November 8, 2019

PHOTO GALLERY - Photos credits by Cody Welu and Donald Weidler

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) and No. 13-ranked Bellevue (Neb.) was a match that was undecided with the final seeding for the upcoming North Star Athletic Association volleyball conference postseason tournament next weekend at Watertown Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D.  After dropping the first set, the Trojans posted its fourth straight upset over the Bruins in four sets on Senior Night Friday evening at DSU Fieldhouse.

Set scores were 21-25, 26-24, 25-20 and 26-24.  Prior to the match, the Trojans were one match behind the Bruins.  With the victory, DSU earned its season series sweep over BU and produced its fourth straight upset victory for the Trojans over the nationally-ranked team Bruins.

It was also the first home victory for the Trojans over the Bruins since Oct. 10, 2015.  Dakota State finished its home schedule with a 7-4 record, their second straight year with the identical winning home record at DSU Fieldhouse.

Dakota State, receiving votes in the latest NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, wrapped up their regular-season with an overall record of 18-11.  Bellevue fell to 25-7 overall record.  Each team finished with a tie for second-place with a 10-4 record in the NSAA conference standings, but the Trojans secured the tiebreaker.

Dakota State awaits the winner of No. 3 seed Bellevue (Neb.) and No. 6 seed Waldorf (Iowa), which will be played in the quarterfinal round at 10 a.m. next Friday (Nov. 15) in the NSAA volleyball postseason tournament in Watertown.

DSU is scheduled to play in the semifinals round at 5 p.m.  The championship match is set for Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.

(RV) Dakota State (S.D.) 3, (13) Bellevue (Neb.) 1 – FINAL (21-25, 26-24, 25-20, 26-24)

• Dakota State opened the match with an 8-2 match lead, sparked by back-to-back kills by Kelsey Pearson to start the first set.
• Trailing 17-11, the Bruins mounted a furious comeback by closing the first set with a 14-4 outburst for a 25-21 victory.  DSU outhit BU 11-10, however, both teams struggled offensively.  BU hit .083 (7 errors in 36 swings) compared to DSU .000 hitting efficiency (11 errors in 34 attempts).
• Bellevue raced to a 4-0 lead in the second set, thanks to three attack errors committed by the Trojans.  Dakota State would answer back with a 7-1 run to take a 7-5 lead.
• Both teams battled back and forth for the rest of the second set.  At 20-20, DSU went on a 4-1 scoring run to take a 24-21 lead.  The Bruins saved three set points, capped by Andrea Carson's kill to knot at 24-24.  Barbara Briceno smashed a kill to give DSU a 25-24 lead, followed by an attack error by the Bruins to give Trojans 26-24 victory.  DSU evened the match at 1-1.
• Dakota State smashed 16 kills in the second set, recording a hitting percentage of .152 (9 errors in 46 attempts).  Bellevue hit .150 with 12 kills and 6 errors in 40 swings.
• Holding a 12-11 lead in the third set, the Trojans pulled away after using a 6-2 scoring run for an 18-13 lead after a kill by Pearson.  The Bruins could get no closer than four points at 24-20 before Pearson closed the third set with a kill to give DSU a 2-1 match lead after a 25-20 victory.
• Dakota State hit an impressive .324 (6 errors in 34 attempts), outhitting Bellevue 17-9.  The Bruins were held to .160 hitting percentage (9 kills with 5 errors in 25 swings).
• Tied at 8-8, DSU went on an 8-2 scoring tear (including three straight attacking errors by BU) to widen their lead to 16-10.  With DSU leading 17-11, Bellevue went on to score four straight points to cut Dakota State's lead to 17-15.
• Trailing 24-21, Bellevue saved three DSU's match point chances to knot at 24-24.  The Trojans ended the scoring drought with two consecutive kills by Briceno, securing the match at 3-1 after a 26-24 victory.  Both teams had 14 kills in the fourth set.
• Four Trojan players hit double-digit in kills.  Briceno paced Dakota State with a double-double of 19 kills and collected 19 digs.  Maddie Polzin and Hanna Jellema each added 11 kills.  Pearson had 10 kills.  Samantha Zell had five kills.
• Rachel Johnson produced a double-double of 26 set assists and 12 digs for Dakota State.  Nicole Sarringar added 20 assists.  Polzin and Johnson each had two service aces.
• Peyton Groft collected 11 digs for DSU's defense.  Zell registered seven block assists.  Pearson had five block assists.  Polzin recorded four blocks (2 solo, 2 assist).
• Sierra Athen led the Bruins with 12 kills and four block assists.  Carson added 11 kills.  Rosa Reed-Bouley had seven kills.
• Olivia Galas contributed 38 set assists for BU.  She also had eight digs and three kills.  Madi Evans had a match-high 20 digs.  Sidney Craig tallied 14 digs and two service aces.
• Dakota State outhit Bellevue 58-45 in the match.  The Trojans hit .140 (34 errors in 171 attempts) compared to the Bruins .128 hitting efficiency (26 errors in 148 swings).
• BU recorded 96.8 service percentage rate, recording two aces and three errors in 94 serves.  DSU was 92.8 percent from the serving line with six aces and seven errors in 97 attempts.
• The Bruins collected 70 digs in the match compared to the Trojans 63 digs.  Dakota State had 13 team blocks, while the Bruins had six blocks.
• It was the final career collegiate home volleyball match for three Trojan seniors – Briceno, Johnson and Zell.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director