September 8, 2018

OMAHA, Neb. – Dakota State (S.D.) outhit St. Mary (Kan.) 58-42 in 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon in the second match of the College of Saint Mary (Neb.) triangular at Lied Fitness Center.  The Trojans finished the day with a split, defeating Spires by the scores of 25-18, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-21.

Dakota State improved their overall record to 4-3, their fourth win in the last six matches.  St. Mary, a member of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, fell to 5-5 overall record.

Knotted at 16-16, the Trojans closed the first set by using a 9-2 run for a 25-18 victory and a 1-0 match lead.  DSU hit .256 in the opening set (15 kills with 5 errors in 39 attempts), while holding USM to .179 hitting efficiency (9 kills with 4 errors in 28 attempts).

St. Mary won a see-saw battle in the second set, hanging on to a 25-25 victory to even the match at 1-1.  Despite the second set defeat, the Trojans outhit the Spires 17-13.  DSU committed six attack errors while USM had four attack miscues.

The Trojans shook off their slow start in the third set and went on to regain a 2-1 lead after a 25-20 victory.  DSU recorded a hitting percentage of .229 (13 kills with 5 errors in 35 attempts) and held USM to .027 hitting efficiency (8 kills with 7 errors in 37 attempts).

Tied at 16-16 in the fourth set, Dakota State went on to score three straight points for a 19-16 lead and never looked back.  DSU won by the score of 25-21 to secure a 3-1 match win.  DSU outhit USM 13-12 in the fourth set.

DSU's Barbara Briceno smashed a season-high 19 kills and posted her second double-double of the day with 18 digs.  Kaylee Spreier and Maddie Polzin each added 12 kills.  Samantha Zell had seven kills. 

Nicole Sarringar contributed 25 set assists for the Trojans.  Rachel Johnson added 22 assists and collected eight digs.

Alwaise Villa tallied 23 digs for Dakota State.  Spreier registered seven block assists and four service aces.  Peyton Groft had 11 digs.  Polzin recorded five block assists.  Gabby Herlyn had four block assists.

Aly Camacho had nine kills for Saint Mary.  Lexi Schamberger and Cali Barger each added eight kills.  Bailey Wright produced a double-double of 25 assists and 12 digs.  Ashley Van Gieson registered a double-double of 10 assists and 12 digs.  Katy Koepke had 15 digs.

Dakota State recorded a hitting percentage of .197 (58 kills with 24 errors in 173 swings) in the match.  St, Mary had a hitting efficiency of .129 (42 kills with 23 errors in 147 attempts).  The Trojans had 10 blocks compared to the Spires four blocks. 

DSU had seven service aces while USM had three service aces.

Dakota State plays its home opener on Wednesday evening, opening up their North Star Athletic Association conference play.  The Trojans host No. 24-ranked Bellevue (Neb.) at DSU Fieldhouse.  First serve is set for 7 p.m.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director