November 10, 2023
WATERTOWN, S.D. – Fourth-seeded Dakota State (S.D.) fought hard with top-seeded and nationally-ranked No. 5 Viterbo (Wis.) in the North Star Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Postseason Tournament's semifinals round Friday evening at Watertown Civic Arena. The V-Hawks held off Trojans' upset bid in a four-set victory by the score of 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, and 25-13.
The setback ended Dakota State's 2023 season at 16-15 overall record, their fifth winning season in the past six years. The Trojans also made an appearance to the North Star Athletic Association tournament's semifinals for the fifth time in the past six seasons.
Viterbo, at 29-4 overall record, moves on the North Star' women's volleyball championship match on Saturday at 2 p.m. The V-Hawks take on third-seeded Bellevue (Neb.) (23-8 overall record), who defeated second-seeded (RV) Valley City State (N.D.) (22-9 overall record) in the first semifinal match earlier Friday evening.
It was the final meeting between both schools as the North Star members, with Viterbo moving to the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference next season.
(5) Viterbo (Wis.) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 1 – FINAL (25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 25-13)
Viterbo kicked off the first set with a pair of kills by Grace Rhode and a kill from Kenzie Winker for a 3-1 lead and never trailed. There was one tie in the first set at 1-1 after Macy Wathen's kill for Dakota State.
The V-Hawks stretched their lead to 8-3 after a service ace from Cailie Kowal in the first set. Rhode smashed a kill to balloon Viterbo's lead to 18-12, forcing Dakota State to call a timeout.
The V-Hawks hit .483 (16 kills with two errors in 29 attempts) in the opening set to earn a 25-17 victory, grabbing a 1-0 match lead. The Trojans registered a hitting efficiency of .323 (13 kills with three errors in 31 swings).
Dakota State and Viterbo went through three ties and two lead changes in the second set. Behind 6-4, the Trojans stormed with a 5-0 outburst, highlighted by a pair of kills by
Brooklyn Grage and three attack errors by the V-Hawks to give DSU a 9-6 lead. Viterbo was forced to call a timeout.
VU went on a 3-1 scoring run after timeout to trim DSU's lead to 10-9. Dakota State led as many as three points for the rest of the second set, evening the match at 1-1 after a block by
Sydney Schell to end the second set for a 25-22 victory.
Viterbo outhit Dakota State 18-12 in the second set. The Trojans took advantage of nine attack errors in 46 swings (.196 hitting percentage). DSU hit .250 with three attack errors in 36 attempts.
Dakota State and Viterbo battled back-and-forth in the third set with 11 ties, five lead changes, and the lead no greater than two points. Schell smashed a kill to record the 11
th tie of the third set at 14-14.
The V-Hawks went on a 3-0 scoring run to grab a 17-14 lead and never trailed for the rest of the third set to regain a 2-1 match lead. The Trojans could get no closer than one point at 20-19, while the V-Hawks scored the next four points to set up the set point at 24-19.
DSU saved two set points with back-to-back kills by Grage. Viterbo secured the third set with a 25-21 victory. VU outhit DS U14-12 in the third set.
Dakota State took a 2-1 lead after a block assist by
Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri and
Hannah Evans, Viterbo went on a 7-2 scoring run capped by a block assist each by Sadie Treptow and Martina McGrath for an 8-4 lead. The Trojans were forced to burn their first timeout of the fourth set.
DSU could get no closer than four points at 13-9 as Viterbo closed the match with a 12-4 run, including a 5-0 run to widen their lead to 22-10 after a kill by Jada Mitchell.
Viterbo won the fourth set at 25-13 after a block assist by Treptow and McGrath. The V-Hawks had 12 kills and .250 hitting percentage (four errors in 32 attempts) while the Trojans were held to .027 hitting percentage (nine kills with eight attack errors in 37 swings).
Grage sparked Dakota State's offense with 16 kills. Schell and Vongkasemsiri each added eight kills. Wathen and Evans each had five kills. Schell collected 12 digs.
Maddi Langerock produced a double-double of 38 set assists and 11 digs for Dakota State.
Kate VanRooyan had 18 digs. Vongkasemsiri tallied four blocks. Evans had three blocks.
Mitchell smashed 17 kills and hit .500 in the match for Viterbo. Winker added a double-double of 16 kills and 11 digs. Rhode had a double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs. Treptow tallied seven kills and five blocks. McGrath recorded eight kills and seven blocks.
Maddie Connor produced 30 set assists, while Kowal added 22 set assists for the V-Hawks. Both Connor and Kowal had eight digs. Kenidi McCabe collected 22 digs.
Viterbo smashed 60 kills compared to Dakota State 46 kills. The V-Hawks hit .268 (20 attack errors in 149 swings), while the Trojans had a .184 hitting percentage (19 attack errors in 147 attempts).
VU was 94.8 percent from the serving line with four service aces and five errors in 96 serves. DSU registered a service percentage of 90.9 percent with seven errors in 77 attempts. The V-Hawks collected 11 blocks to the Trojans six blocks.
