September 27, 2019

Photos credit by Donald Weidler

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) continued their five-match home stand Friday evening at DSU Fieldhouse, hosting Valley City State (N.D.) in the North Star Athletic Association volleyball contest.  The Trojans extended their winning streak to four matches after sweeping the Vikings in three straight sets by the scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-21.

The victory lifted Dakota State's overall record to 9-6 and remained undefeated in North Star conference play with a 3-0 record (currently tied for first place in the conference standings with No. 6-ranked Viterbo, Wis.).  The win also ended VCSU's four-match winning streak in the series meeting.  Valley City State fell to 4-9 overall record and remained winless in three North Star contests.

Dakota State remains home Saturday morning as they host Dickinson State (N.D.) in another NSAA conference match.  First serve is set for 11 a.m.  Valley City State makes a trip to No. 14-ranked Bellevue (Neb.) with a 2 p.m. first serve at Gordon Lozier Center in Bellevue, Neb.

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Valley City State (N.D.) 0 – FINAL (25-17, 25-22, 25-21)

• Trailing 7-5 in the first set, Barbara Briceo served for six straight points as the Trojans grabbed an 11-7 lead.  During the 6-0 outburst, DSU's Maddie Polzin smashed two kills along with three errors from the Vikings.
• Leading 21-17, Dakota State shut down Valley City State by scoring the final four points of the first set.  Polzin closed the set with a kill to give DSU a 25-17 victory and a 1-0 match lead.  The Trojans outhit the Vikings 14-10 in the first set.
• DSU hit an impressive .303 hitting percentage (4 errors in 33 attempts) in the first set and held VCSU to .077 hitting percentage (7 errors in 39 swings).
• The Trojans shook off their slow start after falling behind 4-1 in the second set.  DSU went on to score 10 of the next 11 points (10-1 scoring outburst) to take a 11-6 lead.
• With DSU leading 20-13, the Vikings used a 7-3 scoring run to cut Trojans' lead to 23-20.  After a kill by Viking Madison Brown to trim DSU's lead to 24-22, Samantha Zell smashed a kill to secure the second set at 25-22 to give Trojans a 2-0 match lead.
• Both teams struggled offensively in the second set, hitting well below .100.  DSU had 13 kills and committed 11 errors in 42 attempts (.048 hitting percentage).  VCSU registered a negative .057 hitting percentage, despite collecting five kills with seven errors in 35 swings.
• Dakota State stormed to an 8-3 lead in the third set.  Valley City State would answer back with a 6-3 run to cut the Trojans' lead to 11-9. 
• Down 18-16, Brown smashed a kill followed by three consecutive attack errors by the Trojans to give Vikings a 20-18 lead.  Dakota State answered back by scoring the next five points and closed the match strong with a 7-1 run for a 25-21 victory.  Polzin and Hanna Jellema each registered two kills during DSU's closing run.
• Briceno propelled DSU's offense attack with 14 kills.  She posted a double-double with 10 digs.  Polzin added nine kills and seven digs.  Zell had seven kills.  Briceno and Polzin each had two service aces.
• Nicole Sarringar produced 18 set assists for the Trojans.  Rachel Johnson added 16 assists. 
• Peyton Groft collected 10 digs for DSU.  Kelsey Pearson registered four block assists.  Zell and Riley Grandpre each tallied three block assists.
• Brown led the Vikings' offense with seven kills.  Kylie Tucker and Caitlyn Fischbach each had five kills.  Reagan Ingstad recorded 12 assists and seven digs.  Alexa Walby had 11 assists and six digs.
• Morganne Eppard led VCSU's defense with 15 digs.  Kylie Erickson and Walby each had a service ace.
• Dakota State outhit Valley City State 42-28 in the match.  The Trojans hit .183 (21 errors in 115 swings) and held the Vikings to .082 hitting percentage (19 errors in 110 attempts).  DSU had 6.5 blocks (13 block assists) compared to VCSU 4.0 blocks (1 solo, 6 assist). 
• The Trojans were 94.6 percent from the serving line (4 aces and 4 errors in 74 serves).  The Vikings recorded a service percentage of 90.2 percent (2 aces and 6 errors in 61 attempts).
• DSU had ten more digs than VCSU (54-44). 

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director