March 17, 2021

PHOTO GALLERY - Junior Varsity - Varsity - Photo Gallery by Cody Welu

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) hosted the NAIA's top-ranked team Jamestown (N.D.) in their non-conference volleyball contest Wednesday evening at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans used a fast start in the opening set, but the Jimmies answered back for a 3-0 sweep to halt DSU's five-match winning streak.

Dakota State fell to 11-6 overall record.  Jamestown, a member of the Great Plains Athletic Conference lifted their overall record to 23-1.  Both teams were former members of the Dakota Athletic Conference and North Star Athletic Association.

The Trojans resume to North Star conference action on the road this weekend.  DSU makes their first stop at Waldorf (Iowa) on Friday evening with first serve set for 7 p.m. at Hanson Fieldhouse in Forest City, Iowa.

Dakota State heads to Viterbo (Wis.) for another NSAA contest on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.  The match will be held at R.W. Beggs Gymnasium in La Crosse, Wis., where no visiting fans are allowed.

(1) Jamestown (N.D.) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 0 – FINAL (25-23, 25-14, 25-23)

• Dakota State stormed to a 6-0 lead to kick off the first set, thanks to a pair of kills by VonnaGail Schlechter and a service ace by Tayler Corey.
• The Jimmies snapped their scoring drought by scoring three straight points, capped by a pair of blocks to cut DSU's lead to 6-3.
• Trailing 18-13, Jamestown went on an 8-2 scoring run to earn its first lead at 21-20 after a kill by Corina Huff.
• Knotted at 22-22, Kalli Hegerle and Jayla Ritter smashed back-to-back kills to set up a set point at 24-22.  Maddie Polzin smashed a kill to save a set point chance for UJ, trailing 24-23.
• A service error by the Trojans secured the first set by Jamestown at 25-23 and a 1-0 match lead.
• The Jimmies hit .159 in the first set (14 kills with 7 errors in 44 swings) and held the Trojans to .067 hitting percentage (11 kills with 8 errors in 45 attempts).
• Hegerle smashed a pair of kills to fuel UJ's 4-0 fast start in the second set.  The Jimmies ballooned their lead to 13-4 after Taylor Sabinash's kill. 
• A kill by Hegerle gave UJ's biggest lead of the second set at 20-9. 
• Jamestown outhit Dakota State 13-6, rolling to a 25-14 second set victory and extended their match lead to 2-0.  The Jimmies hit .270 compared to the Trojans .056 hitting percentaege.
• Tied at 5-5 in the third, DSU committed four consecutive miscues to open a 9-5 lead for UJ.
• Down 16-11, the Trojans scored three straight points to cut UJ's lead to 16-14.  The Jimmies answered by scoring the next four points to widen their lead to 20-14 after a block by Ritter and Sabinash.
• Trailing 23-17, Dakota State mounted a furious comeback by scoring five consecutive points.  DSU's deficit went down to two points at 23-22 after UJ's attack error, forcing the Jimmies to call a timeout.
• An attack error by the Trojans gave a match point for the Jimmies at 24-22.  Hannah Viet recorded a kill to save the match point as DSU trailed 24-23.
• Logan Sherman smashed a kill to secure the match at 3-0, winning the third set 25-23.
• Both teams struggled offensively in the third set, hitting below .100.  UJ hit .095 (10 kills with 6 errors in 42 attempts) compared to DSU .023 hitting percentage (9 kills with 8 errors in 43 swings).
• Schlechter led the Trojans' offense attack with seven kills.  She also had a service ace and two blocks.  Viet added six kills and four blocks.  Polzin registered four kills and tallied 11 digs.
• Madalyn Groft posted a double-double of 18 set assists and 11 digs for DSU.  Riley Grandpre had four kills and three blocks.  Peyton Groft had 13 digs.  Tacey Fischbach added 11 digs.
• Sabinash sparked the Jimmies' offense attack with 10 kills and hit .421.  Ritter added six kills and three blocks.  Anna Holen had five kills, two service aces, and three blocks.  She collected a match-high 23 digs.
• Megan Gaffaney produced 19 set assists and tallied eight digs for UJ.  Jackie Meiklejohn added 13 assists.  Sydney Ellingson had 20 digs.  Hannah Schiele had 10 digs.
• Jamestown smashed 37 kills in the match compared to Dakota State 26 kills.  The Jimmies hit .171 (16 errors in 123 attempts), while the Trojans hit .048 (20 errors in 124 swings).
• The Jimmies recorded a service percentage of 90.7 percent with five aces and seven errors in 75 serves.  The Trojans were 85 percent from the serving line, recording three aces and nine errors in 60 attempts.
• UJ collected 76 digs compared to DSU 60 digs.  Both teams had six blocks in the match.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director