September 2, 2023
NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) played another two matches Saturday on the second day of the Labor Day Volleyball Classic, hosted by College of Saint Mary (Neb.), at the United Sports Academy. The Trojans kicked of the day by taking down the NAIA national's defending champion and current nationally ranked No. 17 Jamestown (N.D.) in four sets, snapping their 27-match losing skid in the series meeting. DSU earned its first win over traditionally national tournament women's volleyball powerhouse Jimmies since Sept. 22, 2005 (DSU and UJ were former members of the Dakota Athletic Conference and North Star Athletic Association).
Dakota State closed out the tournament with a 3-1 setback to Mount Mercy (Iowa) of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, finishing 3-1 record in the tournament.
The Trojans are 6-4 overall record after the tournament, earning their first win over NAIA's top 25 nationally ranked team this season. UJ is 5-5 overall record, while MMU is 7-3 overall record.
Dakota State wraps up their preseason tournament tune-up next weekend, playing three matches in the Viterbo (Wis.) Tournament. The Trojans face Columbia (Mo.) Friday, followed by Montana Tech and William Penn (Iowa) on Saturday in La Crosse, Wis.
Dakota State (S.D.) 3, (17) Jamestown (N.D.) 1 – (25-16, 25-18, 18-25, 25-23)
Tied at 6-6, Dakota State went on a 6-1 scoring run – including four straight points – to open a 12-6 lead after
Hailey Wathen's kill. The Trojans widen their lead to 19-11 after
Sydney Schell's kill and never trailed in the set.
Wathen smashed a kill to secure a 1-0 match lead after winning the first set at 25-16 for DSU. The Trojans hit an astounding .324 in the opening set (16 kills with 5 errors in 34 swings) and held the Jimmies to .176 hitting efficiency (11 kills with 5 errors in 34 attempts).
At 17-15 in the second set, the Trojans went on a 4-0 scoring tear to widen their lead to 21-15 capped by a kill from
Keira Murdock. After the Jimmies secured the next two points to cut DSU's lead to 21-17, Dakota State closed with a 4-1 scoring run and ended on UJ's service error for 25-18 victory. DSU extended their match lead to 2-0.
Dakota State hit .222 in the second set (11 kills with 3 errors in 36 attempts), while Jamestown hit .179 (12 kills with 5 errors in 39 swings).
After DSU took a 2-0 lead in the third set from a kill from
Hannah Evans and Wathen, the Jimmies rolled with a 7-0 scoring surge to grab a 7-2 lead after a service ace by Lily Bertsch and forced the Trojans to burn their first timeout.
A block assist by Schell and
Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri cut UJ's lead to 19-17. The Jimmies answered with a 6-1 closing run for a 25-18 victory to extend the match into the fourth set.
Dakota State and Jamestown battled back and forth in the fourth set. Despite trailing 21-17, the Trojans stormed back with a 5-0 outburst capped by
Madalyn Groft's kill to regain their lead at 22-21.
UJ tied the fourth set at 22-22, while DSU scored the next two points from a kill from Wathen and Groft to set up a match point at 24-22. Aleah Zieske smashed a kill as UJ saved a match point.
Dakota State secured the victory as Schell smashed a kill for 25-23 victory. DSU outhit UJ 16-12 in the fourth set.
Wathen led the Trojans' offense attack with 15 kills and hit .281. She also had five digs. Schell had a double-double of 12 kills and 15 digs. Groft contributed a double-double of 29 set assists and 13 kills to go along with her four kills.
Maddi Langerock had a double-double of 19 assists and 13 digs. She had two service aces.
Murdock tallied nine kills and hit. 300, and collected four blocks for Dakota State. Vongkasemsiri added seven kills and four digs.
Zieske paced the Jimmies with 19 kills and 13 digs for a double-double. She had four blocks. Lily Bertsch added a double-double of 18 set assists and 15 digs. She also had three service aces. Tenley Buddenhagen had 11 set assists., while Paige Oswald added 10 assists. Logan Sherman had seven kills.
Ellie Holen registered a match-high 33 digs for Jamestown.
DSU hit better than UJ by .003 percentage (.204 to .201). The Jimmies had 14 blocks to the Trojans nine blocks.
Mount Mercy (Iowa) 3, Dakota State (S.D.) 1 – FINAL (25-17, 23-25, 25-13, 25-14)
Dakota State struggled in the final match of the tournament, hitting .041 after falling in four sets to Mount Mercy (Iowa) of the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
A kill from Wathen gave DSU a slim 13-12 lead in the opening set. The Mustangs went on to score five straight points to grab a 17-13 lead.
Mount Mercy never trailed for the rest of the first set, securing a 25-17 victory. MMU outhit DSU 15-9 in the opening set.
DSU exploded for a fast start in the second set, racing to a 6-0 lead and forced Mount Mercy to call a timeout. A kill from Murdock ballooned the Trojans' lead to 9-2.
The Mustangs stormed back with a 12-6 scoring run to cut the Trojans' lead to 15-14 in the second. MMU could get no closer than one point at 19-18 as DSU held on to a 25-23 victory to even the match at 1-1.
Dakota State was unable to find their offense rhythm in the third and fourth sets. The Trojans were held to minus .163 hitting percentage in the third set (MMU won 25-13), and negative .025 in the fourth set (25-14).
Wathen had 11 kills for the Trojans. Schell added 10 kills and nine digs. Groft produced 17 set assists and nine digs. Langerock had a double-double of 16 kills and 11 digs.
VanRooygan had 20 digs for DSU.
Sophia Vanden Bosch added 14 digs. Evans tallied three blocks.
Mackenzie Murphy had a doubl-edouble of 16 kills and 18 digs for Mount Mercy. Jenna brown added 11 kills and hit .471. Hailey Hested produced 48 set assists and 16 digs. She also had three service aces. Madi Havermann had nine kills and six blocks. Katie Kopriva recorded eight kills, six blocks, and 13 digs.
Rylie Mussman led the Mustangs with 20 digs.
Mount Mercy outhit Dakota State 53-40 in the match. The Mustangs hit .200 (22 errors in 155 swings) compared to the Trojans 33 attack errors in 170 swings.
