September 30, 2026

FRONTIER CONFERENCE ACTION
THE MATCHES AT A GLANCE

Date: Friday, October 2 at MSU-Northern Location: Armory Gymnasium - Havre, Mont.
Start Time: 8 p.m. (Central Time) / 7 p.m. (Mountain Time)

 

Date: Saturday, October 3 at (8) Providence (Mont.) Location: McLaughlin Center Gymnasium - Great Falls, Mont.
Start Time: 3 p.m. (Central Time) / 2 p.m. (Mountain Time)

THIS WEEK
Dakota State (S.D.) (9-6 overall record, 6-3 Frontier Conference) prepares for their four-match Frontier Conference road stretch with a pair of matches this weekend in Montana.  The Trojans conclude their first half portion of the Frontier Conference schedule, visiting MSU-Northern (7-8 overall record, 3-6 Frontier Conference) on Friday evening.  The first serve is set for 8 p.m. (Central Time)/7 p.m. (Mountain Time) at Armory Gymnasium in Havre, Mont.

DSU heads to McLaughlin Center Gymnasium in Great Falls, Mont., on Saturday afternoon for a conference match-up with Providence (Mont.) (12-4 overall record, 6-3 Frontier Conference).  The match is set for 3 p.m. (CT)/2 p.m. (MT).

QUICK HITS
*Dakota State (S.D.) begins their four-match Frontier Conference road trip with a pair of matches this weekend.  The Trojans are making a trip to Montana for the second time this weekend, followed by a trip to North Dakota next weekend.

*The Trojans are 1-1 record in the state of Montana, winning their road match at Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Sept. 11 in three straight sets before falling short to Carroll (Mont.) in five sets on Sept. 12.

*DSU will face the NAIA nationally ranked team for the fifth time this season on Saturday.  The Trojans visit Providence (Mont.), who is currently ranked No. 8 in the NAIA.  The Argos won the Frontier Conference regular season title last season with 21-1 record.

*Dakota State and Providence are currently tied for fourth in the Frontier Conference standings with 6-3 record each.  MSU-Northern is 3-6 overall record, sitting at No. 9 in the standings.

*This weekend marks the end of the first half of the Frontier Conference schedule.  The second half of the league schedule will be the flip-flop of home/away matches from the first half.  The Trojans begin their second half schedule of the conference at Bismarck State (N.D.) and Dickinson State (N.D.) next weekend.
 

Record	9-6	7-8	12-4
Kills	697	603	727
Kills Per Set	12.7	11.0	12.8
Hitting %	.180	.161	.179
Assists	647	578	684
Assists Per Set	11.8	10.5	12.0
Digs	910	987	947
Digs Per Set	16.5	17.9	16.6
Blocks	91.0	99.0	121.5
Blocks Per Set	1.7	1.8	2.1
Service Aces Per Set	1.3	1.3	1.5
Receptions	1042	1108	1109

SCOUTING THE MSU-NORTHERN SKYLIGHTS
MSU-Northern (Mont.) enters the week with a 7-8 overall record and a 3-6 record in Frontier Conference play under head coach Jerry Wagner. The Skylights opened the season with four straight victories and later earned conference wins over Rocky Mountain (Mont.), Valley City State (N.D.) and Mayville State (N.D.), but enter the weekend on a four-match losing streak.

Northern is coming off a pair of straight-set road losses to Montana Western and No. 24 Montana Tech. The Skylights were held to a .038 hitting percentage in a 25-14, 25-19 and 25-18 loss to Montana Western, with Josie Hasler recording seven kills and Kambria Maloy finishing with 17 digs. Northern followed with a 25-11, 25-14 and 25-20 loss to Montana Tech. Macy Uffelman and Kendall Scheffelmear each recorded six kills, while Scheffelmear added four blocks.

DSU and MSU-Northern split the season series a year ago, with each team winning on its home court. Northern earned a four-set victory over the Trojans in Havre before Dakota State answered with a four-set victory in Madison later in the season.

SCOUTING THE PROVIDENCE ARGONAUTS
No. 8 Providence (Mont.) enters the week with a 12-4 overall record and a 6-3 mark in Frontier Conference play under head coach Arunas Duda. The Argonauts opened the season with six victories in their first seven matches before beginning conference play with wins in four of their first five league contests.

Providence bounced back from consecutive road losses to Bismarck State and Dickinson State with a pair of victories in Montana last weekend. The Argonauts rallied after dropping the opening set to defeat No. 24 Montana Tech in four sets, winning 13-25, 26-24, 25-22, and 25-18. Cabry Badley led Providence with 14 kills, while Bree MacDonald recorded six service aces. The Argonauts followed with another four-set victory at Montana Western, winning 25-23, 25-23, 15-25, and 25-17. Martyna Fiedler finished with 13 kills, Badley added 12 kills and eight blocks, and MacDonald recorded 22 digs.

Providence swept the season series against DSU last year, winning both meetings in straight sets. The Argonauts defeated the Trojans in Great Falls before completing the sweep in Madison later in the season.

LAST TIME OUT
Dakota State (S.D.) posted a 2-1 record during a busy three-match stretch in Frontier Conference play from Sept. 22-26. The Trojans fell on the road to No. 16 Bellevue (Neb.) before returning home to earn back-to-back victories over Valley City State (N.D.) and Mayville State (N.D.). DSU finished the week at 9-6 overall and 6-3 in conference play.

The Trojans opened the week Sept. 22 at No. 16 Bellevue, falling in three straight sets at the BU Fieldhouse. It marked Dakota State's second consecutive match against an NAIA Top 25 opponent after hosting No. 24 Montana Tech in its previous outing.

Dakota State bounced back in impressive fashion Sept. 25, sweeping Valley City State 25-16, 25-14 and 25-14 at the DSU Fieldhouse. The Trojans hit .321 with 44 kills and only 10 attack errors while limiting the Vikings to a .111 hitting percentage. DSU held advantages of 44-27 in kills, 41-23 in assists, 7-0 in service aces, 52-46 in digs and 4-0 in blocks. Lauryn Kloth led the balanced attack with 10 kills and a .444 hitting percentage.

The Trojans completed the weekend sweep Sept. 26 with a 3-1 victory over Mayville State, winning by scores of 25-16, 20-25, 25-17 and 25-15. After the Comets evened the match at one set apiece, Dakota State regained control by winning the final two sets. DSU closed the fourth set with seven consecutive points, capped by the match-clinching kill from Kaylee Evenson. The victory extended Dakota State's winning streak against Mayville State to eight matches and improved the Trojans to 6-3 in Frontier Conference play.

AROUND THE FRONTIER CONFERENCE
The Frontier Conference women's volleyball race remained tightly packed following another full week of league action Sept. 21-26.  Bellevue continued its strong start by sweeping Dakota State on Sept. 22, Mayville State (N.D.) on Sept. 25 and Valley City State (N.D.) on Sept. 26.

One of the biggest results of the week came Sept. 25 when No. 8 Providence rallied after dropping the opening set to defeat No. 24 ranked Montana Tech in four sets in Butte. The Argos followed with another 3-1 road victory at Montana Western on Sept. 26, moving Providence to 6-3 in conference play.

Dakota State also finished the week with consecutive victories after its loss at Bellevue. The Trojans swept Valley City State on Sept. 25 before defeating Mayville State in four sets the following afternoon at the DSU Fieldhouse.

Bismarck State (N.D.) produced a strong weekend at home, sweeping Carroll on Sept. 25 before defeating Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in four sets Sept. 26. Dickinson State (N.D.) also picked up a sweep over Rocky Mountain, while Montana Western swept MSU-Northern before falling to Providence. Montana Tech rebounded from its loss to Providence by sweeping MSU-Northern on Sept. 26.

Entering the new week, Bellevue sits atop the Frontier at 9-0, followed by Montana Tech and Carroll at 7-2. Providence and Dakota State are tied at 6-3, with the remainder of the conference chasing the top five as the league schedule approaches the midway portion of the season.

UPCOMING DSU VOLLEYBALL JUNIOR VARSITY SCHEDULE
Dakota State's junior varsity volleyball team has four competition dates scheduled during October, beginning with a pair of matches over the next two weeks. The Trojans return to the DSU Fieldhouse Monday, Oct. 5, hosting Iowa Lakes Community College at 6 p.m.

DSU then travels to Wahpeton, N.D., Sunday, Oct. 11, for a 1 p.m. match against North Dakota State College of Science.  Dakota State returns home Monday, Oct. 19, to host its second triangular of the season at the DSU Fieldhouse. Riverland Community College (Minn.) faces the Trojans at 4 p.m., followed by Riverland and Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) at 5:30 p.m. DSU closes the triangular against Dakota Wesleyan at 7 p.m.

MILESTONE IN THE MAKING
Senior libero/defensive specialist Kate VanRooyan continues to climb the Dakota State women's volleyball record book as she closes in on the 2,000-career dig milestone.

VanRooyan entered the 2026 season with 1,754 career digs, ranking fifth in program history. She had collected 166 digs this season entering last week's three-match stretch, then added nine digs at No. 16 Bellevue (Neb.), a match-high 19 digs against Valley City State (N.D.) and another match-high 19 digs against Mayville State (N.D.).

Those performances pushed VanRooyan to 1,967 career digs, leaving her just 33 digs shy of becoming the fourth player in Dakota State women's volleyball history to reach 2,000 career digs.

VanRooyan has also moved past Ashley Brassfield's previous fourth-place total of 1,958 career digs. She now trails Laura Lanoue, who ranks third with 2,027 digs, by 60 digs. Sonja Kamrud is second with 2,086 career digs, while Peyton Groft owns the school record with 2,394.

Through Dakota State's first 15 matches this season, VanRooyan has recorded 213 digs, continuing to anchor the Trojan back row during her senior campaign.

2026 DSU Trojan Women's Volleyball Team Leaders

• Kills/Kills Per Set:  Kaedyn Sapp - 137 kills / 2.98 kills per set
• Assists/Assists Per Set:  Emily Nelson - 277 set assists / 5.04 set assists per set
• Digs/Digs Per Set:  Kate VanRooyan - 213 digs / 4.10 digs per set
• Blocks/Blocks Per Set:  Lauryn Kloth - 54 blocks / 1.00 blocks per set
• Service Aces/Service Aces Per Set:  Reagan VanRooyan - 16 service aces / 0.33 service aces per set
• eceptions:  Sydney Wathen - 256 receptions