September 11, 2026
BILLINGS, Mont. — Dakota State (S.D.) continued its unbeaten start to Frontier Conference women's volleyball play Friday evening, earning a 3-0 road sweep over Rocky Mountain (Mont.) at the Fortin Education Center.
The Trojans won by set scores of 25-22, 25-17 and 25-23, improving to 6-3 overall and 3-0 in Frontier play. Rocky Mountain fell to 2-6 overall and 0-4 in conference action.
How it happened
The opening set featured 16 ties and seven lead changes as neither team was able to establish much separation. Rocky Mountain held a 16-15 advantage before Dakota State used three straight points, highlighted by kills from
Emily Nelson and
Tristyn Maras, to take a 19-16 lead.
The Battlin' Bears answered and eventually tied the set at 21-21. Nelson responded with a kill to put DSU back in front, followed by a
Kaedyn Sapp kill for a 23-21 advantage. Sapp added another kill to give the Trojans set point at 24-22.
Dakota State closed the set when
Macey Wathen and
Raya Van Beek combined for a block, securing the 25-22 victory.
The Trojans produced 20 kills in the opening set and hit .211, while Rocky Mountain collected 11 kills and hit .182.
Dakota State never trailed in the second set, jumping to a 3-0 advantage and building its lead to 12-7.
Rocky Mountain trimmed the deficit to one point at 18-17 before the Trojans slammed the door with seven consecutive points.
Lauryn Kloth started the closing run with a kill before DSU received a pair of blocks and several Rocky Mountain attacking errors.
Sydney Wathen capped the 7-0 run with a service ace as Dakota State rolled to the 25-17 victory and took a commanding 2-0 match lead.
DSU held Rocky Mountain to a .021 hitting percentage in the second set. The Battlin' Bears committed nine attack errors, while the Trojans registered five blocks in the frame.
Rocky Mountain attempted to extend the match in a tightly contested third set. The Battlin' Bears built an 8-5 lead before Dakota State battled back and eventually overtook the lead at 9-8 after a block assist by Kloth and
Raya Van Beek.
The teams continued to trade points before Rocky Mountain went ahead 16-15. Dakota State responded with a pivotal 5-0 run. An attack error tied the set before DSU received another Rocky error and a block by Wathen and Maras. Two more Rocky Mountain attack errors extended the Trojans' advantage to 20-16.
Dakota State eventually led 23-19, but Rocky Mountain made one final push with three straight points to pull within 23-22. Kloth stopped the run with a kill for match point.
After the Battlin' Bears cut the deficit to 24-23, Kloth delivered again, recording the match-clinching kill from
Gabi Borresen to give Dakota State the 25-23 victory and complete the sweep.
Inside the box score
Dakota State finished with a 45-39 advantage in kills and outhit the Battlin' Bears .193 to .111. The Trojans committed 17 attack errors in 145 attempts, while Rocky Mountain totaled 23 errors on 144 swings. DSU also held a 10-5 advantage in team blocks and recorded the only two service aces of the match. The Trojans edged Rocky Mountain 72-71 in digs.
Maras paced Dakota State's balanced attack with a match-high 10 kills and hit .267. Kloth added eight kills on 19 swings with just one error for a .368 hitting percentage. She also registered two solo blocks and two block assists (4 blocks total).
Sapp contributed eight kills, while Van Beek provided seven kills and hit a team-best .385. Nelson finished with seven kills, 11 assists, nine digs and two block assists. M. Wathen added five kills and a match-high six block assists.
Borresen directed the Trojan offense with 23 assists and added a match-high 18 digs (double-double). S. Wathen recorded 17 digs, five assists and a service ace, while
Reagan VanRooyan collected 10 digs and an ace.
Keira Murdock added eight digs.
Kaitlyn Wood led Rocky Mountain with eight kills and a .368 hitting percentage. Amelia Kisiel also had eight kills, while Sadie Meier finished with nine kills. Kristyn Mentink recorded 18 assists, with Rylee McMillan adding 15 assists. Zoey Albert led the Battlin' Bears defensively with 18 digs.
Up next
Dakota State stays on the road Saturday afternoon for another Frontier Conference contest at Carroll (Mont.). The match is set for 4 p.m. (Central Time)/3 p.m. (Mountain Time) at PE Center in Helena, Mont.
