August 14, 2026
HONOLULU, Hawaii — Dakota State (S.D.) opened the 2026 women's volleyball season on a winning note Friday afternoon, using a balanced offensive attack, strong net play and an aggressive serving performance to defeat Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) in four sets at the Paradise Volleyball Classic.
The Trojans won by set scores of 25-9, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-18 at The Shark Tank, improving to 1-0 on the season. Embry-Riddle, a member of the Great Southwest Athletic Conference (GSAC), fell to 0-1.
It was the third straight season that DSU had won their season opening match in a preseason tournament (defeated Missouri Valley in the Siouxland Invitational in 2025 and Campbellsville, Ky., in the Keiser (Fla.) Vipers Sports Academy Classic in 2024).
How it happened
Dakota State set the tone immediately, racing to a 7-0 advantage in the opening set behind the serving of
Reagan VanRooyan. The Trojans continued to pull away, extending their lead to 16-4 before cruising to a 25-9 victory.
Rylee Thompson closed the set with a kill off an assist from
Emily Nelson.
Embry-Riddle grabbed a 9-5 lead in the second set before Dakota State answered. The Trojans battled back to tie the set at 9-all and later used another strong service run from VanRooyan to take control. She recorded four service aces during a 7-0 DSU scoring run that turned a 12-12 tie into a 19-12 Trojan advantage. Dakota State held off the Eagles down the stretch for a 25-21 victory and a 2-0 match lead.
The Eagles prevented the sweep in the third set. Dakota State held an 8-3 advantage early before Embry-Riddle gradually erased the deficit. The Eagles moved in front 15-14 and later built a 21-18 advantage. DSU rallied to tie the set at 22-all, but Embry-Riddle scored the final three points for a 25-22 victory.
Dakota State responded in the fourth set to close out the match. The Trojans broke away from an early 3-3 tie with four straight points for a 7-3 advantage. DSU later stretched its lead to 12-7 behind back-to-back service aces from
Keira Murdock and maintained control the rest of the way for the 25-18 match-clinching victory.
Inside the box score
The Trojans finished the match with 48 kills and a .218 hitting percentage, while limiting Embry-Riddle to 33 kills and a .062 attack percentage. Dakota State also held sizable advantages in service aces, 15-10, and blocks, 11-5.
Tristyn Maras paced Dakota State's offense with a match-high 11 kills and added seven block assists.
Lauryn Kloth provided an efficient performance at the net, collecting nine kills on 15 swings for a .467 hitting percentage. She also recorded a solo block and six block assists (7 total blocks).
Ariel Hagen added six kills while committing just one attack error in 10 attempts for a match-best .500 hitting percentage, along with four block assists. Thompson contributed five kills and two block assists.
Dakota State used a balanced setting attack, led by
Emily Nelson's 20 assists and
Gabi Borresen's 15 assists. Nelson also collected five digs, while Borresen had six digs and a service ace.
VanRooyan sparked the Trojans from the service line with a match-high six aces (career-high) in 28 attempts while adding five digs.
Sydney Wathen added four service aces and six digs, while Murdock contributed three aces.
Kate VanRooyan anchored the back row with a match-high 16 digs and added five assists.
Dakota State totaled 45 digs and 42 assists in the victory. The Trojans also generated 74 points compared with 48 for Embry-Riddle.
Up next
Dakota State continues their action in the Paradise Volleyball Classic Saturday with two matches. The Trojans square off with No. 12 ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference at 4:30 p.m. (Central Time)/11:30 a.m. (Hawaii Time).
DSU closes the tournament versus Oregon Tech of the Cascade Collegiate Conference at 11 p.m. (CT)/6 p.m. (HT).
