October 7, 2026

FRONTIER CONFERENCE ACTION
THE MATCHES AT A GLANCE

Date: Friday, October 9 at Bismarck State (N.D.) Location: Bavendick Center I Bismarck, N.D.
Start Time: 7 p.m.

 

Date: Saturday, October 10 at Dickinson State (N.D.) Location: Scott Gymnasium - Dickinson, N.D.
Start Time: 2 p.m. (Central Time) / 1 p.m. (Mountain Time)

THIS WEEK
Dakota State (S.D.) (9-8 overall record, 6-5 Frontier Conference) continues their four-match Frontier Conference action on the road this weekend.  The Trojans begin their second half portion of the Frontier Conference schedule Friday evening, visiting the Bavendick Center in Bismarck, N.D.  DSU plays Bismarck State (N.D.) (7-9 overall record, 5-6 Frontier Conference) at 7 p.m.

The Trojans close their four-match road trip Saturday afternoon, traveling to Scott Gymnasium to take on Dickinson State (N.D.) (6-12 overall record, 5-6 Frontier Conference).  First serve is set for 2 p.m. (Central Time)/1 p.m. (Mountain Time).

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State continues their Frontier Conference action on the road with another pair of matches this weekend.  After taking a trip to Montana last weekend, the Trojans travel to the state of North Dakota.

*This week is the start of the second half of the Frontier Conference women's volleyball regular season schedule.  The teams completed their 11 matches on the first half of the schedule and will flip-flop their home/away matches from their first half of the league schedule. 

*Dakota State will play their second three-match home stand of the season next week, playing three matches in one week.  The Trojans host their traveling partner No. 7 ranked Bellevue (Neb.) in the Dig Pink night on Oct. 14, followed by Carroll (Mont.) on Oct. 16 and Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Oct. 17.

*Dakota State have 11 remaining Frontier conference matches remaining on their schedule before the eight-team postseason conference tournament in Helena, Mont., on Nov. 12-14.

*The Trojans lead the Frontier Conference with 12.89 kills per set.  Lauryn Kloth ranks third in the league with 62 total blocks, as well as third in the conference with 0.98 blocks per set.
 

Record	9-8	7-9	6-12
Kills	825	733	732
Kills Per Set	12.9	11.8	11.3
Hitting %	..176	.163	.128
Assists	770	663	657
Assists Per Set	12.0	10.7	10.1
Digs	1099	958	1251
Digs Per Set	17.2	15.5	18.7
Blocks	102.0	123.0	124.5
Blocks Per Set	1.6	2.0	1.9
Service Aces Per Set	1.3	1.5	1.4
Receptions	1245	1190	1344

SCOUTING THE BISMARCK STATE MYSTICS
Bismarck State enters the week with a 7-9 overall record and a 5-6 record in Frontier Conference play under seventh-year head coach Kyle Kuether. The Mystics opened the season 2-2 at the Siouxland Invitational before dropping five of their next six matches. Bismarck State responded with a five-match winning streak, highlighted by home victories over No. 8 Providence, MSU-Northern, Carroll and Rocky Mountain.

The Mystics enter the weekend on a two-match losing streak after road losses to Valley City State and Mayville State. Bismarck State dropped a five-set match at Valley City State, 25-16, 24-26, 25-17, 23-25 and 13-15, despite holding a 12-7 lead in the decisive fifth set. Reese Duchsherer led the Mystics with 17 kills and 14 digs, while McKenna Brendel added 13 kills on a .423 hitting percentage and Aspen Roaldson recorded 46 assists. BSC followed with a four-set loss at Mayville State, falling 25-20, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-15 while being held to a .025 team hitting percentage.

Dakota State defeated Bismarck State in five sets in the first meeting of the season on Sept. 5 at the DSU Fieldhouse.

SCOUTING THE DICKINSON STATE BLUE HAWKS
Dickinson State enters the week with a 6-12 overall record and a 5-6 mark in Frontier Conference play under head coach Stormy Owsley. The Blue Hawks faced a challenging non-conference schedule to open the season, including matches against nationally ranked McPherson, Eastern Oregon, The Master's and College of Idaho. Dickinson State has earned conference victories over Bismarck State, MSU-Northern, No. 8 Providence, Rocky Mountain and Mayville State.

The Blue Hawks split their two-match road trip last week. Dickinson State swept Mayville State 25-19, 25-21 and 27-25 behind 12 kills, 12 digs, three service aces and two blocks from Carmen Pallone. Aubrey Allison added seven kills and 16 digs, while Rylee Kogolshak finished with 32 assists and 19 digs. Dickinson State then fell in straight sets at Valley City State, 25-18, 35-33 and 25-21. Allison led the Blue Hawks with 15 kills, Pallone added 10 kills and 12 digs, and Kogolshak recorded 33 assists and 13 digs.

Dakota State earned a straight-set victory over Dickinson State in the first meeting of the season on Sept. 4 at the DSU Fieldhouse.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State (S.D.) dropped a pair of Frontier Conference road matches in Montana last weekend, falling in five sets at MSU-Northern before dropping a four-set decision at No. 8 Providence. The Trojans completed the first half of their conference schedule with a 9-8 overall record and a 6-5 mark in Frontier play.

Dakota State opened the road trip Oct. 2 with a five-set battle at MSU-Northern. The Trojans won the opening set 26-24 and took a 2-1 match lead after a 25-23 victory in the third set, but the Skylights responded by taking the fourth 25-22 and the deciding fifth set 15-11. DSU produced season highs of 75 kills and 124 digs while its 72 assists were the fourth-most in a single match in program history. The Trojans held a 75-57 advantage in kills but committed 37 attack errors compared to 18 by Northern.

Dakota State closed the weekend Oct. 3 at No. 8 Providence. The Trojans captured the opening set 25-23 before the Argonauts responded with three consecutive set victories of 25-15, 25-21 and 25-20 for the 3-1 victory.

AROUND THE FRONTIER CONFERENCE
The Frontier Conference women's volleyball race continued into the second half of league play last week. No. 16 Bellevue remained in control of the standings after opening the weekend with a straight-set road victory over No. 8 Providence. The Bruins entered the weekend unbeaten in conference play after winning their first 10 Frontier matches.

Providence bounced back from its loss to Bellevue with a four-set victory over Dakota State on Oct. 3. The Argonauts dropped the opening set 25-23 before winning the final three sets to improve to 7-4 in conference play. Dakota State dropped both matches on its Montana road trip, falling in five sets at MSU-Northern before its loss at Providence.

Montana Western continued its climb in the standings with a four-set road victory over Carroll on Oct. 2. The Bulldogs won 25-22, 25-23, 15-25 and 25-18, handing the Fighting Saints their third consecutive conference loss. No. 24 Montana Tech entered the weekend in second place after earning a five-set road victory over Carroll Sept. 30.

In North Dakota, Dickinson State earned a straight-set victory at Mayville State on Oct. 1, while Bismarck State followed with a four-set victory over the Comets the following night. The results continued to keep the middle of the Frontier standings tightly grouped as teams began the second trip through the conference schedule.

UPCOMING DSU VOLLEYBALL JUNIOR VARSITY SCHEDULE
DSU travels to Wahpeton, N.D., Sunday, Oct. 11, for a 1 p.m. match against North Dakota State College of Science. The Trojans return home Monday, Oct. 19, to host their second triangular of the season. Dakota State faces Riverland Community College (Minn.) at 4 p.m. before Riverland and Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) meet at 5:30 p.m. The Trojans close the triangular against Dakota Wesleyan at 7 p.m.

Dakota State travels to Estherville, Iowa, Oct. 26 for a 6 p.m. match against Iowa Lakes Community College before closing its junior varsity schedule Nov. 4 at Mayville State (N.D.).

KATE VANROOYAN SURPASSES 2,000-DIG CLUB
Senior libero/defensive specialist Kate VanRooyan became the fourth player in Dakota State women's volleyball history to reach 2,000 career digs during the Trojans' road trip to Montana last weekend.

VanRooyan entered the weekend with 1,967 career digs, just 33 shy of the milestone. She collected a match-high 30 digs in Dakota State's five-set contest at MSU-Northern on Oct. 2, moving her career total to 1,997 digs. VanRooyan then recorded 17 digs the following afternoon at No. 8 Providence, surpassing the 2,000-dig mark and increasing her career total to 2,014.

VanRooyan now sits fourth on Dakota State's all-time career digs list and is just 13 digs behind Laura Lanoue's third-place total of 2,027 digs. Sonja Kamrud ranks second with 2,086 career digs, while Peyton Groft holds the program record with 2,394 digs.

Through Dakota State's first 17 matches this season, VanRooyan has collected 260 digs. She entered the season with 1,754 career digs and has added 260 during her senior campaign to become just the fourth Trojan in program history to surpass 2,000 career digs.

2026 DSU Trojan Women's Volleyball Team Leaders

• Kills/Kills Per Set:  Kaedyn Sapp - 154 kills / 2.80 kills per set
• Assists/Assists Per Set:  Emily Nelson - 337 set assists / 5.27 set assists per set
• Digs/Digs Per Set:  Kate VanRooyan - 260 digs / 4.67 digs per set
• Blocks/Blocks Per Set:  Lauryn Kloth - 62 blocks / 0.98 blocks per set
• Service Aces/Service Aces Per Set:  Emily Nelson - 17 service aces / 0.27 service aces per set
• eceptions:  Sydney Wathen - 307 receptions