October 21, 2020

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) played its first road North Star Athletic Association conference volleyball match Wednesday evening, visiting Presentation (S.D.) at Strode Center.  The Trojans rolled to their 18th win in the last 20 matches in the series meeting with the Saints, winning in four sets.

Set scores were 25-13, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-22.

Dakota State snapped their two-match losing streak, improving to 7-5 overall record and 3-2 record in league play.  Presentation dropped their third straight match, ending their fall volleyball schedule with an overall record of 4-7 and 2-3 NSAA conference play.

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Presentation (S.D.) 1 – FINAL (25-13, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22)

• The Trojans started the match with a 6-2 lead, sparked by Maddie Polzin who smashed three kills to kick off the match.  The Saints rallied back to knot the first set at 7-7.
• DSU went on a 10-3 scoring run to widen their lead to 17-10, thanks to eight attack errors committed by PC.  The Trojans then used an 8-3 closing run to secure the first set, sealed by Polzin's service aces for a 25-13 victory.
• Dakota State outhit Presentation 12-7 in the first set.  The Trojans hit .258 (4 errors in 31 swings) and held the Saints to minus .156 hitting percentage (12 errors in 32 attempts).
• DSU roared to a 5-0 lead in the second set, thanks to a pair of kills by Polzin and a back-to-back service aces by Tayler Corey. 
• The Trojans never trailed in the second set, holding off Saints' late comeback to grab a 2-0 match lead.  PC could get no closer than one point at 19-18 after a kill by Evy Peterson.
• Dakota State closed the second set with a block assist by Riley Grandpre and Madalyn Groft for a 25-21 win.
• DSU smashed 14 kills in the second set compared to PC 11 kills.  The Trojans hit .237 (5 errors in 38 attempts) and held the Saints to .114 hitting efficiency (7 errors in 35 swings).
• Dakota State and Presentation went through a see-saw battle in the first 26 rallies of the third set.  After a kill by DSU's Madalyn Groft (assisted by Peyton Groft) to knot the set at 13-13, the Saints went on a 7-1 outburst to earn a 20-14 lead.
• The Trojans rallied back to cut PC's lead to 24-22 and could not complete the comeback after a service error committed by DSU.  Presentation gained a 25-22 set third victory to extend the match into the fourth set with Dakota State leading 2-1 match.
• DSU outhit PC 15-9 in the third set.  The Saints hit .167 (4 errors in 30 attempts) and held the Trojans to .093 hitting percentage (11 errors in 43 swings).
• Trailing 13-10 in the fourth set, Dakota State went on a 4-0 run to regain their lead at 14-13.  A service ace by Madalyn Groft, followed by a kill by Polzin and a block assist each by Grandpre and Abigail Van Ruler highlighted DSU's scoring run.
• The Trojans and Saints went through seven ties, knotting the fourth set at 20-20.  DSU went on 3-0 scoring run, thanks to back-to-back kills by Grandpre followed by a kill by Polzin for a 23-20 lead.
• Saint Kayla Wolfe smashed back-to-back kills to cut Trojans' lead to 23-22.  Polzin smashed her 22nd kill of the match to give DSU a match point at 24-22.  She added a service ace to seal the fourth set at 25-22 and secured a 3-1 victory.
• The Trojans smashed 15 kills in the fifth set, while the Saints had 13 kills.  PC hit .231 (4 errors in 39 swings) compared to DSU .217 hitting percentage (5 errors in 46 attempts).

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Polzin fueled the Trojans' offense attack with 22 kills and hit .340.  She also had six digs, three block assists and two service aces.  Madalyn Groft contributed 40 set assists, nine digs, five kills and three block assists.
• Hannah Viet smashed nine kills and recorded five block assists for DSU.  She hit .375 in the match.  Grandpre had seven kills and six block assists.  Van Ruler had six kills and four blocks (1 solo, 3 assist).  Abigail Grabowska recorded six kills, seven digs and three blocks (1 solo, 2 assist).
• Nicole Sarringar and Corey each collected two service aces for Dakota State.  Tacey Fischbach tallied 12 digs.  Peyton Groft had nine digs and a service ace. 
• Wolfe led the Saints with 11 kills.  Constence Rollins added eight kills and four block assists.  Saige Jones and Ashley Alfonson each had seven kills.  Jones had four block assists.  Alfonson had four blocks (1 solo, 3 assist).
• Sydney Miller posted a double-double of 21 set assists and 10 digs for PC.  Rebecca Allen had 11 assists and four digs.
• Laura Babcock led Presentation's defense with 26 digs.  She recorded two service aces.  Makenzey Burggraff added two aces. 

TEAM COMPARISONS

• Dakota State smashed 56 kills in the match compared to Presentation 40 kills.  The Trojans hit .196 (25 errors in 158 swings) and held the Saints to .096 hitting percentage (27 errors in 136 attempts).
• PC was 93.9 percent from the serving line with five aces and five errors in 82 serves.  DSU was 91.7 from the serving line with eight aces and eight errors in 96 attempts.
• The Trojans collected 13 team blocks (2 solo, 22 assist) in the match.  The Saints had nine team blocks (1 solo, 16 assist).
• Presentation had 70 digs compared to Dakota State 64 digs. 

UP NEXT

Dakota State stays on the road on Friday evening as they travel to Mayville State (N.D.) for another North Star Athletic Association conference action.  The junior varsity match kicks off at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity match at 6 p.m.  Both matches are held at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville, N.D.

Presentation was scheduled to host Bellevue (Neb.) on Friday evening, but was postponed being announced later.  The Saints' next scheduled match is not until March 12, 2021 at Dakota State, according to PC's athletic website.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director