October 30, 2026
MADISON, S.D. — Dakota State (S.D.) held off Providence (Mont.) in a thrilling five-set Frontier Conference women's volleyball battle Friday evening at the DSU Fieldhouse. The Trojans earned a 3-2 victory by scores of 25-17, 22-25, 25-20, 19-25 and 15-9.
Dakota State improved its overall record to 16-9 and 13-6 in Frontier Conference play, earning their seventh win in the last eight matches. The Trojans also surpassed last year's conference wins total (12) and matched last year's home wins total (9 home wins at DSU Fieldhouse). Providence, last year's defending Frontier Conference champions in both regular season and postseason tournament, fell to 19-7 overall record and 13-6 record in the league.
Friday's match could be the final all-time series meeting between DSU and UP. Providence announced that their school will be closing this coming spring.
How it happened
Dakota State opened the match with an impressive offensive performance, hitting .371 with 15 kills and just two attack errors in 35 attempts.
The Trojans and Argos battled through a tightly contested opening stretch, which featured ties at 4-4, 5-5, 9-9 and 10-10. Dakota State began pulling away after the 10-10 tie. The Trojans established a 15-12 lead following a kill by Maras, forcing Providence to call a timeout.
DSU extended its lead to 18-13 after a kill by
Tristyn Maras and
Raya Van Beek and a Providence attack error. The Trojans continued their momentum, stretching their advantage to 21-15. Dakota State closed the set with a block by Sapp and
Macey Wathen, followed by a Providence setting error, securing the 25-17 victory.
Providence was limited to nine kills and a .069 hitting percentage in the opening set.
Dakota State opened the second set with three consecutive points, highlighted by a pair of
Lauryn Kloth kills and a Maras kill. Providence answered with a rally, eventually taking an 11-8 lead and forcing Dakota State to call a timeout. The Trojans rallied from a 13-9 deficit to tie the set at 13-13. Dakota State later regained a 17-15 advantage before Providence battled back.
The Argos broke a 20-20 tie with two consecutive points and held off Dakota State for a 25-22 victory, evening the match at one set apiece.
Providence recorded 14 kills and hit .179 in the second set. Dakota State finished with 13 kills and a .111 hitting percentage.
Dakota State regained the match advantage with a 25-20 victory in the third set.
The Trojans recorded 15 kills in 47 attempts and added two service aces and two team blocks. Providence was held to 11 kills and committed eight attack errors in 40 attempts, resulting in a .075 hitting percentage. The third-set victory gave Dakota State a 2-1 match lead.
Providence responded with its strongest offensive performance of the match to force a fifth set.
UP collected 16 kills and committed just four attack errors on 34 attempts, hitting .353. Providence also recorded four team blocks and one service ace. Dakota State finished the fourth set with 14 kills and seven attack errors in 37 attempts for a .189 hitting percentage.
Providence claimed the set 25-19 to even the match at 2-2.
Dakota State saved its best offensive effort since the opening set for the decisive fifth frame. After battling back and forth with seven ties and four lead changes, the Trojans stormed to finish the match.
Trailing 8-7, DSU erupted for seven straight points to set up the match point at 14-7 after four consecutive kills (Maras, followed by Van Beek, and back-to-back ills by Kloth). After Brookly Hilman's kill as UP trailed 14-9, Kloth closed the match with a kill to give DSU a 15-9 victory.
The Trojans produced 10 kills and committed just three attack errors in 28 attempts, hitting .250. Providence was limited to five kills in 22 attempts and a .136 hitting percentage.
A total of 32 ties and 13 lead changes were registered during the five-set match.
Inside the box score
Maras led the Trojans with a match-high 17 kills on 49 attempts, hitting .224. She added two block assists and one dig. Kloth recorded 13 kills with just two errors in 26 attempts, producing a team-best .423 hitting percentage among players with multiple attempts. She also led the Trojans at the net with one solo block and six block assists for seven total blocks.
Sapp added 13 kills, two digs and three block assists for Dakota State.
Annika Cantrell contributed nine kills on 22 attempts, hitting .318, with two block assists and one dig.Â
Macey Wathen registered nine kills, four digs and three block assists. Van Beek added five kills, two digs and two block assists.
Emily Nelson directed Dakota State's offense with 30 assists, four digs and one kill.
Gabi Borresen contributed a double-double with 21 assists and 12 digs.
Defensively,
Kate VanRooyan paced the Trojans with 21 digs, two service aces and three assists.
Sydney Wathen followed with 18 digs, two assists and one service ace.
Reagan VanRooyan added eight digs and one service ace.
Martyna Fiedler led the Argos with 15 kills on 34 attempts, hitting .294. She also collected five digs and two block assists. Cabry Badley contributed 13 kills with just two errors in 28 attempts for a .393 hitting percentage. She added one solo block and four block assists for five total blocks.
Kendall Picolet finished with 12 kills, nine digs and one block assist. Hillman added six kills and three digs, while Kya Stanley contributed five kills and four block assists.
Marli Lopeman led Providence with 26 assists and 11 digs, recording a double-double. Araleigh Arnold added 21 assists and four digs.
Kyra Saiers collected a match-high 24 digs and four assists. Bree MacDonald contributed nine digs, two kills, two block assists and one service ace. Ellie Carlson added eight digs and one service ace, while Heather Barbee finished with seven digs.
Dakota State held a 67-55 advantage in kills, with both teams committing 28 attack errors. The Trojans finished with a .203 hitting percentage on 192 attempts, while Providence hit .165 on 164 attempts.
Dakota State recorded 57 assists, four service aces, 73 digs and 10 team blocks. Providence finished with 53 assists, two service aces, 82 digs and nine team blocks.
Up next
DSU closes out their home schedule Saturday evening versus Montana State-Northern. Wear Halloween costumes to the volleyball match. The Trojan volleyball team will honor their four seniors prior to the match. The match is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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