August 17, 2023
GAME NOTES (PDF)
This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (Aug. 17, 2023)—The Dakota State University Trojan volleyball team (17-17 overall record in 2022) makes their 2023 season debut, under the guidance of fifteenth year head coach
Amy Veenhof, with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Trojans travel to Bultman Center (105 Industrial Bypass SW) on the campus of Northwestern (Iowa) in Orange City, Iowa.
Dakota State opens the season against host-team Northwestern (23-8 overall record in 2022) with a 11 a.m. first serve. The Red Raiders are ranked No. 5 in the 2023 NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national preseason poll, released Wednesday. NWIA advanced to the NAIA national tournament last season, going 1-1 record in the final site's pool play.
The Trojans take on another foe from the Great Plains Athletic Conference in the second match of the triangular. DSU faces Briar Cliff (Iowa) (6-22 overall record in 2022) with a tentative schedule first serve of 2 p.m. The Trojans had won the previous four meetings with the Chargers, including the most recent meeting at DSU Fieldhouse with a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 26, 2022.
Dakota State was tabbed to finish fourth in the North Star Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Coaches' Preseason Poll. Northwestern was picked to finish third in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Coaches' Preseason poll. Briar Cliff was predicted to place 12th in the poll.
Next Up: DSU continues their non-conference schedule action against the Great Plains Athletic Conference at Morningside (Iowa) Wednesday and next Saturday (Aug. 26) at DSU Fieldhouse. Dakota State hosts the NSAA/GPAC Cross-over, hosting Dordt (Iowa) at 11 a.m. and Mount Marty (S.D.) at 5 p.m. North Star's foe Mayville State (N.D.) plays Dordt at 1 p.m. and Mount Marty (S.D.) at 3 p.m.
This Week's Preview
+ Dakota State (S.D.) opens their 2023 season with seven straight matches against members of the Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Trojans face Dordt (Iowa) twice during a six-day span.
+ Northwestern (Iowa) won the last meeting with DSU in the College of Saint Mary's (Neb.) Labor Day Classic in North Sioux City, S.D.
+ The Trojans won the previous four meetings with Briar Cliff (Iowa).
+ DSU listed 24 players on their 2023 roster. They will have a junior varsity squad this season, opening the season Tuesday with a scrimmage versus Minnesota West at DSU Fieldhouse.
+ Dakota State finished their 2022 season with an overall record of 17-17, their 12th time in the last 13 seasons that the Trojans had hit double-digits wins.
+ DSU was tied for third place in the North Star Athletic Association standings in 2022 with 7-7 record.
+ Dakota State will be playing in four different preseason tournaments on four straight weekends, starting with a triangular Saturday. After hosting the cross-over tournament on Aug. 26, DSU heads to North Sioux City, S.D. for the College of Saint Mary (Neb.) Labor Day Classic on Sept. 1-2 and Viterbo (Wis.) Tournament on Sept. 8-9.
Trojans rank fourth in NSAA preseason poll
Madison, S.D. (Aug. 14, 2023)—The Dakota State University volleyball team is picked to finish fourth in the North Star Athletic Association Coaches' Poll. The Trojans were edged by Mayville State (N.D.) 31-29 for third place.
Viterbo (Wis.) earned six first-place votes and 48 points to grab the top spot in the conference preseason poll. Bellevue (Neb.) secured second place in the poll after picking up the final first place vote and 43 points.
Valley City State (N.D.) finished fifth with 21 points. Dickinson State (N.D.) and Waldorf (Iowa) were tied for sixth with 12 points each.
All NSAA members play 12-match schedule with six matches at home and six matches on the road. The postseason tournament will be extended to three days on Nov. 9-11 at Civic Arena in Watertown, S.D., with top six teams in the standings advancing the conference tournament.
2022 DSU volleyball season in review
Madison, S.D. (Aug. 17, 2023)—The Dakota State University Trojan volleyball team faced a challenging 2022 schedule, finishing with an overall record of 17-17 and a third-place in the North Star Athletic Association standings with 7-7 record. DSU registered three wins over teams that were listed in the NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national poll's receiving votes section.
Dakota State was listed in the NAIA's receiving votes section for most of the season before ending their season at the North Star Athletic Association Postseason Tournament's quarterfinals. The Trojans produced double digits wins for the 12th time in the past 13 seasons.
DSU had a new all-time digs leader,
Peyton Groft. She surpassed the previous record holder by Sonja Kamrud with 2,086 digs from 1996-99. P. Groft completed her career with a new all-time school record of 2,394 digs from 2018-22.
Four Trojan athletes were selected to the 2022 North Star Athletic Association All-Conference teams.
Hannah Viet and
Sydney Schell were named to the First Team All-Conference. Sisters Peyton and
Madalyn Groft were named to Second Team All-Conference.
Viet and Schell were named to NAIA All-American Honorable Mention, the fifth consecutive year that the Trojans had received at least one recipient to the All-American teams.
Trojans receive numerous academic honors
Madison, S.D. (Aug. 17, 2023)—Dakota State (S.D.) had received numerous academic honors with record numbers during the 2022-23 season.
The Trojans established the most Daktronics-NAIA Scholar Athletes with a total of 10 athletes. The previous single-season record was seven NAIA scholar-athletes during the 2021 season.
A total of 19 volleyball athletes were named to the 2022 North Star Athletic Association Women's Volleyball Scholar-Athletes, which is a single-season record for most conference scholar-athletes.
Most recently, Dakota State was one of the 65 teams from the NAIA division that received the 2022-23 United State Marine Corps and the American Volleyball Association Academic Team Award.
It was the second straight year that the Trojans received the academic team award from AVCA, the fourth time during
Amy Veenhof's coaching era at Dakota State. It was the fifth overall AVCA team academic award in DSU volleyball program history (2001, 2016, 2017, 2021, and 2022).
2023 Trojan volleyball season overview
Madison, S.D. (Aug. 17, 2023)—Dakota State (S.D.) have 24 players listed on their 2023 volleyball roster.
Madalyn Groft is the lone senior on the squad. There are five juniors, three sophomores, and four freshmen on the varsity team.
The Trojans, under the direction of fifteenth year head coach
Amy Veenhof and assisted by Laura Babcock, are set to play a total of 29 matches on their 2023 schedule, with 12 North Star Athletic Association matches (six matches at home and six matches on the road).
DSU also have a junior varsity team, with 18 total matches scheduled. The Trojans are scheduled to play in the Morningside (Iowa) Tournament on Sept. 7, North Dakota School of Science tournament on Sept. 15-16, home triangular on Sept. 25, and Iowa Lakes CC triangular on Oct. 23.
The 2023 North Star Athletic Association Postseason Tournament has been extended to three days. The quarterfinals begin on Nov. 9, semifinals on Nov. 10, and the championship match on Nov. 11.
2023 DSU Trojan Volleyball Team Leaders
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