October 24, 2018

YANKTON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) closed out their road regular-season schedule Wednesday evening, earning a 3-1 non-conference victory over in-state rival Mount Marty (S.D.) at Cimpl Arena.  The Trojans won by the scores of 25-22, 16-25, 25-21 and 25-15.

Dakota State won their third straight road match, closing out the road regular-season schedule with a 5-6 record.  DSU lifted their overall record to 14-10, the most victories since 2015 season (20 victories).  Mount Marty dropped their 13th straight match, falling to 3-22 overall record.

DSU recorded their eighth win in the last nine meetings with MMC, including a season series sweep this season.

FIRST SET

Trailing 9-8, Dakota State scored five straight points to open up a 13-8 lead before Mount Marty called its first timeout.  The Trojans' lead grew to 15-10 before the Lancers rallied back to cut DSU's lead down to 23-22.

Mount Marty committed an attack error to give Dakota State a set point (24-22 DSU lead).  The Trojans closed out the first set with a 25-22 victory and 1-0 match lead after a block by Anna Schwint and Kaylee Spreier.

DSU outhit MMC 14-13 in the first set.  The Trojans hit an impressive .344 (14 kills with 3 errors in 32 swings) compared to the Lancers' .267 hitting efficiency (13 kills with 5 errors in 30 attempts).

SECOND SET

Mount Marty used a strong 8-0 scoring surge to break a 6-6 tie into a 14-6 lead.  The Lancers recorded four service aces during their run.

The Trojans could get no closer than four points at 17-13.  MMC closed the second set with an 8-3 run for a 25-16 victory, tying the match at 1-1.

Mount Marty had nine kills with four errors in 28 swings (.179 hitting percentage) in the second set.  Dakota State was held to .000 hitting efficiency (5 kills with 5 errors in 23 attempts).

THIRD SET

Dakota State trailed as many as seven points early in the third set, but stormed back to win the third set.  The Lancers raced to a 9-2 lead before the Trojans mounted back with a 17-8 scoring tear.

With MMC leading 17-14, the Trojans scored five straight points to grab a 19-17 lead and forced the Lancers to burn their second timeout of the third set.  During DSU's 5-0 run, Spreier had two kills while Barbara Briceno and Schwint each added a kill.

The Lancers committed an attack error to end the third set, giving the Trojans a 2-1 match lead after a 25-21 victory.  MMC outhit DSU 15-13 in the set, however, the Trojans hit an amazing .500 by committing just one attack error in 24 swings.  The Lances hit .343 (3 errors in 35 attempts).

FOURTH SET

Dakota State used a strong closing run in the fourth set to secure the match.  Leading 14-13, DSU used an 11-2 outburst for a 25-15 victory.  Samantha Zell had three kills during the Trojans' run, including the match point for DSU's 3-1 victory.

Dakota State smashed 11 kills with 4 errors in 24 attempts for a hitting percentage of .292.  Mount Marty was held to .000 hitting efficiency (8 kills with 8 errors in 30 swings).

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Briceno led Dakota State's offensive attack with 12 kills and hit .450 in the match.  Zell added 10 kills.  Spreier smashed nine kills and hit .500.  Schwint had six kills.

Rachel Johnson contributed 18 set assists for DSU.  Nicole Sarringar added 17 assists.

Alwaise Villa collected 10 digs for the Trojans.  Peyton Groft and Briceno each added eight digs.  Kelsey Pearson and Zell each registered three block assists.  

Elizabeth Watchorn and Bret Woelber each tallied 12 kills for the Lancers.  Caitlin Dirks and Brooke Bennett each added eight kills.  Bennett had 12 digs.  Alex Bargstadt produced a match-high 42 assists.

Mount Marty outhit Dakota State 45-43 in the match.  The Trojans hit .291 with 13 errors in 103 attempts.  The Lancers committed 20 attack errors in 123 swings.

MMC suffered 15 service errors and recorded eight service aces, with four aces coming from Watchorn.  DSU recorded 11 errors from the serving line and had three aces (Johnson, Briceno and Sarringar each had an ace).

DSU had five team blocks (10 block assists) compared to MMC 2 team blocks (4 block assists).

The Trojans won the junior varsity match in three sets.

UP NEXT

Dakota State kicks off their five-match home stand at DSU Fieldhouse with a pair of North Star Athletic Association conference matches.  The Trojans kick off the home stand Friday evening in a key match-up with Valley City State (N.D).  Both teams are tied for third-place in the North Star conference standings with a 6-4 conference record.  First serve is set for 7 p.m.

On Saturday, Dakota State hosts Dickinson State (N.D.) in another North Star conference match at 1 p.m.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director