October 13, 2026

FRONTIER CONFERENCE ACTION
THE MATCHES AT A GLANCE

Date: Wednesday, October 14 vs. (7) Bellevue (Neb.) Location: DSU Fieldhouse / Madison, S.D.
Start Time: 6 p.m.
Theme:  Dig Pink

 

Date: Friday, October 16 vs. Carroll (Mont.) Location: DSU Fieldhouse / Madison, S.D.
Start Time: 5 p.m.
Theme: Hawaiian / Beach / Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night

 

Date: Saturday, October 17 vs. Rocky Mountain (Mont.) Location: DSU Fieldhouse / Madison, S.D.

Start Time: 2 p.m.

Theme: Camouflage

THIS WEEK
Dakota State (S.D.) (11-8 overall record, 8-5 Frontier Conference) returns home for their three-match home stand at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans host their traveling partner and league's leader Bellevue (Neb.) (17-2 overall record, 13-0 Frontier Conference, No. 7 in NAIA Volleyball National Selection Committee Top 25) Wednesday evening at 6 p.m.  Wear pink color clothing to the volleyball match for the annual Dig Pink to help raise cancer awareness.

DSU stays home Friday evening as they host Carroll (Mont.) (14-7 overall record, 9-5 Frontier Conference) at 5 p.m.  Hawaiian / Beach will be the theme for the volleyball match.  The DSU volleyball team will also have their Faculty / Staff Appreciation Night.  Dakota State wraps up their home stand Saturday afternoon versus Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (4-15 overall record, 2-12 Frontier Conference).  First serve is set for 2 p.m.  Camouflage is the theme to the volleyball match.

QUICK HITS
*After completing their seaosn-long Frontier Conference four-match road trip (finished 2-2 record), Dakota State (S.D.) returns home for their second three-match home stand.  The Trojans play three matches at DSU Fieldhouse this week.

*The Trojans are 5-2 record at home at DSU Fieldhouse this season, despite a pair of 3-1 setbacks against NAIA's Top 25 teams - No. 16 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) on Aug. 26 and No. 24 Montana Tech on Sept. 19.

*DSU is seeking for their first win over Bellevue (Neb.) since Oct. 10, 2023, which was held at DSU Fieldhouse.  Three times in the last six meetings between BU-DSU went to five sets.

*Carroll (Mont.) won the last two meetings with Dakota State, both in five sets in Helena including the most recent meeting on Sept. 12.  The Trojans swept the Fighting Saints in their first ever meeting on Sept. 12, 2025, at DSU Fieldhouse.

*Dakota State is 3-1 record all-time with Rocky Mountain (Mont.), including a 3-0 record in the Frontier Conference.  The Trojans swept the Battlin' Bears in their first meeting last month.

*DSU have two more remaining home matches after this week's matches.
 

Record	11-8	17-2	14-7	4-15
Kills	929	852	1051	804
Kills Per Set	12.9	12.9	13.0	11.3
Hitting %	.175	.208	.195	.137
Assists	862	804	998	726
Assists Per Set	12.0	12.2	12.3	10.2
Digs	1268	1191	1467	1307
Digs Per Set	17.6	18.1	18.1	18.4
Blocks	116	134	121.5	113.5
Blocks Per Set	1.6	2.0	1.5	1.6
Service Aces Per Set	1.3	1.8	1.6	0.7
Receptions	1385	1153	1575	1456

SCOUTING THE BELLEVUE BRUINS
No. 7 Bellevue (Neb.) enters the week with a 17-2 overall record and a perfect 13-0 mark in Frontier Conference play under head coach Trish Siedlik. The Bruins have won 14 consecutive matches and have not lost since Aug. 29. Bellevue has swept 10 of its 13 conference opponents.

Bellevue continued its unbeaten conference run last weekend with a straight-set victory at Dickinson State (N.D.) before defeating Bismarck State (N.D.) in four sets. The Bruins have also earned conference victories over Providence, Montana Tech, Carroll, Rocky Mountain and Dakota State during their current winning streak.

Bellevue won the first meeting with Dakota State in straight sets Sept. 22 at the BU Fieldhouse, defeating the Trojans 25-21, 25-14 and 25-10.

SCOUTING THE CARROLL FIGHTING SAINTS
Carroll (Mont.) enters the week with a 14-7 overall record and a 9-5 mark in Frontier Conference play under head coach Maureen Boyle. The Fighting Saints opened conference play with victories in seven of their first eight league matches before dropping three straight contests against Bismarck State, Montana Tech and Montana Western.

Carroll bounced back with consecutive victories over Rocky Mountain and MSU-Northern before falling in four sets at Providence last Saturday. The Saints won the opening set against the Argonauts before Providence took the final three sets for the 3-1 victory.

Carroll earned a five-set victory over Dakota State in the first meeting of the season Sept. 12 in Helena. The Saints won the deciding fifth set 15-8 after DSU forced a fifth set with a 25-19 victory in the fourth.

SCOUTING THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN BATTLIN' BEARS
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) enters the week with four victories on the season under first-year head coach Lauren Revering. The Battlin' Bears have endured a difficult Frontier Conference schedule after opening league play with losses to Carroll, MSU-Northern, Providence and Dakota State.

Rocky split its most recent road weekend in Montana, falling in straight sets at Providence before bouncing back with a four-set victory at MSU-Northern. The win snapped a losing streak that included setbacks against Montana Tech and Carroll.

Dakota State swept Rocky Mountain in the first meeting of the season Sept. 11 in Billings, winning 25-22, 25-17 and 25-23. The Trojans held Rocky to a .111 hitting percentage in the straight-set victory.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State (S.D.) bounced back with a pair of Frontier Conference road victories last weekend, sweeping Bismarck State (N.D.) before outlasting Dickinson State (N.D.) in five sets. The Trojans improved to 11-8 overall and 8-5 in conference play and completed their four-match road trip with back-to-back victories.

Dakota State opened the weekend Oct. 9 with a straight-set victory over Bismarck State, winning 25-10, 25-19 and 25-23. The Trojans hit .250 with 43 kills while limiting the Mystics to a .017 hitting percentage. Kaedyn Sapp led DSU with 14 kills, Raya Van Beek added nine kills on a .421 hitting percentage, and Lauryn Kloth finished with five blocks. The victory gave Dakota State its 10th win of the season and completed the regular-season sweep of Bismarck State.

The Trojans closed the weekend with a five-set victory at Dickinson State, winning 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 23-25 and 15-7. Dakota State controlled the deciding set after the Blue Hawks forced a fifth frame. Tristyn Maras led the Trojans with 17 kills, while Macey Wathen, Kloth and Van Beek each added 10. Kate VanRooyan anchored the defense with 28 digs and two service aces, while Emily Nelson recorded 28 assists and 11 digs. The victory completed Dakota State's regular-season sweep of Dickinson State.

AROUND THE FRONTIER CONFERENCE
No. 7 Bellevue remains alone atop the Frontier Conference standings with a perfect 13-0 league record and a 17-2 overall mark. The Bruins extended their winning streak to 14 matches last weekend with a straight-set victory at Dickinson State and a four-set win at Bismarck State.

Montana Tech sits second in the conference at 11-3 after rebounding from a five-set loss to Montana Western with victories over Valley City State and Mayville State. Providence has moved into third place at 10-4 after winning four straight matches, including victories over Rocky Mountain and Carroll last weekend.

Carroll and Montana Western are tied at 9-5 in conference play. Montana Western has won five consecutive matches, including victories over Montana Tech, Mayville State and Valley City State, while Carroll split last weekend with a sweep of MSU-Northern and a four-set loss at Providence.

Dakota State enters the week at 8-5 in Frontier play following road wins over Bismarck State and Dickinson State. The Trojans sit directly behind the league's top five and begin a three-match home stand against Bellevue, Carroll and Rocky Mountain.

UPCOMING DSU VOLLEYBALL JUNIOR VARSITY SCHEDULE
Dakota State's junior varsity volleyball team returns to the DSU Fieldhouse Monday, Oct. 19, for its second home triangular of the season. The Trojans face Riverland Community College (Minn.) at 4 p.m., followed by Riverland and Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) at 5:30 p.m. Dakota State closes the triangular against Dakota Wesleyan at 7 p.m.

The Trojans then travel to Estherville, Iowa, Oct. 26 for a 6 p.m. match against Iowa Lakes Community College before closing the junior varsity schedule Nov. 4 with a 4 p.m. road match at Mayville State (N.D.).

2,000-DIG CLUB
Senior libero/defensive specialist Kate VanRooyan continued her climb through the Dakota State women's volleyball record book during the Trojans' North Dakota road trip.

VanRooyan entered the weekend with 2,014 career digs after surpassing the 2,000-dig milestone the previous week in Montana. She added 12 digs in Dakota State's sweep of Bismarck State (N.D.) before collecting a match-high 28 digs in the five-set victory at Dickinson State (N.D.).

Those performances increased VanRooyan's career total to 2,054 digs, moving her past Laura Lanoue's previous third-place total of 2,027 digs from 2005-08. VanRooyan now ranks third in Dakota State history and is just 32 digs behind Sonja Kamrud's second-place total of 2,086 digs from 1996-99.  Peyton Groft holds the school record with 2,394 career digs frp, 2018-22.

Through Dakota State's first 19 matches this season, VanRooyan has recorded 300 digs. She entered the season with 1,754 career digs and has now become one of only three players in program history to surpass 2,050 career digs.

2026 DSU Trojan Women's Volleyball Team Leaders

• Kills/Kills Per Set:  Kaedyn Sapp - 174 kills / 2.76 kills per set
• Assists/Assists Per Set:  Emily Nelson - 388 set assists / 5.39 set assists per set
• Digs/Digs Per Set:  Kate VanRooyan - 300 digs / 4.35 digs per set
• Blocks/Blocks Per Set:  Lauryn Kloth - 68 blocks / 0.96 blocks per set
• Service Aces/Service Aces Per Set:  Emily Nelson - 19 service aces / 0.26 service aces per set
• Receptions:  Sydney Wathen - 346 receptions