Dakota State 10-2 to grab an 18-9 lead.  DSU went on an 11-4 run to curt MSU's lead to 22-20, but the Comets secured the first set by the score of 25-21 for a 1-0 match lead.

Both teams registered 13 kills in the first set.  The Comets hit .136 with seven attack errors in 44 swings.  The Trojans committed 11 attack errors in 46 attempts for a hitting percentage of .043.

SECOND SET

Dakota State and Mayville State went through nine ties early in the second set.  Trailing 9-8, the Trojans went on a 6-1 scoring tear to grab a 14-10 lead and never looked back.  Leading 19-17, DSU evened the match at 1-1 after closing the second set with a 6-2 run for a 25-19 victory.

The Trojans outhit the Comets 20-9 in the second set.  DSU registered a hitting percentage of .271 (7 errors in 48 attempts) compared to MSU .116 hitting efficiency (4 errors in 43 attempts).

THIRD SET

Dakota State opened up the third set with a 6-2 lead.  Mayville State rallied back to tie the third set at 10-10.  The Trojans then went on a 6-1 outburst to make it 16-11.

With DSU leading 16-12, Mayville State stormed back by scoring six consecutive points for an 18-17 lead.

Dakota State could not convert their two set point opportunities at 24-23 and 25-24.  The Comets scored the Trojans 4-1 for a 28-26 thriller, earning a 2-1 match lead.

DSU outhit MSU 21-10 in the third set.  However, the Trojans committed 12 attack errors in 49 swings for a hitting efficiency of .184.  The Comets hit .150 with four attack errors in 40 attempts.

FOURTH SET

Down 9-6 in the fourth set, Dakota State roared back by using a 19-5 outburst for a 25-14 victory to force the fifth and deciding set.  During the scoring outburst, DSU had scored five straight points (trailing 9-6 for 11-9 lead) and eight consecutive points (leading 11-10 and ballooned to 19-10). 

The Trojans hit .250 (16 kills with 6 errors in 40 attempts) and held the Comets to .000 hitting percentage (7 kills with 7 errors in 40 attempts).

FIFTH SET

The Comets opened up the deciding set with a 3-1.  The Trojans used a strong 9-1 scoring surge to earn a 10-4 lead.

DSU held an 11-6 lead before MSU rallied back with a 5-1 run to cut Trojans' lead to 12-11.  An attack error by the Comets followed by Samantha Zell's kill put DSU up 14-11. 

The Trojans closed the match with a kill by Barbara Briceno for a 15-12 thriller over the Comets, earning the North Star season series sweep. 

Dakota State hit .263 in the fifth set (9 kills with 4 errors in 19 swings).  Mayville State registered a hitting percentage of .158 (7 kills with 4 errors in 19 attempts).

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Four Dakota State recorded double-digit kills in the match, led by Maddie Polzin with a career-high 23 kills.  Briceno added 19 kills and hit .289 in the match.  Zell smashed 13 kills.  Anna Schwint added 10 kills and recorded a hitting percentage of .333.  Kelsey Pearson had eight kills.  Kaylee Spreier tallied seven kills.

Rachel Johnson produced a double-double with a game-high 44 set assists and 14 digs for the Trojans.  Nicole Sarringar also had a double-double of 22 assists and 11 digs.    She also had two service aces.

Alwaise Villa paced DSU's defense with 31 digs (tied for season-high).  Brinceo added a double-double with 21 digs.  Peyton Groft had 14 digs. 

Spreier and Zell each collected five blocks (1 solo, 4 assists) for Dakota State.  Polzin recorded four block assists.  Schwint added a solo block and three block assists.

Hannah Bliss and Cassidy Miller each tallied 11 kills for the Comets.  Kiana Johnson added nine kills.  Jana Mehus had 37 set assists.

Jayden Warner had a match-high 39 digs for MSU.  Mason Hart added 14 digs.  Miller (3 solo, 5 assists) and Victoria Jonson (4 solo, 4 assists) each had eight blocks.

Dakota State outhit Mayville State by more than 30 kills (79-46).  The Trojans hit .193 in the match, committing 40 attack errors in 202 attempts.  The Comets had 26 attack errors in 186 attempts for a hitting percentage of .108.

DSU was 97.3 percent from the serving line, recording three aces and three errors in 112 serves.  MSU was 96.6 service percentage (2 aces with 3 errors in 98 attempts).

The Trojans posted a season-high 114 digs compared to the Comets' 81 digs. 

Mayville State registered 16 team blocks (7 solo, 18 assists) compared to Dakota State 13 blocks (5 solo, 16 assists).

FOR THE RECORD

Dakota State's 79 kills is tied for the third-most kills in a single match since Oct. 27, 2005 versus Jamestown (N.D.).  DSU had recorded more than 70 kills in both meetings with Mayville State this season (156 total kills in both meetings this season).

The Trojans also tied the single-match record for most set assists with 76 since Oct. 27, 2004 versus Si Tanka-Huron (S.D.).

DSU's 13 team blocks tied for season-high (versus Dakota Wesleyan, S.D. on Sept. 26).

Dakota State had 114 digs in the match, which is the most digs since Oct. 23, 2015 when the Trojans recorded 136 digs at Presentation (S.D.). 

UP NEXT

Dakota State wraps up their road schedule Wednesday evening, visiting in-state rival Mount Marty (S.D.).  There will be a junior varsity match at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity match at 7:30 p.m.  Both matches will be held at Cimpl Arena in Yankton.

DSU returns home next weekend to kick off their five-match home stand at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans host Valley City State in a key North Star conference battle on Friday at 7 p.m.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director