September 1, 2018

SALINA, Kan. – Dakota State (S.D.) outhit William Penn (Iowa) 63-49 in Saturday's nightcap of the LaQuinta/Kansas Wesleyan tournament at Mabee Arena, but fell short in a five-set thriller.  The Lady Statesmen won by the scores of 25-23, 25-21, 12-25, 19-25 and 16-14.

Dakota State fell to 1-2 overall record.  William Penn improved to 4-2 overall record (third straight victory).

William Penn won the first set in a see-saw battle with Dakota State by the score of 25-23.  Both teams smashed 14 kills with 4 errors in 41 attempts for a killing percentage of .244.

With DSU leading 10-9 in the second set, the Lady Statesmen went on a 5-0 scoring tear and pulled away for a 25-21 victory.  William Penn leads the match at 2-0 after hitting .257 (14 kills with 5 errors in 35 attempts) in the second set.  Dakota State hit .128 (13 kills with 8 errors in 39 attempts).

Trailing 7-6 in the third set, the Trojans stormed with a 9-0 scoring outburst to grab a 15-7 lead.  Maddie Polzin and Samantha Zell each had a pair of kills during the scoring run and took advantage of four attack errors by WPU. 

Dakota State would close the third set with a 10-5 run for a 25-12 victory, forcing the fourth set.  The Trojans hit an impressive .353 (15 kills with 3 errors in 34 attempts) and held WPU to negative .061 hitting percentage (6 kills with 8 errors in 33 attempts).

The Trojans scored 11 straight points in the fourth set to break a 5-5 tie into a 16-5 lead.  DSU held off WPU's late rally for a 25-19 victory, forcing the fifth and deciding set. 

Dakota State and William Penn went through 11 ties in a see-saw battle fifth set, with the lead no more than two points (WPU 9-7).  An attack error by the Lady Statesmen gave the Trojans a 14-13 lead.

William Penn saved DSU's match point and went on to close the match with a 3-0 run, securing the fifth set by the score of 16-14. 

Four DSU players smashed double digits in the match.  Polzin led the Trojans with 16 kills.  Zell added 15 kills.  Kaylee Spreier and Barbara Briceno each had 13 kills.

Rachel Johnson contributed a career-high 53 set assists and posted a double-double with 16 digs.  Briceno also had a double-double with 23 digs.  Alwaise Villa collected 18 digs.  Peyton Groft had 10 digs.

Jordan Carter led the Lady Statesmen with 15 kills.  Danielle Pendzinski had 12 kills.  Haley Smith recorded 21 assists while Marie Garcia had 20 digs.

Ashley Miller led WPU's defense with 28 digs.  Corrin Lepper, Kiara Davis and Pendzinski each registered four block assists.

Dakota State hit .198 in the match (63 kills with 27 errors in 182 attempts) compared to William Penn .111 hitting efficiency (49 kills with 30 errors in 171 attempts).

WPU was 92.7 percent from the serving line (8 aces, 7 errors in 96 serves).  DSU recorded 89.9 service percentage (7 aces, 11 errors in 109 attempts).

Dakota State swings back in action Sunday on the second day of the LaQuinta/Kansas Wesleyan tournament.  The Trojans face Haskell (Kan.) at 12 p.m. and close out the tournament with a match versus Graceland (Iowa) at 4 p.m.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director