Tigers claw out road victory over Chargers

SIOUX CITY, Iowa. –  The Dakota Wesleyan University volleyball team needed every point to secure their first Great Plains Athletic Conference victory of the 2020 season in a highly-electric match. The Tigers defeated Briar Cliff University in five sets Saturday in Sioux City, Iowa.

 Set scores were 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-10.

 The Chargers (4-2, 0-2 GPAC) marched out to a 7-4 lead in the first set causing the Tigers (4-1, 1-1 GPAC) to call a timeout. DWU responded quickly with three straight kills from Mariah Gloe (Watertown, S.D.), Jadie DeLange (Monument, Colo.) and Mackenzie Miller (Mitchell, S.D.) to pull within a point.

 Later in the same frame, the Tigers knotted the score at 15 following a kill by Ady Dwight (Langford, S.D.) off the assist from Madeline Else (Holstein, Iowa). The Tigers never looked back eventually cruising to a 25-22 victory in the first set.

 The momentum carried over for the Blue and Gray jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second set behind back-to-back kills from Miller and Dwight. However, the Chargers overtook the lead midway through the frame. The Tiger attack had no response ultimately dropping the set and evening the match at 1-1.

 Briar Cliff used the victory to race to a swift, 8-3 spurt in the third set before the Tigers matched the frame at 11 off another assist by Else. Both teams returned blows, as the remainder of the set produced eight different stalemates.

 With the match knotted at 23, a pivotal kill by freshman outside hitter Taylee Indahl (Burke, S.D.), off the assist from Else, propelled the Tigers to a third-set victory and a 2-1 lead.

 Dakota Wesleyan once again sprinted out to a 3-0 lead to begin the fourth frame. However, the Chargers halted the Tiger run tying the set at eight. The Chargers eventually expanded the margin to take a 19-14 lead, though, another kill by Indahl pulled the Blue and Gray within a point.

 Thanks to back-to-back kills by Miller, the Tigers attempted a late rally, but fell just short in the fourth set 25-22 and evening the match 2-2.

 In the take-all, fifth set DWU built a 6-2 edge off several assists from Else. Briar Cliff answered hastily by pulling within a point midway through the frame. Nevertheless, the Charger rally was denied.

 DWU closed out the match on a 6-2 run ignited by a kill from freshman McKenzie Buisker (Watertown, S.D) and an assisted block by Dwight and Miller.

 Miller led the attack for the Tigers with 16 kills and three blocks, while Dwight and Gloe added 12 and nine kills, respectively. Meanwhile, Else tallied 47 assists along with 11 digs, as Dakota Wesleyan racked up 74 digs and eight block assists to secure the victory.

 Dakota Wesleyan returns to action versus conference foe Northwestern College for their sixth-straight road match at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Orange City, Iowa.