August 26, 2023

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) accumulated over 100 kills combined Saturday, powering past a pair of opponents in the North Star/GPAC Cross-Over Tournament at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans made their home debut with a 3-1 victory over Dordt (Iowa) and continued their dominance with Mount Marty (S.D.) in a 3-0 sweep in the nightcap.

The North Star Athletic Association dominated the day by going 4-0 record against what could be an arguably toughest conference in the NAIA, the Great Plains Athletic Conference.  NSAA's Mayville State (N.D.) defeated the Defenders 3-1 and rolled past the Lancers 3-0 in the third match of the day, giving the Comets a 2-0 record in their season opener.

Dakota State improved their overall record to 3-2.  Dordt fell to 0-2 overall record, while Mount Marty fell to 4-4 overall record after dropping their fourth straight match.

DSU continues their home action at DSU Fieldhouse on Tuesday as they host rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), who is ranked No. 13 in the NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national poll.  White-out will be the theme to the match, wear your white clothing to the matches.  There will be a junior varsity match at 5 p.m. (three sets to 25 points), followed by the varsity match at 7 p.m.

North Star/GPAC Cross-Over Scores
Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Dordt (Iowa) 1 – FINAL
Mayville State (N.D.) 3, Dordt (Iowa) 1 – FINAL (26-24, 21-25, 25-13, 25-18)
Mayville State (N.D.) 3, Mount Marty (S.D.) 0 – FINAL (25-23, 25-19, 25-13)
Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Mount Marty (S.D.) 0 – FINAL

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Dordt (Iowa) 1 – FINAL (25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18)

The Trojans smashed 52 kills in the home opener, earning their first win over Dordt (Iowa) in head coach Amy Veenhof's era at DSU.  Madalyn Groft fueled with her second triple-double of the week, collecting 11 kills, 18 set assists, and 10 digs.

After batting through four ties and three lead changes in the early going, Dakota State pulled away late in the first set to grab a 1-0 match lead.  Leading 17-14, the Trojans reeled off five straight points to widen their lead to 22-14 after a block assist from Macey Wathen and Hailey Wathen.

Keira Murdock and Groft closed the first set with a kill each, securing a 25-18 victory.  DSU hit .233 and held the Defenders to .095 hitting percentage.  The Trojans outhit DU 14-5.

Dakota State and Dordt went through a see-saw battle in the second set with 11 ties and six lead changes.  Knotted at 14-14, the Trojans sparked a 4-0 scoring run after three straight attack errors for an 18-14 lead and forced the Defenders to call a timeout.

With DSU leading 21-81, Dordt stormed back with a 5-0 scoring run to regain their lead at 22-21 after a block assist from Ellie Dokter and Ellie Weg.  After DSU tied the second set at 22-22, DU went on to score three straight points to even the match at 1-1 after 25-22 victory.

The Trojans started the third set with a red-hot 8-0 explosion, thanks to Sydney Schell, Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri, and Groft making kill or block.  DSU extended their lead to 13-3 after a kill by Schell, forcing the Defenders to call their second timeout of the third set.

Dordt crept back in the third set with a 17-9 scoring tear to trim DSU's lead to 22-20 after Dokter's kill.  Vongkasemsiri and Schell each followed up with a kill to set up a set point opportunity at 24-20.

The Trojans closed the third set at 25-22 and regained their match lead to 2-1.  DSU hit .225 in the set and held DU to .093 hitting percentage.

At 9-8 in the fourth set, Vongkasemsiri capped Dakota State's 7-2 scoring run with a kill for a 16-10 lead.  Dordt was unable to get back within three points as the Trojans closed the match with a 5-1 scoring run for 25-18 win after Groft's kill.

DSU powered with a .290 hitting percentage in the fourth set (12 kills with 3 errors in 31 attempts) compared to Dordt .146 hitting percentage (13 kills with 7 errors in 41 swings).

Schell paced the Trojans with a double-double of 13 kills and 12 digs.  She tallied three blocks.  Maddi Langerock contributed 22 set assists.  Vongkasemsiri added nine blocks and a career-high seven blocks. Murdock smashed eight kills.  Kate VanRooyan led the defense with 19 digs.  H. Wathen recorded four blocks.

Tarren Spartz led the Defenders with 15 kills.  Dokter added six kills.  Sophie Johnson produced 17 assists and nine digs.  Campbell Marshall added 14 assists and six digs.  Makenna Kooima recorded 13 digs.

DSU hit .215 in the match compared to DU .110 hitting percentage.  The Trojans outhit the Defenders 52-44.  Both teams had 60 digs and three service aces.  Dakota State registered 10 blocks to Dordt six blocks.

Dakota State (S.D.) 3, Mount Marty (S.D.) 0 – FINAL (25-15, 25-15, 25-11)

The Trojans fired their offense with a season-high .412 hitting percentage and smashed 51 kills, rolling to a 3-0 sweep of in-state rival Mount Marty.  DSU held MMU, who was playing their fourth match in two days – with three matches against NSAA's foes (Valley City State, Mayville State, and Dakota State), to 22 kills and .018 hitting efficiency.

It was the 11^th straight victory for Dakota State in the series meeting with Mount Marty.  DSU held MMU to .000 hitting percentage through the first two sets.

After a closely tight first set through the first 26 rallies (Trojans led 14-12), DSU stormed to an 11-3 closing run to grab a 1-0 match lead.  A block assist from Vongkasemsiri, and H. Wathen gave DSU a 25-15 victory.  The Trojans outhit the Lancers 17-7 in the opening set. 

The second set was like the first set where both teams went through a see-saw battle.  Holding a 14-12 lead, the Trojans closed the second set with an 11-3 lead (including seven straight points).  M. Wathen collected a pair of kills while Murdock added a kill as DSU closed with a 25-15 victory.

Dakota State hit an astounding .481 in the second set (16 kills with 3 in 27 swings) while Mount Marty had eight kills with eight errors in 37 attempts.

The Lancers held a 7-5 lead in the third set and were held to four points for the rest of the set, securing the match for the Trojans.  DSU went on a monstrous 20-4 outburst to close the match at 25-11, thanks to four straight kills from four different hitters to close the match (Schell, M. Wathen, Murdock, and H. Wathen).

Schell had a double-double of 14 kills and 14 digs for Dakota State.  She hit a season-high .500 in the match.  Groft added 19 set assists, six kills, five digs, and three blocks.  Langerock tallied 26 set assists and six digs.

Vongkasemsiri registered nine kills and hit a career-high .667 for DSU.  She also had five blocks.  VanRooyan led the defense with 15 digs.  M. Wathen and H. Wathen combined for 16 kills.  Julia Drietz had six digs.

Gabby Miller had six kills for MMU.  Julia Weber added five kills.  Ally Whitmire contributed 19 set assists and eight digs. 

Dakota State outhit Mount Marty 51-22 in the match.  The Trojans had 20 more digs than the Lancers (53-33).