September 21, 2023

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) faced the NAIA's nationally-ranked team for the fifth time in the last seven matches Thursday, hosting No. 6 ranked Viterbo (Wis.) in the North Star Athletic Association women's volleyball action at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans extended the match into the fourth set after falling 25-17 each in the first two sets, while the V-Hawks pulled away for a 3-1 victory.

Set scores were 25-17, 25-17, 19-25, and 25-15.

Dakota State, receiving votes in the latest NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 national poll, fell to 7-8 overall record and 0-2 NSAA conference record.  Viterbo extended their winning streak to nine matches, raising their overall record to 16-2 and 3-0 record in the league.

Madalyn Groft and Sydney Schell were honored prior to the match for their 1,000-dig milestone earlier this month for DSU.

Dakota State looks to pick up their first North Star victory as they stay home Saturday afternoon, hosting Waldorf (Iowa).  The first serve is set for 1 p.m. at DSU Fieldhouse.  Viterbo returns home Tuesday versus No. 3 ranked Northwestern (Iowa) in a non-conference match.

(6) Viterbo (Wis.) 3, (RV) Dakota State (S.D.) 1 – FINAL (25-17, 25-17, 19-25, 25-15)

Both teams went through five ties and two lead changes in the opening set.  Leading 15-12, the V-Hawks pulled away with a 10-5 scoring run to secure a 25-17 victory.  VU hit .275 in the first set (15 kills with 4 errors in 40 swings) and held DSU to .158 hitting percentage (10 kills with 4 errors in 38 swings).

Dakota State and Viterbo went through three ties and three lead changes early in the second set.  At 19-14, the V-Hawks went on a 4-0 scoring run to balloon their lead to 23-14 and never trailed to extend their match lead to 2-0 after another 25-17 win.

VU outhit DSU 15-9 in the second set.  Viterbo hit .265 (6 errors in 34 swings) and limited Dakota State to .067 hitting percentage (7 errors in 30 attempts).

Dakota State kicked off the third set with a 5-2 lead, capped by block from Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri and Brooklyn Grage.  The V-Hawks were forced to burn their first timeout, despite recording four attack errors during DSU's scoring run.

Viterbo rallied back with a 4-0 scoring run to overtake a 6-5 lead in the third set.  After falling behind 10-9, the Trojans erupted for six straight points for a 15-9 lead after a kill from Sophia Vanden Bosch.

Schell smashed a kill to register the biggest lead of the third set at 19-12.  With DSU leading 23-15, the V-Hawks went on a 4-0 scoring run and could get no closer (DSU led 23-19).  Vanden Bosch smashed a kill followed by an attack error by the V-Hawks gave the Trojans a 25-19 set three victory and extended the match into the fourth set.

Dakota State and Viterbo struggled offensively in the third set, with the Trojans hitting .062 (10 kills with 8 errors in 32 swings).  The V-Hawks hit minus .057 (8 kills with 10 errors in 35 attempts).  A total of seven ties and four lead changes were recorded in the third set.

DSU and VU battled back and forth in the fourth set with seven ties and five lead changes.  With VU leading 9-8, the Trojans went on a 3-0 scoring run after the V-Hawks committed three straight errors for an 11-9 lead.

At 16-14, Viterbo went on a monstrous 9-1 closing run – including six straight points – to secure a 25-15 victory and earned a 3-1 match win.  The V-Hawks hit .305 (15 kills with 4 errors in 36 swings) while the Trojans hit .031 (6 kills with 5 errors in 32 attempts).

Ten Dakota State players recorded at least a kill, led by Grage with eight kills.  Schell added six kills.  Groft and Macey Wathen each had four kills.  Groft tallied 10 set assists.  Maddi Langerock contributed 16 set assists and seven digs.

Kate VanRooyan led the Trojans' defense with 18 digs.  Vanden Bosch added 11 digs.  Wathen and Vongkasemsiri each collected four blocks.  Hannah Evans added three blocks. 

Grace Rohde paced Viterbo's offense attack with 16 kills.  Kenzie Winker added a double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs.  Jada Mitchell smashed nine kills and registered three blocks. 

Maddie Connor produced 24 set assists for the V-Hawks.  Cailie Kowel posted a double-double of 18 assists and 11 digs.  Kenidi McCabe tallied a match-high 22 digs.  Mitchell and Martina McGrath each had three blocks.

Viterbo outhit Dakota State 53-35 in the match.  The V-Hawks hit .200 (24 attack errors in 145 swings) and limited the Trojans to .083 hitting efficiency (24 attack errors in 132 attempts).

Both teams had two service aces.  The Trojans were 93.3 percent at the serving line (5 error sin 75 attempts) while the V-Hawks were 90.3 percent at the service line (nine service errors in 93 serves).

DSU registered 16 blocks assists (eight blocks) compared to VU 12 block assists (six blocks).  Viterbo had 64 digs compared to Dakota State 57 digs.
 

	Madalyn Groft 1000-dig milestone Sept. 8 vs. (11) Columbia (Mo.)
	Sydney Schell 1000-dig milestone Sept. 9 vs. (10) Montana Tech