September 13, 2019

SALINA, Kan. – Dakota State (S.D.) went 1-1 record on the first day of the La Quinta/Rib Crib Kansas Wesleyan volleyball tournament Friday at Mabee Arena.

The Trojans, who are 4-4 overall record on the season, defeated host-team Kansas Wesleyan (2-8 overall record) in four close sets by the scores of 27-25, 25-23, 25-27 and 25-22.  It was the first road victory this season for DSU.

Dakota State faced current No. 12-ranked Columbia (Mo.), 2018 NAIA Volleyball national tournament's runner-up, in the second match on Friday evening.  The Trojans battled hard and fell short in a five-set thriller by the scores of 25-22, 21-25, 25-12, 23-25 and 15-11.

DSU closes out the tournament play on Saturday with two matches, versus Montana Western at 11 a.m. and Friends (Kan.) at 3 p.m.

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Kansas Wesleyan 1 – FINAL (27-25, 25-23, 25-27, 25-22)

• The Trojans opened with a 4-0 lead, sparked by Barbara Briceno's three consecutive kills (assisted by three different players (Rachel Johnson, Peyton Groft and Tayler Corey).  The Coyotes would answer back with a 6-1 run to earn their first lead at 6-5.
• Kansas Wesleyan led as many as four points at 19-15.  DSU answered back with a 4-0 run to knot the first set at 19-19.  It was a see-saw battle for the next 12 rallies, leading to a 25-25 tie.  A ball handling error followed by Payton Johanneson and Kelsey Pearson secure a 1-0 match lead for the Trojans after winning 27-25.
• The Coyotes started the second set with a 6-2 run before the Trojans used a 6-2 run to tie at 8-8.  It was another see-saw battle as the Briceno sealed the second set with a kill for a 25-23 win, extending DSU's lead to 2-0.
• Dakota State smashed 17 kills and held Kansas Wesleyan to 7 kills in the second set.
• KWU raced to a 14-5 lead in the third set.  DSU mounted a comeback by scoring 18 of the next 25 points (18-7) run to take a 23-21 lead.  Trailing 24-22, the Coyotes saved two match points before a kill by Samantha Zell to put Trojans up 25-24.  KWU saved the third match point and closed the third set with a 3-0 run to extend the match into the fourth set (27-25 KWU).
• DSU led as many as four points early in the fourth set.  KWU rallied back to knot the set at 12-12.  Both teams went back-and-forth for the next 16 rallies for a 20-20 tie before the Trojans opened with a 22-20 lead.  Pearson closed the match with a kill for DSU 25-22 set four win.
• Briceno ignited the Trojans' offense attack with a season-high 20 kills.  She had a hitting percentage of .410.  She also posted a double-double with 18 digs.  Zell also smashed a season-high 16 kills and registered a hitting percentage of .464.  Hanna Jellema added 10 kills.  Madison Polzin recorded seven kills.
• Rachel Johnson produced a double-double of 26 set assists and 12 digs for the Trojans.  Nicole Sarringar added 21 assists and five digs.  Polzin and Johanneson each had two service aces.
• Groft collected 16 digs for Dakota State's defense.  Zell had six blocks (1 solo, 5 assist).  Payton Johanneson added five block assists.  Pearson had four block assists.
• Elizabeth Hardacre and Haley Shannon each had 10 kills for the Coyotes.  Hardacre tallied seven block assists.  Cortney Hanna recorded 18 assists, while Kelsey Ripperger had 16 digs.  Emily Monson had a match-high 27 digs. 
• Dakota State smashed a season-high 63 kills in the match compared to Kansas Wesleyan 46 kills.  The Trojans hit .211 as a team (29 errors in 161 attempts), while the Coyotes hit .156 (23 errors in 147 swings).  DSU had six service aces compared to KWU two service aces.  The Trojans collected 12 team blocks.  The Coyotes had 10 blocks.

(12) Columbia (Mo.) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 2 – FINAL (25-22, 21-25, 25-12, 23-25, 15-11)

• Columbia, who were ranked No. 2 in the NAIA Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Poll before falling to No. 12 in the first regular-season 'Top 25' poll, won the first-ever meeting with Dakota State that went to five sets.
• Knotted at 20-20 in the first set, the Cougars secured a 1-0 match lead after closing with a 5-2 run for 25-22 win.  CC outhit DSU 13-8 in the opening set.
• Trailing 17-14, the Trojans used a 4-0 run to take an 18-17 lead thanks to a pair of service aces by Riley Grandpre.  Tied at 21-21, Dakota State went on a 4-0 run to earn a 25-21 and knotted the match at 1-1.  Both teams had 13 kills in the second set.
• Columbia took a 2-1 match lead after rolling to a 25-12 win in the third set.  CC outhit DSU 8-4.  The Trojans committed 12 attack errors in 36 swings compared to the Cougars 7 errors in 42 attempts.
• Down 22-18, Dakota State went on a 5-1 scoring tear to knot the fourth set at 23-23.  The Trojans extended their scoring run to 7-1 after a block by Zell and Hannah Viet followed by a kill by Zell to force the fifth and deciding set after a 25-23 win.  DSU outhit CC
• The Cougars started the fifth set with a 7-3 lead.  The Trojans answered back with a 3-0 run to cut their deficit by one point at 7-6.  That was the only closest margin DSU could get as CC secured the match, pulling away after using a 3-0 run for 10-6 lead.  Columbia earned a 15-11 set five victory after outhitting DSU 9-6.
• Briceno led the Trojans' offense with 12 kills.  She added another double-double, her second of the day, with 17 digs.  Zell and Grandpre each added nine kills.  Grandpre registered three service aces.  Jellema smashed eight kills.
• Johnson surpassed the 2,000-assist milestone after accumulating 22 set assists for the Trojans.  She currently has 2,003 set assists during her career at DSU.  She also a double-double, her second on the same day, with 12 digs.  Sarringar added 16 assists, seven digs and three service aces.
• Groft led the Trojans' defense with 18 digs.  Corey added 15 digs.  Zell recorded six blocks (1 solo, 5 assist).  Jellema and Grandpre each had four block assists.
• Sidney Branson posted a double-double of 18 kills and 10 digs for Columbia.  Kiersten Anderson added a double-double of 12 kills and 13 digs.  Aaliyah Durant had 10 kills.  Luisa Ferrera paced the Cougars' offense with 47 set assists.  Bailee collected eight block assists.
• CC outhit DSU 53-46 in the match.  The Cougars hit .128 (29 errors in 187 attempts) compared to the Trojans .057 (37 errors in 157 swings).  Columbia recorded 10 aces and 11 errors in 110 serves (.898 service percentage).  Dakota State had eight aces and seven errors in 94 attempts (.926 service percentage). 
• The Trojans accumulated a season-high 13 blocks in the match (4 solo, 18 assist) compared to the Cougars 10 blocks (20 block assists).  DSU also had a season-high 80 digs, while CC had 65 digs.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director