November 9, 2023

WATERTOWN, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) faced two match points by Mayville State (N.D.), trailing 14-12 in the fifth and deciding set, in the quarterfinals round of the North Star Athletic Association women's volleyball postseason tournament Thursday evening at Civic Arena.  The Trojans roared by saving two match points and outscored the Comets 5-1 in the final six rallies to earn a wild 3-2 thriller after a service ace by Reagan VanRooyan.

Dakota State, a four seed in the NSAA postseason tournament, extended their winning streak to three matches and raised their overall record to 16-14.  Fifth-seeded Mayville State ended their season at 15-11 overall record.  DSU and MSU were playing their second straight match, with the Trojans winning the regular-season finale at DSU Fieldhouse on Nov. 4 in a three-set sweep.

Dakota State moves on to the semifinals round Friday evening.  The Trojans face the top-seed and defending champion No. 5 ranked Viterbo (Wis.) in the second semifinal match.  First serve is tentatively set for 7 p.m.

The first NSAA women's volleyball semifinal match features No. 3 seed Bellevue (Neb.), who swept past sixth seeded Waldorf (Iowa) in three straight sets Thursday, and No. 2 seed Valley City State (N.D.) at 5 p.m.

Friday' semifinals winners will meet in the NSAA women's volleyball championship match at 2 p.m.  All NSAA women's volleyball postseason tournament tis being held at Watertown Civic Arena.

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Mayville State (N.D.) 2 – FINAL (25-16, 21-25, 25-16, 17-25, 17-15)

Dakota State and Mayville State went through six ties and one lead change through the first 16 rallies.  Knotted at 8-8, the Trojans went on an 8-0 scoring tear to earn a 16-8 lead. 

DSU never trailed for the rest of the first set as Sydney Schell closed with a kill for a 25-16 victory.  The Trojans highlighted the first set with an astounding .457 hitting percentage with 17 kills and committed just one attack error in 35 swings.  Mayville State was held to a .178 hitting percentage (15 kills with seven errors in 45 attempts).

The Trojans and Comets went point for point in the second set, where both teams did not lead no more than two points through the first 40 rallies.  Both teams went through 16 ties and six lead changes before Mayville State made a late run.

With the 16^th tie in the second set at 19-19, MSU went on a 4-0 scoring tear capped by a kill from Thra Peterick to open a 23-19 lead.  DSU could get no closer than three points twice as MSU evened the match at 1-1 after a kill by Samantha Passa for a 25-21 victory.

Both teams smashed 15 kills in the second set.  The Comets hit .244 (five errors in 41 swings) compared to the Trojans .140 hitting percentage (eight kills in 50 attempts).

The third set featured a pair of monstrous runs, first by the Comets with a 7-1 opening outburst after a kill by Nicole Kortan.  Dakota State answered back with a 7-1 run, highlighted by Macey Wathen's kill to tie the match at 8-8 and forced the Comets to burn their first timeout of the third set.

After Mayville State overtook a 10-8 lead, Dakota State went on a monstrous 8-0 outburst to gain a 16-10 lead after a kill by Wathen.

The Trojans never trailed for the rest of the third set, closing with a 25-16 victory after a block assist from Brooklyn and Wathen.  DSU earned a 2-1 match lead, thanks to their .238 hitting percentage in the third set (14 kills with four errors in 42 swings and limited the Comets to negative .021 hitting percentage (nine kills and committed 10 attack errors in 48 attempts).

Dakota State and Mayville State battled back-and-forth in the fourth set with six ties and three lead changes.  Trailing 15-13, the Trojans scored four straight points to overtake a 17-15 lead after a block assist by Wathen and Maddi Langerock.

The Comets stormed back by erupting 10 straight points to close the fourth set at 25-17, thanks to three consecutive kills in the final three rallies and forced the fifth and deciding set.  MSU outhit DSU 18-9 in the fourth set.  Mayville State hit .246 (four attack errors in 57 swings) and held Dakota State to .036 hitting percentage (seven errors in 56 attempts).

Dakota State opened with a 4-2 lead in the fifth set after a kill by Grage, followed by a service ace from Kate VanRooyan and a kill by Madalyn Groft.  The Trojans extended their lead to 7-4 after Grage's kill.

Mayville State rallied back to overtake an 8-7 lead after a service ace by Kylee Baumgarn.  The Comets extended their lead to 13-10 and forced the Trojans to burn their final timeout. 

Dakota State answered with the next points by back-to-back kills from Grage, trimming Mayville State's lead to 13-12.  Peterick smashed a kill to give MSU two match point chances at 14-12.

Grage recorded a block and a kill as Dakota State saved two match points by the Comets, forcing MSU to call their first timeout at 14-14.  DSU continued its scoring run to take a 15-14 lead and a match point opportunity after an attack error by MSU.

Elora Passa recorded a kill as the Comets tied at 15-15 after calling their final timeout.  Mayville State committed an attack error to give DSU another match point opportunity at 16-15.

Dakota State earned a wild finish at 17-15 as R. VanRooyan hit a service ace that hit the net and landed on MSU's court. 

DSU hit .238 in the deciding set with 11 kills and committed one attack error in 42 swings.  MSU hit .167 (10 kills with three errors in 42 attempts).

Four Dakota State players hit career-highs in the match.  Schell hit a double-double of 17 digs and earned a season-high 25 digs.  She also had two blocks.  Grage added 16 kills and three blocks.  Wathen hit career-highs of 11 kills and seven blocks.

Hannah Evans tied her career-high eight kills for DSU.  She tallied four blocks.  Groft smashed 10 kills and posted a double-double with a career-high 23 digs.  Langerock paced the Trojans' offense attack with a career-high 52 set assists.  She produced a double-double with 19 digs.  She also tied a career-high four blocks.

K. VanRooyan collected a career-high 36 digs for the Trojans' defense.  R. VanRooyan added nine digs.  Both Kate and Reagan registered a service ace in the match. 

E. Passa posted a triple-double of 13 kills, 29 set assists, and 20 digs for Mayville State.  Peterick added 15 kills and six blocks.  Nicole Kortan had 13 kills.  Maddie McKinnon smashed 12 kills.  S. Passa had seven kills and 14 digs.  Payton Richter contributed 23 set assists and 13 digs for a double-double. 

Emily Condon led the Comets' defense with 25 digs.  Natalie Hadrava added 20 digs.

Team statistics were evenly matched by both teams.  Mayville State had 67 digs compared to Dakota State 66 digs.  The Trojans hit .200 in the match (21 attack errors in 225 swings), while the Comets registered a hitting percentage of .163 (29 attack errors in 233 attempts).

MSU recorded 60 set assists to DSU 59 set assists.  Both teams had two service aces.  The Trojans had a better serving percentage at 97.1 percent (three errors in 105 serves) while the Comets had a 94.8 percent at the serving line with five errors in 97 attempts.

A total of 242 digs were recorded in the match, with 121 digs each by both teams.  Dakota State had a season-high in total digs.

The Trojans collected 12 blocks compared to the Comets' nine blocks.

A total of 36 ties and 14 lead changes were registered throughout the match.