October 7, 2023
MADISON, S.D. – Valley City State (N.D.) and Dakota State (S.D.) smashed a combined 95 kills Saturday afternoon at DSU Fieldhouse, as the Vikings held off the Trojans in three straight sets to wrap up the first half portion of the North Star Athletic Association volleyball schedule. VCSU hit .233 in the match compared to DSU .157 hitting percentage to secure the victory.
Dakota State fell to 9-11 overall record and 2-4 NSAA conference record. Valley City State, receiving votes in the NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, raised their overall record to 17-4 and 5-1 record in the North Star Athletic Association.
The Trojans conclude their three-match NSAA home stand Tuesday as they kick off the second half portion of the conference schedule. DSU welcomes No. 15 nationally ranked Bellevue (Neb.) with a 6 p.m. first serve at DSU Fieldhouse. Dig Pink night will be held during the volleyball match.
VCSU returns home on the same night as they host Dickinson State (N.D.) with a 7 p.m. first serve.
(RV) Valley City State (N.D.) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 0 – FINAL (29-27, 25-20, 25-19)
DSU and VCSU battled back and forth in the opening set, displaying offensive explosion by both teams. Trailing 9-7, the Trojans went on to a 4-0 scoring tear to overtake an 11-7 lead.
Sydney Schell smashed three kills during the scoring run.
Schell added a kill to extend Dakota State's lead to 20-15, forcing the Vikings to burn their second timeout of the first set.
The Vikings committed a service error to give Dakota State a set point opportunity at 24-22. The Trojans then committed two straight errors as VCSU saved two set point chances to knot the first set 24-24.
Each team alternated points as Valley City State saved three more set point opportunities for Dakota State.
Maddi Langerock smashed a kill to give DSU a 27-26 lead.
Valley City State will close the first set with three straight points for a 29-27 set one thriller and 1-0 match lead, thanks to a kill from three different hitters (Lucas, Danielle Hagler, and Mardi Scutchings).
A total of 41 kills combined by DSU and VCSU were registered in the opening set. The Vikings smashed 22 kills and hit .309 (five attack errors in 55 swings) compared to the Trojans 19 kills and .245 hitting efficiency (six attack errors in 53 attempts).
Schell smashed eight kills and Langerock produced 14 set assists for the Trojans' offense in the first set. Scutchings led the Vikings with six kills, while Bailey Nelson, Hagler, and Lucas each added four kills. Sadie Hansen contributed 17 set assists.
A total of 11 ties and four lead changes were recorded in the first set.
Tied at 5-5 in the second set, the Vikings went on a 6-1 scoring run to open an 11-6 lead and forced the Trojans to take their first timeout of the set.
Scutchings smashed a kill to put the Vikings up 13-8. The Trojans then went on an 8-0 monstrous scoring run to overtake a 16-13 lead capped by
Brooklyn Grage's kill.
Valley City State answered with a 7-1 scoring run to grab a 20-17 after an attack error by the Trojans.
Leading 21-20, the Vikings went on a 4-0 closing run to secure a 25-20 victory and extended their match lead to 2-0.
VCSU hit .184 in the second set (15 kills with six attack errors in 49 swings) and held DSU to .070 hitting percentage (12 kills with nine errors in 43 attempts).
Dakota State stormed to a 9-3 lead in the third set capped by a kill from
Macey Wathen.
With DSU leading 11-5, Valley City State exploded for a 15-2 scoring run (including seven straight points) to earn a 20-13 lead after a block from Morgan Freije and Scutchings.
The Trojans could get no closer than three points at 21-18 as the Vikings closed the match with a 4-1 scoring run for a 25-19 victory.
VCSU hit .190 in the third set (14 kills with six attack errors in 42 swings) compared to DSU .136 hitting percentage (13 kills with seven errors in 44 attempts).
Three Trojan players produced double digits in kills, paced by Grage with 14 kills. She also had four blocks. Schell registered a double-double of 12 kills and 18 digs.
Madalyn Groft smashed 10 kills and recorded eight digs. She also had three blocks.
Langerock tied her career-high 38 set assists for Dakota State. She produced a double-double with 10 digs.
Kate VanRooyan collected 21 digs.
Hannah Evans had a match-high six blocks.
Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri tallied four blocks.
Julia Drietz and Schell each had a service ace for DSU.
Scutching led the Vikings with 12 kills and four blocks. Nelson added 11 kills. Feije had ten kills and four blocks. Lucas tallied eight kills and two blocks.
Hansen recorded a double-double of 37 set assists and 15 digs for VCSU. Reagan Bogenreif collected 15 digs, while JayCee Richter added 14 digs.
Valley City State smashed 51 kills with 17 attack errors in 146 swings (.233 hitting percentage) compared to Dakota State 44 kills with 22 attack errors in 140 attempts (.157 hitting efficiency).
The Trojans were 95.6 percent at the serving line (two errors in 68 attempts) compared to the Vikings 96.1 percent (three errors in 77 serves).
DSU had 70 digs to VCSU 65 digs. Dakota State registered 10 blocks, while Valley City State had seven blocks.
