October 23, 2024
This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (Oct. 23, 2024)—The Dakota State University Trojan volleyball team (14-9 overall record, 3-3 North Star Athletic Association record, receiving votes—RV—in the 2024 NAIA Women's Volleyball Coaches' Top 25 Poll) wraps up their home regular-season schedule with a pair of North Star contests Friday and Saturday at DSU Fieldhouse in Madison.
The Trojans host NAIA's nationally-ranked No. 2 and undefeated Jamestown (N.D.) (18-0 overall record, 7-0 NSAA conference record) Friday evening. The junior varsity match starts at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity match at 6 p.m. The DSU volleyball team will be holding their Parents' Night on Friday.
Dakota State hosts Dickinson State (N.D.) (5-17 overall record, 1-6 NSAA conference record) on Saturday afternoon. Five seniors—
Hannah Evans,
Brooklyn Grage,
Madalyn Groft,
Sydney Schell, and
Hailey Wathen—will be recognized prior to the match, which is set for a 12 p.m. first serve.Â
The Trojans are coming off from their 1-1 record in the Marvel Bruin Classic on Oct. 12 in Bellevue, Neb. DSU fell to (RV) Columbia (Mo.) in three straight sets before defeating Grand View (Iowa) in four sets. Dakota State returned home on Oct. 17 for the North Star Athletic Association, falling short to No. 8 ranked Bellevue (Neb.) in five sets.
Jamestown remained undefeated this season after earning a pair of 3-0 home sweeps. The Jimmies swept Mayville State (N.D.) in three straight sets on Oct. 18, followed by another 3-0 sweep over Valley City State (N.D.) on Oct. 19. Dickinson State earned their first North Star conference win of the season after earning a sweep over the Comets on Oct. 17 in Dickinson, N.D. The Blue Hawks followed up with a 3-0 setback to the Vikings on Oct. 18.
Up Next:  Dakota State wraps up their regular-season schedule with a pair of matches in North Dakota. The Trojans play a mid-week conference contest at Valley City State on Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. DSU concludes their regular-season schedule at Mayville State on Nov. 1, including a junior varsity match at 4 p.m. and varsity match at 6 p.m.
This Week's Quick Hits
+Dakota State (S.D.) and Jamestown (N.D.) could potentially meet for the last all-time series meeting on Friday. UJ makes the move to NCAA Division II and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), while DSU and Dickinson State (N.D.) make their move to the NAIA's Frontier Conference next season.
+The Trojans led in each of the three sets in the first meeting with the Jimmies, but were swept in three straight closes sets at UJ on Sept. 28 in the first meeting. The last time DSU defeated Jamestown was on Sept. 2, 2023, with a 3-1 victory in the Labor Day Classic tournament in North Sioux City, S.D.
+DSU defeated Dickinson State 3-0 in both teams' first NSAA conference meeting on Sept. 27 in Dickinson, N.D. The Trojans had won four straight meetings with the Blue Hawks, including eight times in the last nine meetings since March 13, 2021.
+Dakota State is 3-2 record at home this season, seeking to clinch their home court winning record for the seventh consecutive year at DSU Fieldhouse.
+The DSU's junior varsity team raised their overall record to 14-1 after sweeping Sisseton Wahpeton (S.D.) on Oct. 16, extending their winning streak to eight matches. After hosting UJ on Friday, DSU concludes their home schedule Monday evening in a triangular with Minnesota West CC and Mount Marty (S.D.).
Dakota State to honor five seniors Saturday
Madison, S.D. (Oct. 23, 2024)—Dakota State (S.D.) will be honoring their five seniors prior to the final home regular-season North Star Athletic Association volleyball match on Saturday. The five seniors are
Hannah Evans,
Brooklyn Grage,
Madalyn Groft,
Sydney Schell, and
Hailey Wathen.
The senior group has been integral members of the 2021 squad that qualified for the NAIA national tournament opening round for the second time in program history. That season, the Trojans had accumulated 21 victories and posted its best winning percentage during head coach
Amy Veenhof's era at Dakota State.
The Trojans had posted double digits victories with the senior group, and helped extended their winning home court record for six consecutive seasons.Â
Sydney Schell and
Madalyn Groft each had been named to the North Star Athletic Association Women's Volleyball All-Conference selection during their time at DSU. Both Schell and Groft had been named to All-Conference First Team twice, as well as Second Team All-Conference once.
(RV) Trojans split Marvel Bruin Classic matches
Bellevue, Neb. (Oct. 12, 2024)—Dakota State (S.D.) split a pair of matches in the Marvel Bruin Classic at Gordon Lozier Athletic Center, hosted by Bellevue (Neb.).
(RV) DSU fell to (RV) Columbia (Mo.) in the first match in three straight sets (25-21, 25-18, 25-19), highlighted by sophomore
Kate VanRooyan surpassing her 1,000-dig milestone in the third set.
Hailey Wathen paced the Trojans with eight kills.Â
Brooklyn Grage added seven kills.Â
Macey Wathen and
Tristyn Maras each tallied six kills. Madalyn Groff and
Maddi Langerock each had 16 set assists. VanRooyan finished the match with 14 digs.  Â
Despite losing the first set 25-21 to Grand View (Iowa) in the second match, the Trojans won the next three sets (25-20, 25-17, and 25-19) to earn a 3-1 match victory. It was the second straight year that DSU defeated the Vikings the same tournament (Marvel Bruin Classic) in Bellevue.
H. Wathen, Grage, and Maras each led the Trojans' balanced offense attack with nine kills each. Schell and
Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri each added eight kills. Groft posted a double-double of 19 assists and 13 digs. Langerock collected 22 assists and eight digs. VanRooyan had 19 digs. Schell had 15 digs and registered six blocks. Vongkasemsiri collected eight blocks. Maras had five blocks.
Dakota State produced a season-high 16.5 blocks in the match, holding GVU to .070 hitting percentage.
(8) BU defeats (RV) DSU in another five-set thriller
Madison, S.D. (Oct. 17, 2024)—Dakota State (S.D.) and No. 8 ranked Bellevue (Neb.) went to another five-set match in the North Star Athletic Association volleyball action at DSU Fieldhouse. The Bruins held off the Trojans by the set scores of 20-25, 25-22, 26-24, 13-25, and 15-9. BU completed the season series sweep of DSU, both meetings in five sets.
Three Trojan players posted double-doubles in the match, led by
Sydney Schell with 11 kills and 15 digs.Â
Maddi Langerock added 22 set assists and 19 digs.Â
Kate VanRooyan produced a double-double of career-high 10 set assists and 22 digs.
Brooklyn Grage paced Dakota State with 13 kills.Â
Tristyn Maras smashed nine kills and collected a career-high eight blocks.Â
Macey Wathen had eight kills and four blocks.
Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri tallied a career-high 10 blocks in the match, which is tied for second most blocks in a single match school record, Groft had 20 assists and nine digs.
Dakota State registered 15 blocks in the match, the second straight match DSU had at least 15 blocks.
(RV) Trojans in the North Star conference ranks
Madison, S.D. (Oct. 11, 2024)—According to the NAIA-PrestoStats website as of Wednesday, Dakota State ranks third in the North Star Athletic Association in kills per set with 13.0 kills per set. The Trojans lead the league with 18.7 digs per set and rank second in total digs with 1,569 digs. Â
Gwendolyn Vongkasemsiri leads the North Star in blocks per set with 1.3 blocks per set for DSU.Â
Macey Wathen is fourth in the NSAA with 66 blocks, followed by
Brooklyn Grage with 65 blocks.Â
Kate VanRooyan leads the conference in total digs with 435 digs and ranks second with 5.2 digs per set.  She is sixth in the conference in service aces with 18 aces.Â
Madalyn Groft ranks fourth in the North Star Athletic Association in total set assists with 468 assists. She is also 10th in the conference with 16 service aces.Â
Maddi Langerock adds 382 set assists, which is sixth most assists in the league.Â
Sydney Schell ranks sixth in the league with 2.8 kills per set for Dakota State. She is also seventh in the NSAA conference with 3.8 digs per set.
2024 DSU Trojan Volleyball Team Leaders
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