September 19, 2020

OMAHA, Neb. – The Dakota State University Trojan volleyball team faced another team from the Great Plains Athletic Conference Saturday evening.  The Trojans took on College of Saint Mary (Neb.) Flames at Lied Fitness Center.  DSU fell short in another five-set thriller by the scores of 25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 23-25 and 16-14.

Dakota State dropped to 4-3 overall record.  College of Saint Mary lifted their overall record to 7-1.  It was the second straight night that the Trojans played a match that was decided in the fifth set.

DSU's junior varsity team fell short in three sets to CSM.

College of Saint Mary (Neb.) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 2 – FINAL (25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 23-25, 16-14)

• Dakota State opened the first set by scoring four straight points for a 4-0 lead, thanks to a kill by Hannah Viet, followed by a kill and service ace by Peyton Groft.  The Flames answered back with four straight points to tie the first set at 4-4.
• Knotted at 12-12, the Trojans went on to score five straight points to grab a 17-12 lead after a kill by Maddie Polzin (assisted by Madalyn Groft). 
• Trailing 18-13, the Flames answered back with a 5-0 scoring surge to tie at 18-18 after an attack error by the Trojans.  Tied at 22-22, CSM closed the first set by scoring three straight points to secure a 1-0 match lead after a 25-22 victory.
• College of Saint Mary hit .205 (14 kills with 6 errors in 39 attempts) in the first set compared to Dakota State .105 hitting efficiency (12 kills with 8 errors in 38 swings).
• Leading 12-11 in the second set, the Trojans used a 7-3 scoring run to widen their lead to 19-14 after a kill by Riley Grandpre. 
• DSU evened the match at 1-1 after Megan Wiggins smashed a kill to secure a 25-18 second set victory over the Flames.  The Trojans hit an impressive .312 (13 kills with 3 errors in 32 swings) while limiting the Flames to .093 hitting percentage (12 kills with 8 errors in 43 attempts).
• Dakota State used a fast start similar the first set, scoring the first four points for a 4-0 lead.  College of Saint Mary answered back with an 8-3 run to earn an 8-7 lead.
• The Trojans held a 16-14 lead before the Flames went on a 7-1 scoring surge to grab a 21-17 lead.  CSM held on to win the third set after a kill by Jacenta Sargisson for a 25-22 victory, earning a 2-1 match lead.
• The Flames outhit the Trojans 17-11 in the third set.  College of Saint Mary hit .225 (8 errors in 40 attempts), while Dakota State hit .132 (6 errors in 38 swings).
• DSU exploded for a 7-0 lead to break a 3-3 tie into a 10-3 lead.  During the scoring run, the Flames committed four attack errors.
• Polzin smashed a kill to give Dakota State its biggest lead of the fourth set at 15-6.  CSM stormed back with a 13-5 outburst to cut the Trojans' lead to 20-19.  The Flames tied it up at 23-23 after an attack error by the Trojans.
• Dakota State survived College of Saint Mary's furious comeback as they extended the match into the fifth and deciding set.  Polzin smashed a kill followed by a block assist by Abigail Van Ruler and Grandpre to give DSU a 25-23 set four victory.
• The Trojans took advantage of Flames' 11 attack errors in the fourth set.  DSU hit .119 (11 kills with 6 errors in 42 swings) and limited CSM to .087 hitting percentage (15 kills, 46 attempts).
• Dakota State jumped to a to a 4-1 lead in the fifth set.  College of Saint Marty answered with a 5-2 run to knot the set at 6-6, then the Trojans reeled off four straight points to regain a 10-6 lead.
• The Flames went on a 4-0 scoring run to tie at 10-10.  Both teams went back-and-forth in the final 10 rallies of the match.  Trailing 14-13, DSU saved a match point as Viet and Groft each recorded a block to tie at 14-14.
• College of Saint Mary scored the final two points of the match after a kill by Willman and a block registered by William and Rosa Reed-Bouley, securing a thrilling 16-14 victory in the fifth set.
• Dakota State hit .261 in the fifth set, despite the defeat (9 kills with 3 errors in 23 attempts).  CSM hit .179 with 10 kills and 5 errors in 28 swings.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Polzin posted her second straight double-double with 18 kills and 13 digs for Dakota State.  She hit. 333 in the match.  Polzin added two service aces.  Madalyn Groft also had a double-double of 43 set assists and 17 digs.  She had five block assists.
• Wiggins smashed 10 kills for the Trojans.  She had three service aces.  Van Ruler recorded nine kills and eight block assists.  Grandpre had six kills and eight block assists.  Viet also had six kills and tallied seven block assists.
• Peyton Groft collected 16 digs and two service aces for DSU's defense.  Tacey Fischbach had 10 digs. 
• Makenna Freeman led the Flames with a double-double of 20 kills and 16 digs.  Elizabeth Dlouhy added 16 kills.  Lauren Anderson contributed a match-high 63 set assists.  She also had eight digs.
• Rachel Cushing led CSM's defense with 34 digs. Lauryn Willman had two service aces. 

TEAM COMPARISONS

• College of Saint Mary smashed 68 kills in the match compared to Dakota State 56 kills.  The Trojans hit better with a hitting percentage of .173 (26 errors in 173 swings).  The Flames recorded a hitting percentage of .153 (38 errors in 196 attempts).
• DSU was 95.4 percent from the serving line (6 aces with 5 errors in 108 serves).  CSM registered a service percentage of 93.5 (7 aces with 7 errors in 107 attempts).
• Dakota State collected a season-high 16 blocks in the match (32 block assists).  College of Saint Mary had seven team blocks (1 solo, 12 block assists).

UP NEXT

Dakota State stays on the road Wednesday evening.  The Trojans face another opponent from the GPAC, visiting Briar Cliff (Iowa).  The junior varsity match is set for 5:30 p.m. and varsity match to follow at 7 p.m.  Both matches are held at Newman-Flanagan Center in Sioux City, Iowa.