NO. 15 TIGER VOLLEYBALL PULLS OFF THE UPSET AT HOME IN FOUR SETS AGAINST NO. 3 MIDLAND
Mitchell, S.D. – No. 15 Dakota Wesleyan volleyball entered the match tonight with a record by set breakdown of 11-7 in the first, 10-8 in the second, 17-1 in the third, 6-4 in the fourth, and 3-2 in the fifth. The Tigers were able to knock off third-ranked Midland in four sets.
The Quick Details
Score:
#15 DWU 3 -- #3 MU 1 (16-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-19)
Records:
#15 DWU 15-4 (GPAC 6-3)
#3 MU 17-3 (GPAC 7-2)
How It Happened
No. 15 Dakota Wesleyan got off to a slow start in the opening set against No. 3 Midland, as the Warriors were dominant; right away on the attacks. After five straight Midland points, DWU burnt their first timeout of the set: trailing 8-2. That timeout was enough to cool the Warrior attack. Once the players returned to the floor, the Tigers got rolling. DWU collected several points from Midland errors while Emily Dale and Abigail Brunsing tallied kills closing the deficit to 7-10. The Warriors grabbed two more points before Dakota Wesleyan put on a three-point run that started with a Midland service error. As Dannielle Burns stepped back to serve, DWU put up two strong assisted blocks by Mackenzie Miller and Ady Dwight, closing the Warrior lead to two points, 12-10. While that two-point difference was short-lived, DWU continued to battle with the Warriors before dropping set one 16-25.
The Tigers got behind the packed Fosness Arena in the second set, flipping the score on the Warriors. DWU's attacking came alive, jumping; out to a 10-5 lead early before Midland burnt their first timeout of the second set. Unlike the timeout DWU; burnt in the first set, that cooled the Warriors attack; it wasn't the same result for Midland as the Tigers continued to hit well getting kills from Miller and Dwight Callie Slagter squeezed a service ace in there. With Dakota Wesleyan leading 13-6 over Midland, the Warriors closed the margin to 14-9 on a kill and assisted block. DWU was able to answer right away, getting those two points back on a Warrior attacking error and a Mariah Gloe kill as the Tigers led 16-9. DWU went on three smaller runs after that, while Midland managed two runs of five points total. With set point on the line, and the Warriors back to serve at 24-16, the Tigers strung three touches together as Madeline Else set to Miller for the final kill and set point, 25-16. The Tigers and Warriors knotted at 1-1 in the match, thanks to DWU hitting .229 percent and Midland recording a .026 hitting percentage.
No. 15 Dakota Wesleyan controlled the attacking efforts early in the third set: hitting their best of the match at .290 percent with ten kills and one error while forcing Midland to record a .000 hitting percentage with 14 kills and 14 errors on 46 total attacks. Despite the Warriors hitting .000, the third set was back and forth till a 14-12 Midland lead forcing a DWU timeout. Shortly after the timeout, the Tigers grabbed a one-point lead, 15-14, but was short-lived as the Warriors went to the same attacker for the tie, then the lead 16-15. Dakota Wesleyan went back on their traditional third set run, getting an 18-16 lead after a Warrior attacking error and kills from Miller and Dale. DWU held Midland to two more points in the set, but it was all Tigers in the race to 25, running up a 7-2 streak for the 25-18 set three win and the 2-1 match lead.
In the fourth set, Midland was once again, held to hitting .000. DWU only made three errors on 12 kills for a .205 hitting percentage. Much like the third set, the game was back and forth with multiple ties. Neither coach wanted to burn a timeout until head coach Lindsay Wilber asked for one with a 17-16 lead. After that, the Tigers rallied behind the crowd again as Miller set DWU up by two points before a solo block by Emily Dale for the three-point lead, 19-16. Midland continued making attempts: to close the margin, but the Dakota Wesleyan runs, were too much as Miller and Dwight went kill for kill, grabbing five more points for the Tigers. Dwight and Brunsing forced yet; another attacking error from the Warriors on an assisted block grabbing, the fourth set, 25-19, and the big upset win over No. 3 Midland 3-1.
It was a block party in Fosness tonight as both teams combined tallied 52 total blocks. The Tigers posted two solo blocks in the match with 33 assisted blocks, led by Dwight, with ten setting a new career record. Dwight also posted 12 kills with a .182 hitting percentage. Else tallied 34 assists with five digs and five total blocks herself. Gloe was all over the floor, stuffing her stat sheet with seven kills, one assist, 13 digs, and three assisted blocks. Hanna Reiff posted three assists with 20 digs, and Miller recorded 11 kills, three digs, and five assisted blocks. Overall, the Tigers had 40 kills, and 17 errors on 145 total attacks for a .159 hitting percentage. While, the Warriors posted 51 kills and 42 errors on 172 total attacks to hit only .052 percent.
Up Next
No. 15 DWU Volleyball is back in action tomorrow from the Christen Family Athletic Center as they go up against; yet another top-10 team. Starting at 3 p.m., No. 15 DWU will square off against No. 6 Concordia (Neb.) in their annual pink match. The junior varsity teams will kick off the afternoon starting at 1:30 p.m. in Fosness Arena.