November 4, 2023

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) smashed 47 kills and only committed nine attack errors Saturday afternoon, earning a 3-0 sweep over Mayville State (N.D.) in the North Star Athletic Association regular-season finale at DSU Fieldhouse.  The victory also gave the Trojans a tiebreaker over the Comets for the No. 4 seed in the upcoming NSAA postseason tournament next week at Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D.

Dakota State lifted their overall record to 15-14, while Mayville State fell to 15-10 overall record.  Both teams finished 6-6 record in the league, with the Trojans owning the tiebreaker over the Comets in numbers of sets won (5-3; MSU won first meeting in five sets).

DSU honored their two seniors – Madalyn Groft and Angela Guthmiller prior to the varsity match Saturday.  The Trojan junior varsity team finished their season with a 10-5 record after their 2-1 victory over MSU (25-10, 2-23, and 25-27).

Dakota State and Mayville State will meet again Thursday evening in the NSAA quarterfinal match.  First serve is slated for 6 p.m. (after the No. 6 seed Waldorf, Iowa, versus No. 3 seed Bellevue, Neb. first quarterfinal match at 4 p.m. on the same day).

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Mayville State (N.D.) 0 – FINAL (25-12, 25-20, 25-19)

The Trojans' offense erupted for six kills as part of their 8-1 opening run.  DSU used four different hitters – Sydney Schell, Groft, Brooklyn Grage, and Hannah Evans during their opening outburst.

Dakota State never trailed for the rest of the first set, leading as many as 16 points at 22-6 and 23-7.  The Comets went on a 5-1 scoring run before Groft closed the first set with a kill, giving the Trojans a 25-12 victory and 1-0 match lead.

DSU recorded an impressive .452 hitting percentage in the opening set (15 kills with one error in 31 swings).  MSU was held to .081 hitting percentage (9 kills with 6 errors in 37 attempts).

Mayville State opened the second set with three straight points, thanks to back-to-back service aces by Elora Passa for a 3-0 lead.

Dakota State went on a monstrous 7-0 scoring run to erase an 11-8 deficit into a 15-11 lead after Evan's kill.  The Trojans never trailed for the rest of the second set as Groft produced another closing kill for 25-20 victory and extended their match lead to 2-0.

DSU hit .250 in the second set (15 kills with 5 errors in 40 swings) and limited MSU to .071 hitting efficiency (11 kills with eight errors in 42 attempts).

Dakota State and Mayville State went through a see-saw battle in the third set, featuring 13 ties and two lead changes through the first 36 rallies.  Knotted at 18-18, Grage sparked DSU's 6-0 scoring run with three kills to set up a match point opportunity at 24-18.

After MSU saved one match point, Groft closed the match with a kill to highlight the Senior Day sweep at 25-19.  DSU secured a 3-0 victory after hitting .389 in the third set (17 kills with three errors in 36 attempts).  MSU recorded .206 hitting percentage (13 kills with six errors in 34 swings). 

Four DSU hitters recorded at least .300 in the match.

Schell and Grage each smashed 12 kills for Dakota State.  Schell posted a double-double with 13 digs.  She recorded a .310 hitting percentage.  Grage added an impressive .500 hitting percentage.

Groft collected eight kills and five digs for the Trojans.  Maddi Langerock, Macey Wathen, and Evans each registered five kills.  Langerock contributed 37 set assists and nine digs.  Evans had two blocks. 

Kate VanRooyan tallied a match-high 17 digs for DSU.  Reagan VanRooyan added five digs. 

Passa led the Comets with 13 kills and 17 set assists.  She also had two service aces.  Samantha Passa and Nicole Kortan each added six kills.  Madison McKinnon had five kills.  Payton Richter recorded a double-double of 11 assists and 10 digs.
 
Natalie Hadrava led Mayville State with 12 digs. 

Dakota State had 14 more kills than Mayville State (47-33).  The Trojans hit .355 in the match (nine attack errors in 107 swings) compared to the Comets .115 hitting percentage (20 attack errors in 113 attempts).

DSU was 94.6 percent at the serving line (one ace with four errors in 74 serves), while MSU was 94.2 percent (two aces with three errors in 52 attempts).