September 25, 2026
MADISON, S.D. — Dakota State (S.D.) used a balanced offensive attack and strong serving Friday evening, cruising past Valley City State (N.D.) in three straight sets in Frontier Conference women's volleyball action at the DSU Fieldhouse.
The Trojans swept the Vikings by scores of 25-16, 25-14 and 25-14. Dakota State improved to 8-6 overall and 5-3 in Frontier Conference play, while Valley City State fell to 4-11 overall and 2-6 in league play.
Dakota State hit .321 for the match, smashing 44 kills with just 10 attack errors in 106 attempts. The Trojans held the Vikings to 27 kills and a .111 hitting percentage.
How it happened
Valley City State scored the first point of the match before Dakota State began to take control. The Trojans used kills by
Lauryn Kloth,
Emily Nelson and
Macey Wathen to build a 6-2 advantage, forcing the Vikings to call their first timeout at 5-2.
DSU continued its surge behind Nelson's serving. Wathen and
Kaedyn Sapp registered kills, while Nelson added a service ace as the Trojans extended their advantage to 12-4.
Valley City State mounted a response later in the set, cutting Dakota State's 16-8 advantage to 16-13 after a 5-0 scoring run. The Trojans stopped the Vikings' rally and answered with six consecutive points to regain control at 22-13.
Kloth and Nelson provided kills down the stretch, while Sapp put Dakota State at set point with a kill. Nelson finished the opening frame with another kill for a 25-16 victory.
Dakota State collected 14 kills and hit .205 in the first set, while Valley City State was limited to six kills and a .000 hitting percentage.
The teams battled through a 3-3 tie early in the second set before Dakota State began to pull away.
Wathen and Sapp fueled the Trojans' attack before kills by
Raya Van Beek and
Tristyn Maras highlighted a DSU run that increased its lead to 10-4.
Dakota State continued to apply pressure from the service line. Wathen registered a pair of service aces during another Trojan run, extending the lead to 14-5.
The Vikings were unable to cut the deficit to fewer than six points for the remainder of the set. Nelson, Kloth, Sapp and Van Beek each contributed kills as Dakota State stretched its advantage to 24-13.
Kloth closed the second set with a kill for a 25-14 victory and a 2-0 match lead.
The Trojans produced their best offensive set of the night in the second frame, hitting .424 with 16 kills and only two errors in 33 swings.
Dakota State maintained its offensive efficiency in the third set and never allowed Valley City State to force an additional frame.
The Trojans registered 14 kills with only two attack errors in 34 attempts for a .353 hitting percentage in the set.
Dakota State steadily built its advantage before reaching set point at 24-12. Valley City State scored the next two points, but a Viking service error ended the match as the Trojans secured the 25-14 third-set victory and completed the sweep.
Inside the box score
Dakota State finished with a 44-27 advantage in kills and outhit Valley City State .321 to .111. The Trojans committed just 10 attack errors compared with 16 by the Vikings.
DSU also had advantages of 41-23 in set assists, 7-0 in service aces, 52-46 in digs and 4-0 in team blocks.
Kloth paced Dakota State's balanced attack with 10 kills and hit .444, committing only two errors in 18 swings. She also recorded three block assists.
Sapp followed with nine kills and a .333 hitting percentage. Wathen added eight kills on 15 attempts with just one error for a .467 hitting percentage. She also registered two service aces.
Nelson produced an all-around performance with seven kills, 21 set assists and a match-high three service aces. She hit .312 and added a block assist.
Maras finished with six kills, while Van Beek contributed three kills without an attack error.
Gabi Borresen added 19 assists and a service ace as Dakota State's two setters combined for 40 assists.
Kate VanRooyan anchored the Trojan back row with a match-high 19 digs.
Sydney Wathen collected 12 digs and one service ace, while
Reagan VanRooyan added nine digs.
Madysen Geist led Valley City State with 10 kills and a .562 hitting percentage. Madden Bogenreif recorded 11 assists and 10 digs, while Gracie Schumacher added nine assists.
Up next
Dakota State hosts Mayville State (N.D.) in another Frontier Conference action on Saturday afternoon. The junior varsity match is set for 1 p.m., followed by the varsity match at 3 p.m. Navy is the theme for the volleyball match.Â
The Trojan volleyball team will also be holding their Parents Night.
