Tigers split weekend road stand

SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – In a weekend that the Dakota Wesleyan University volleyball team played a pair of games, they swept Waldorf University on Friday in Forest City, Iowa and fell to No. 22 Dordt University in a five-set thriller in Great Plains Athletic Conference action on Saturday in Sioux Center, Iowa.

 Set scores of the Waldorf game were 25-19, 25-23, 25-19.

 In the first set, the Tigers (17-7, 2-7 GPAC) began to pull away after a pair of kills by Rebecca Frick (Yankton, S.D.) and Emily Brunsing (Wagner, S.D.) gave them a 14-10 lead. With DWU leading 19-13, the Warriors (9-13) went on a 4-1 run to pull within three points. However, a service ace by Elena Svingen (Pierre, S.D.) helped seal the opening set victory.

 In the second set, Brunsing recorded a kill to give the Tigers a 15-10 lead. Later in the same set, the Warriors tied the game at 20 following a pair of DWU attacking errors. But Frick finished off the set with consecutive kills to give DWU the set win.

 In the third set, a plethora of Waldorf errors allowed DWU to lead 16-12. However, Jadie DeLange (Monument, Colo.) came alive and helped finish the game with a flurry of kills to give DWU the win.

 Set scores of the Dordt game were 16-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-14, 10-15.

 In the opening set, Dordt took a 15-9 lead following a Tiger error. The Defenders continued their scoring as they cruised to an opening set win.

 The Tigers responded in the second set as DeLange recorded a kill to give DWU a 9-4 advantage. Later in the set, Brittany Bergquist (Wolsey, S.D.) finished off an attack with a kill to hand the Tigers an 18-16 lead. A service error by Dordt gave DWU a second-set win.

 The third set was closely contested as the Defenders led by a point midway through the set. Trailing 19-15, the Tigers stormed back with three-straight points the was capped off with a Frick kill. But the comeback failed as Dordt took the third set.

 The Tigers dominated the fourth set. Midway through the set, Frick tallied three-straight kills to give DWU a 16-9 lead. DWU continued to handle the fourth set as DeLange notched a pair of kills as the Tigers forced a fifth set.

 In the fifth and deciding set, Dordt took an 11-5 lead. Frick would not let the Tigers go away quietly as she tallied a kill. But it was not enough as the Defenders put DWU away in five sets.

 On the weekend, Frick led the team with 48 kills and 31 digs, while Bridgett Knobbe (Norfolk, Neb.) finished with 77 assists and 18 digs. DeLange tallied 21 kills and Mallory Cooper (Orchard, Neb.) notched 25 digs.

 The Tigers return to action versus in-state rival Mount Marty College at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Yankton, S.D.