October 22, 2022

PHOTO GALLERY - photos credit by Cody Welu

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) smashed 17 kills in all three sets won, avenging their early North Star Athletic Association defeat with Valley City State (N.D.) after a 3-1 victory at DSU Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.  The victory also moved the Trojans into a three-way tie for third place in the NSAA volleyball standings with a 5-5 record each.

Dakota State honored their seniors and super seniors prior to the match – Riley Grandpre, Peyton Groft, Vanessa Schroeder, Jenna Frank, Savannah Mares, Hannah Viet, and student assistant coach Nick Kappenman.  The Trojans also secured its home court winning record for the fifth consecutive season, racking up 33 home victories in the past five years.

The Trojans won their second straight match, lifting their overall record to 15-14.  Valley City State dropped their overall record to 8-15 and 3-7 NSAA conference record, holding a one-match lead over Dickinson State (N.D.) for sixth place in the conference standings.

DSU snapped its three-match losing skid in the series meeting with VCSU, recording its first win over the Vikings since March 26, 2021.

Dakota State heads on the road next weekend as they continue their North Star conference action.  The Trojans visit Mayville State (N.D.) on Friday with a junior varsity match at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity match at 6 p.m.  The matches will be held at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse in Mayville, N.D.

Valley City State returns home to wrap up their regular season schedule with a four-match home stand, starting on Friday versus NSAA's conference leader No. 8 ranked Viterbo (Wis.). 

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Valley City State (N.D.) 1 – FINAL (25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 25-20)

• Tied at 5-5 in the opening set, the Trojans sparked a 4-0 scoring run to widen their lead to 9-5 after an attack error by the Vikings.
• Dakota State never trailed for the rest of the first set, stretching their lead to 21-12 after Hannah Evans' kill.
• Brooklyn Grage and Viet each recorded a block to secure the first set at 25-17, giving DSU a 1-0 match lead.
• Sydney Schell highlighted the first set with six kills and hit an impressive .667.  DSU outhit VCSU 17-11.  The Trojans hit .295 (4 errors in 44 attempts) and held the Vikings to .093 hitting percentage (7 errors in 43 swings).
• Bailey Nelson contributed a kill or a block as the Vikings kicked off the second set with a 3-0 lead.
• The Trojans answered back to tie the second set at 5-5 after a block each from Schell and Schroeder.
• After Nelson smashed a kill to give VCSU a 17-13 lead, DSU answered with four straight kills (a pair of kills from Schell, while Evans and Schroeder each added a kill) to knot at 17-17.
• Tied at 23-23, Viet smashed a kill followed by an attack error by the Vikings gave the Trojans a 2-0 match lead after securing the second set at 25-23.
• A total of nine ties and three lead changes were registered in the second set.
• Schell tallied eight kills of DSU's 17 kills in the second set.  DSU hit .138 (9 errors in 58 swings) while VCSU hit .089 (13 kills with 8 errors in 56 attempts).
• Dakota State and Valley City State went through a see-saw battle in the third set with six ties and three lead changes.  Emma Lucas recorded a kill to give VCSU an 18-14 lead, forcing DSU to burn their first timeout of the third set.
• The Trojans could get no closer than two points at 23-21 after Schell's kill.
• Nelson smashed a kill, followed by another kill from Lucas as Valley City State extended the match into the fourth set after a 25-21 victory (DSU leads match 2-1).
• VCSU outhit DSU 16-13 in the third set.  The Vikings hit .240 (4 errors in 50 swings) while the Trojans hit .140 (6 errors in 50 attempts).
• Dakota State and Valley City State battle back and forth in the fourth set, with no lead greater than three points, 6-3 DSU after Maddi Langerock's kill and three different occasions for the Vikings – in the first 33 rallies. 
• Morgan Nelson smashed a kill to give VCSU an 18-15 lead, forcing the Trojans to burn a timeout.
• DSU answered with a 3-0 scoring run after three consecutive attack errors by VCSU.  The fourth set was tied at 18-18 as the Vikings called a timeout.
• Trailing 20-19, Dakota State used a strong 6-0 scoring run to secure the victory.  Viet sparked the scoring run, followed by back-to-back kills by Schell and an attack error by the Vikings set up a match point for DSU at 24-20.
• Grandpre smashed a kill to close the match at 25-20, earning a 3-1 match victory for DSU.
• Dakota State hit .271 in the fourth set (17 kills with 4 errors in 48 swings) and held Valley City State to .125 hitting percentage (14 kills with 7 errors in 56 attempts).
• Thirteen ties and four lead changes were featured in the fourth set, accumulating a total of 33 ties and 12 lead changes throughout the match.
• Schell finished the match by tying her career-high 24 kills for Dakota State.  She hit .300 in the match.  She also had a double-double with 20 digs.  Viet tallied 13 kills and hit .324.  She collected three blocks.
• Madalyn Groft hit a double-double of 28 set assists and 13 digs for DSU.  She also recorded seven kills.  Langerock added a double-double of 27 assists and 14 digs.
• Grandpre had four kills and three blocks for the Trojans.  Sophia Vanden Bosch and Schroeder each added three kills.  Schroeder had two blocks.  Grage registered three blocks.
• Peyton Groft posted a match-high 38 digs for Dakota State.  She added two set assists and a service ace.  VonnaGail Schlechter earned 20 digs and a service ace.
• Nelson led the Vikings' offense attack with 21 kills and hit .250.  She recorded four blocks.  Danielle Hagler added a double-double of 12 kills and 24 digs.
• Nelson smashed eight kills and registered four blocks for VCSU.  Morgan Freije had six kills.
• Sadie Hansen poured in 50 set assists and produced a double-double with 23 digs for Valley City State.  JayCee Richter tallied 22 digs.  Delani Clark had 17 digs and a service ace.
• Dakota State outhit Valley City State 64-54 in the match.  The Trojans registered a hitting percentage of .205 (23 errors in 200 swings) compared to the Vikings .137 hitting percentage (26 errors in 205 attempts).
• DSU recorded a service percentage of 96.8 percent with two aces and three service errors in 95 attempts.  VCSU was 95.3 percent from the serving line with an ace and four errors in 86 serves.
• A total of 216 digs combined were recorded by both teams, with the Trojans racking up with 111 digs.  The Vikings had 105 digs.
• DSU had eight blocks compared to VCSU seven blocks.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director