November 10, 2018

La CROSSE, Wis. – Dakota State (S.D.) and No. 7-ranked Viterbo (Wis.) met seven days later in the North Star Athletic Association Volleyball Postseason Tournament's championship match at R.W. Beggs Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.  The V-Hawks swept past Trojans in three straight sets by the scores of 25-15, 25-23 and 25-19, securing the NSAA's automatic bid to the NAIA Volleyball National Tournament.

Dakota State, third-seeded team in the conference postseason tournament, handed Viterbo its' first-ever North Star conference defeat on Nov. 3 at DSU Fieldhouse, ending their historic 53-match winning conference streak.

The Trojans were playing in their first-ever NSAA volleyball championship match in program history.

FIRST SET

The Trojans opened up the match with a kill by Kelsey Pearson and a service ace by Rachel Johnson for a 2-0 lead and eventually led at 7-5.  The V-Hawks soared with an 11-0 run for a 15-7 lead.

DSU answered back with a 6-1 scoring run to cut VU's lead down to 16-13.  Viterbo would close the first set with a 9-2 run for a 25-15 victory and a 1-0 match lead.

The V-Hawks took advantage of Trojans' 12 attack errors in the first set (minus .211 hitting efficiency with 4 kills in 38 swings).  VU recorded .114 hitting percentage (9 kills wit 5 errors in 35 attempts).

SECOND SET

The Trojans scored the first four points of the second set to gain a 4-0 lead.  After VU cut their deficit to 4-3, DSU went on a 6-1 scoring tear to widen their lead to 10-4.

Viterbo stormed back with a 9-2 run to overtake a 12-11 lead. 

Dakota State fell short as the V-Hawks took the second set by the score of 25-23, extending their match lead to 2-0. 

Viterbo outhit DSU 16-10 in set.  The V-Hawks hit .256 (6 kills in 39 attempts) compared to the Trojans .182 hitting percentage (4 errors in 33 attempts).

THIRD SET

Both teams went through a see-saw battle through the first 21 points in the third set.  With DSU leading 11-10, VU went on a 6-0 scoring team to earn a 16-11 and eventually pulled away. 

Dakota State could not get no closer than three points at 16-13.  Viterbo secured NSAA tournament's championship match for the fourth straight year with a 25-19 victory.

Both teams smashed 11 kills in the third set.  The V-Hawks had a better hitting percentage with .216 (3 errors in 37 swings) compared to the Trojans .047 hitting efficiency (9 errors in 43 attempts).

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Maddie Polzin led Dakota State with seven kills.  Barbara Briceno added six kills, three service aces and ten digs.  Pearson had four kills.

Rachel Johnson posted a double-double of 12 set assists and 10 digs for DSU.  She had a service ace.  Nicole Sarringar had 10 assists.  Alwaise Villa recorded a match-high 12 digs. 

Samantha Zell, Kaylee Spreier and Polzin each tallied three block assists.

Katie Frohmader led the V-Hawks with nine kills.  Miah Garant and Maya Roberts each had eight kills.  Chloe Jakscht had a double-double of 14 assists and 10 digs.  Lauryn Sobasky had 17 assists. 

Lydia Xu registered eight block assists for VU.  Roberts had five block assists, while Garant had four block assists.

Viterbo was held to .198 hitting percentage with 36 kills and 14 errors in 111 attempts.  Dakota State recorded a hitting efficiency of .000 (25 kills with 25 errors in 114 swings).

Both teams had 53 digs in the match. 

The Trojans had a better service percentage, recording 94.9 percent from the serving line with four aces and three errors in 59 serves.  The V-Hawks had a 89 percent service rate with five aces and committed eight errors in 73 attempts.

VU had 10 team blocks compared to DSU six blocks.

Viterbo lifted their overall record to 29-6 and most likely be one of the twelve teams securing a spot in the NAIA Volleyball National Tournament's final site on Nov. 27 through Dec. 1 in Sioux City, Iowa.

Dakota State is 19-13 overall record after going 2-1 record in the conference tournament.  The Trojans were predicted to finish fifth in the conference preseason poll and finished third in the regular-season conference standings.  The Trojans placed second in the conference postseason tournament.

DSU posted three victories over the NAIA's Top 25 nationally-ranked teams this season, including No. 25-ranked Bellevue (Neb.) in the conference tournament's semifinal match last Friday evening.

Dakota State's 19 victories were the most since 2015 season.  The Trojans also had the first winning season since 2015.    

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director