DWU cruises through opening weekend

West Palm Beach, Fla. – After playing in only 13 sets through their first four games, the Dakota Wesleyan University volleyball team is off to a 4-0 start to the 2019 season after defeating Georgetown College and (RV) Madonna University on Saturday in West Palm Beach, Fla.

 Set scores against Georgetown were 25-15, 25-14, 25-20.

 Both teams got off to a quick start in the opening set with the score tied, 7-7. A kill and an ace by Bridgett Knobbe (Norfolk, Neb.) gave DWU a 15-9 advantage. Later in the same set, Jadie DeLange (Monument, Colo.) tallied consecutive kills to give DWU the opening set victory.

 In the second set, Georgetown (0-4) jumped out to a 5-2 lead. But Chaydon Metzger (Larchwood, Iowa) handed the Tigers (4-0) an 8-7 lead following a pair of kills. After an ace by Elena Svingen (Pierre, S.D.), Metzger and Emily Brunsing (Wagner, S.D.) tallied a kill to push the lead to seven points. Knobbe added another set of kills, followed by another Svingen ace to cap off the second set for the Tigers.

 Rebecca Frick (Yankton, S.D.) and DeLange led the way for DWU in the third set to open an 11-5 lead. After Georgetown pulled within two points later in the set, Frick and Brunsing collected the final five kills for the Tigers to give DWU the victory. 

 Frick finished with 10 kills, 10 digs and two aces, as DeLange tallied seven kills and a block. Metzger and Brunsing added five kills each, while Knobbe notched 26 assists, eights digs and four kills.

 Set scores versus (RV) Madonna were 25-13, 25-11, 25-18.

 In the final game of the weekend, the Tigers took a commanding 10-3 lead over the Crusaders. DWU kept its' foot down to extend the lead and take the first set thanks to kills by Brunsing and Brittany Bergquist (Wolsey, S.D.).

 The second set began similarly to the first as Brunsing recorded three kills in the first five points. Later in the same set, DeLange poured in three more kills to give the Tigers a 16-7 lead and the second set win.

 The Crusaders (2-2) held tough in the early moments of the third set, keeping the score tied, 5-5. But it was not enough as the Tigers strung together nine-straight points to cushion their lead and take the final game of the weekend.

 Frick led the charge with 13 digs and 11 kills and Brunsing added nine kills and 1.5 blocks. DeLange chipped in nine kills, Metzger notched eight kills and three blocks, Bergquist recorded six kills, two digs and 2.5 blocks and Mallory Cooper (Orchard, Neb.) finished with 13 digs.

 The Tigers return to action against William Penn University in the William Penn Invitational at noon on Aug. 31 in Oskaloosa, Iowa.