#24 Volleyball 10/13/2023 2:06:00 PM Nick Huntimer, Dakota State (S.D.) Sports Information Director

DSU plays two matches in Marvel Classic Saturday; visits Mount Marty (S.D.) Tuesday

Dakota State (S.D.) begins their eight straight matches away from DSU Fieldhouse

October 13, 2023

This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (Oct. 13, 2023)—The Dakota State University Trojan volleyball team (10-11 overall record, 3-4 North Star record) steps aside their North Star Athletic Association play as they play their final three non-conference matches. The Trojans play a pair of matches in the 2023 Marvel Classic, hosted by fellow North Star's member Bellevue (Neb.) at Gordon Lozier Center (1000 Galvin Road S) in Bellevue, Neb.

DSU faces Grand View (Iowa) (7-12 overall record) of the Heart of America Athletic Conference in the first match on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. The Trojans play the second match of the tournament at 1:30 p.m. versus nationally ranked Montana Tech (15-3 overall record, No. 10 in NAIA) of the Frontier Conference. DSU wraps up their non-conference schedule on Tuesday at Mount Marty (S.D.) (10-15 overall record), starting with the junior varsity match at 5:30 p.m. and varsity match at 7 p.m. The matches will be held at the Cimpl Arena (1105 W 8th Street) in Yankton, S.D., on the campus of Mount Marty.

Dakota State went 2-1 record in the previous three matches in the NSAA conference play, cruising past Dickinson State (N.D.) 3-0 on Oct. 6 and falling short to (RV) Valley City State (N.D.) in three sets on Oct. 7. The Trojans earned their third win over NAIA's Top 25 nationally ranked team on Oct. 10, kicking off the second half of NSAA conference play with a 3-1 upset victory over No. 15 ranked Bellevue (Neb.).

Grand View earned a 3-0 Heart conference sweep at Clarke (Iowa) on Oct. 10. Montana Tech split their two matches in the Frontier conference, losing to Montana Western on Oct. 4 and defeating Carroll (Mont.) on Oct. 6. Mount Marty fell short in a home five-set thriller over Hastings (Neb.) on Oct. 11.

Next Up: Dakota State stays on the road as they return to North Star conference play, visiting Waldorf (Iowa) on Friday, Oct. 20, and conference's leader No. 5 ranked Viterbo (Wis.) on Saturday, Oct. 21.

This Week's Quick Hits
+ Dakota State (S.D.) had hit double digit victories for the 10th straight year, their 13th time in the last 14 years after their 3-1 upset victory over No. 15 ranked Bellevue (Neb.) on Oct. 10 at DSU Fieldhouse.
+ The Trojans earned their third victory over NAIA's Top 25 nationally ranked teams this season on Oct. 10. DSU also defeated No. 10 ranked Montana Tech in three straight sets in the Viterbo (Wis.) Tournament.
+ Saturday's match will be the second time this season that the Trojans will face No. 10 ranked Orediggers. Montana Tech is ranked No. 10 in the NAIA in both meetings with Dakota State.
+ DSU and Grand View (Iowa) will be meeting for the first time since Nov. 20, 2021, when they played in the NAIA Women's Volleyball National Tournament Opening Round in Des Moines, Iowa. The Vikings held off the Trojans in four sets for a spot to the final site of the national tournament at Tyson Events Center.
+ Dakota State won the first meeting with in-state rival Mount Marty (S.D.) in three straight sets on Aug. 26 in the NSAA/GPAC Cross-over tournament in Madison, S.D.
+ The Trojans had won the last 11 meetings with the Lancers since Oct. 19, 2017. DSU swept MMU in three straight sets in the previous five meetings.
+ DSU's junior varsity match returns to action Tuesday for the first time since Oct. 3.

DSU hit three-match home stand with rout over Dickinson State (N.D.)
Madison, S.D. (Oct. 6, 2023)—Dakota State (S.D.) kicked off their three-match North Star Athletic Association home stand at DSU Fieldhouse with a 3-0 rout over Dickinson State (N.D.), thanks to their 45 kills and limited the Blue Hawks to 17 kills and negative .047 hitting percentage.

Dakota State cruised to a 25-5 set one victory and held on to a 25-22 set two win to open a 2-0 match lead. The Trojans outhit the Blue Hawks 16-5 in the third set, rolling to a 25-10 set three victory to secure the match win.

Brooklyn Grage smashed 13 kills and hit .323 for Dakota State. Sydney Schell added 10 kills and recorded a hitting percentage of .318. Madalyn Groft had eight kills and 14 digs. Maddi Langerock contributed 38 set assists, seven digs, and three blocks. Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri tallied eight kills and three blocks. Kate VanRooyan collected 22 digs.

Dakota State hit .295 in the match, while Dickinson State committed 22 attack errors in 106 swings. The Trojans had five blocks compared to the Blue Hawks four blocks.

Trojans fall short to (RV) Vikings
Madison, S.D. (Oct. 7, 2023)—Valley City State (N.D.) and Dakota State (S.D.) smashed a combined 95 kills at DSU Fieldhouse. The Vikings hit .233 in the match compared to the Trojans .157 hitting percentage, earning a 3-0 victory to conclude the first half portion of the North Star volleyball conference schedule.

A total of 41 kills combined by DSU and VCSU were recorded in the opening set, won by the Vikings in a closely-tight score of 29-27. Valley City State had 22 kills and hit .309 compared to Dakota State 19 kills and .245 hitting efficiency in the opening set. A total of 11 ties and four lead changes were recorded in the first set.

VCSU closed the second set with a 4-0 run to earn a 25-20 victory and extended their match to 2-0. Dakota State started the third set with a 9-3 lead and could not hold on to their lead as the Vikings used a 15-2 scoring surge midway through the se. VCSU secured the match with a 25-19 set three victory.

Brookly Grage packed DSU with 14 kills and four blocks. Sydney Schell added a double-double of 12 kills and 18 digs. Madalyn smashed 10 kills and collected eight digs. Maddi Langerock tied her career-high 38 set assists and hit a double-double with 10 digs. Kate VanRooyan had 21 digs. Hannah Evans produced a match-high six blocks.

VCSU outhit DSU 51-44 in the match. The Trojans had 70 digs compared to the Vikings 65 digs.

DSU upsets (15) Bruins for 10th win of the season
Madison, S.D. (Oct. 10, 2023)—Maddi Langerock tallied a double-double of 37 set assists and a season-high 25 digs in helping Dakota State (S.D.) to a 3-1 upset victory over No. 15 ranked Bellevue (Neb.) in the North Star conference action at DSU Fieldhouse. The win gave DSU their 10th win of the season, recording double-digit victories for the 10th straight year and 13th time in the past 14 seasons.

The Bruins hit .314 in the first set, earning a 25-19 victory and a 1-0 match lead. The Trojans roared back with a 7-0 scoring run to erase their 22-17 deficit into a 24-22 lead. DSU went on to held to a 25-23 set two win to even the match at 1-1. Trailing by seven points in the third set (17-10), DSU stormed to trim BU's lead to 21-20 after a 10-4 scoring run. Down 23-21, the Trojans scored the final four points to win 25-23 and grabbed a 2-1 match lead. Dakota State hit .225 in the fourth set and limited BU to .043 hitting percentage for a 25-15 victory.

Brooklyn Grage led Dakota State with 16 kills and .333 hitting percentage. Sydney Schell added a double-double of12 kills and 17 digs. Kate VanRooyan had 24 digs. Madalyn Groft smashed nine kills and hit .320. Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri and Grage each recorded three blocks.

Trojans in the North Star conference ranks
Madison, S.D. (Oct. 13, 2023)—According to the NAIA-PrestoStats as of Friday, Sydney Schell is third overall in the North Star Athletic Association with 3.5 kills per set for Dakota State. Brooklyn Grage is also 13th overall in the North Star with 2.5 kills per set.

Schell is also third in the North Star conference with 274 kills this season. Grage ranks fifth in the league with .250 hitting percentage.

Kate VanRooyan collects 408 digs prior this weekend's matches, which is second most digs in the conference. She is also second in the league with 5.23 digs per set for the Trojans.

Dakota State is second overall in the NSAA conference with 1,43 digs and 18.4 digs per set. DSU is also second in the NSAA conference with 453 total digs in seven conference contests. The Trojans re fourth in the North Star with 943 total kills and 1.94 blocks per set.

2023 DSU Trojan Volleyball Team Leaders

Kills/Kills Per Set: Sydney Schell - 274 kills / 3.5 kills per set
Assists/Assists Per Set: Maddi Langerock - 406 assists / 5.4 assists per set
Digs/Digs Per Set: Kate VanRooyan - 408 digs / 5.2 digs per set
Total Blocks: Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri - 59 blocks / 0.9 blocks per set
Service Aces/Aces Per Set: Madalyn Groft - 18 service aces / 0.2 aces per set
Receptions: Kate VanRooyan - 417 receptions