September 28, 2019

MADISON, S.D. – Both Dakota State (S.D.) and Dickinson State (N.D.) struggled offensively early in the North Star Athletic Association volleyball contest at DSU Fieldhouse Saturday morning.  The Trojans then powered past the Blue Hawks in the third and fourth sets, extending their winning streak to five matches after a 3-1 victory.

Set scores were 22-25, 27-25, 25-15 and 25-17.  Dakota State raised their overall record to 10-6, their sixth consecutive season with at least 10 wins (ninth time in the last ten years).  Dickinson State lost their sixth straight match, falling to 5-8 overall record.

Dakota State is tied with No. 6-ranked Viterbo (Wis.) for the first-place in the North Star conference standings with a 4-0 record.  Dickinson State is winless in four NSAA conference matches (0-4 record). 

The Trojans continue their North Star conference action at home next weekend, hosting Waldorf (Iowa) on Friday at 7 p.m. and nationally-ranked Viterbo next Saturday at 1 p.m.

Dickinson State returns home next weekend, hosting Mayville State (N.D.) Friday and Presentation (S.D.) next Saturday.

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Dickinson State (N.D.) 1 – FINAL (22-25, 27-25, 25-15, 25-17)

• Dakota State and Dickinson State struggled in the first set, hitting below .100.  Knotted at 22-22, a kill by Kennedy Hildebrand followed by a pair of attack errors by the Trojans gave the Blue Hawks a 25-22 victory and a 1-0 match lead.
• DiSU outhit DaSU 12-9 in the opening set.  The Blue Hawks hit .088 (9 errors in 34 attempts) and held the Trojans to .029 hitting efficiency (8 errors in 34 swings).
• Rachel Johnson served five straight points to open the second set with a 5-0 lead for Dakota State, thanks to a pair of kills by Maddie Polzin and, a service ace by Johnson and a kill by Samantha Zell. 
• Dickinson State rallied back from 14-8 deficit by scoring six straight points to tie the second set at 14-14.  At 15-15, Dakota State went on a 6-0 scoring outburst – thanks to DiSU's four attack errors, including three straight errors – for a 21-16 lead.
• With the Trojans leading 22-17, the Blue Hawks made another come back to tie at 22-22 after a 5-0 scoring run (Karlie Cleveland contributed either a kill or an assist during the scoring run for DiSU).
• Knotted at 25-25, Dakota State secured the second set at 27-25 after a kill by Hanna Jellema followed by an attack error by DiSU and evened the match at 1-1.  DaSU outhit DiSU 15-12 in the second set.  The Trojans hit .167 (7 errors in 48 attempts) compared to the Blue Hawks .064 (9 errors in 47 swings).
• Dakota State stormed to an 9-3 lead in the third set and never looked back to take a 2-1 match lead.  The Trojans hit an impressive .355 (15 kills with 4 errors in 31 swings), rolling to a 25-15 third set victory.  The Blue Hawks were held to .118 hitting percentage (10 kills with 6 errors in 34 swings).
• DaSU used another fast start in the fourth set, racing to a 10-3 lead over DiSU thanks to a kill by six different Trojan players (Polzin, Zell, Riley Grandpre, Barbara Briceno and Jellema).  The Blue Hawks went on a 9-4 run to cut the Trojans' lead to 14-12.
• Leading 21-17, the Trojans closed the match strong by scoring four straight points for a 25-17 set four victory.  Dakota State outhit Dickinson State 15-5 in the fourth set.  DaSU hit .281 (6 errors in 32 attempts) and held DiSU to .000 hitting percentage (5 errors in 29 attempts).
• Four different hitters recorded at least 10 kills in the match for the Trojans.  Briceno paced DaSU with 12 kills.  Zell and Hanna Jellema each added 11 kills.  Polzin smashed 10 kills.
• Briceno posted her 10th double-double of the season with 13 kills for Dakota State. 
• Johnson contributed 25 set assists and seven digs for the Trojans.  Nicole Sarringar added 20 assists and six digs. 
• Peyton Groft led DaSU's defense with a match-high 22 digs.  Tayler Corey added eight digs.  Grandpre recorded three block assists.  Polzin, Payton Johanneson, Zell, Briceno and Jellema each had two block assists.
• Kadara Marshall had 10 kills for the Blue Hawks.  Abby Moerkerke registered nine kills.  Karlie Cleveland produced 21 assists and collected seven digs.  Keera Stookey had 11 assists.
• Sarah Dobitz tallied 18 digs for DiSU.  Jenna Swope had 12 digs, while Erin Campbell had 10 digs.  Baylie Dashner and Alyssa Wisher had five blocks (1 solo, 4 assist). 
• Dakota State outhit Dickinson State 54-39 in the match.  The Trojans hit .200 (25 errors in 145 attempts) compared to the Blue Hawks' .069 hitting efficiency (29 errors in 144 swings).
• The Trojans were 92.9 percent from the serving line (4 aces and 7 errors in 98 serves).  The Blue Hawks recorded a service percentage of 91.6 (2 aces and 7 errors in 83 attempts).
• Dickinson State collected 10 team blocks compared to Dakota State seven blocks. 

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State Sports Information Director