Strong start not enough as DWU falls to Raiders

MITCHELL, S.D. – Despite a hot start and winning the opening set, the Dakota Wesleyan University volleyball team was upended in four sets by Northwestern College in a Great Plains Athletic Conference showdown Wednesday night at the Corn Palace.

 Set scores were 25-20, 19-25, 14-25, 15-25.

 After trailing by two points to begin the match, Jadie DeLange (Monument, Colo.) tallied a kill and Dannielle Burns (Raymond, Minn.) recorded a service ace to spark the DWU offense.

 Ady Dwight (Langford, S.D.) and Mariah Gloe (Watertown, S.D.) joined the action as they each added a kill with assists by Madeline Else (Holstein, Iowa) to push the Tiger (6-3, 3-3 GPAC) lead to 9-4. A plethora of attacking errors by both teams pushed the score to 13-10 later in the opening set.

 The Tigers found their rhythm as they reeled off seven-straight points with kills by Dwight and Gloe and a service ace by Tya Weideman (Mellette, S.D.) to take a 22-15 lead. The Raiders (3-0, 1-0 GPAC) attempted a comeback as they tallied six of the next eight points. However, a kill by Gloe solidified a win in the first set for the Tigers to take an early lead.

 The Raiders came out in the second set on fire as they opened a 10-5 advantage. But, DWU responded with kills by McKenzie Buisker (Watertown, S.D.) and Mackenzie Miller (Mitchell, S.D.) to pull within one point.

 Later in the same set, the Raiders held a 21-16 lead. DeLange and Miller tallied kills to help bring DWU within a few points. But NWC pulled away to even the set score at 1-1.

 Errors plagued the Tigers in the beginning moments of the third set as NWC opened an 8-3 lead. Although the slow start, a kill by Buisker and a service ace by Else kept the Tigers within striking distance.

 The Raiders answered with a 7-3 run to pull in front by seven points. NWC went on to handle the third frame to take a 2-1 set lead.

 After NWC jumped out to a 14-7 lead and DWU called a timeout, Else set the ball for Dwight who recorded a kill to get the Tigers going. Else and Dwight hooked up for another kill moments later, as Gloe notched a kill to keep the Tigers rolling. However, the Raiders were too much as they took the fourth set and downed the Tigers.

 Else finished with 32 assists and eight digs, as Sara Herman (Reliance, S.D.) added 12 digs to pace the defense. Gloe chipped in 11 digs and six kills, while Dwight led the offense with 12 kills and a pair of block assists.

 The Tigers complete their home stand with a matchup against Morningside College at 3 p.m. on Sunday at the Corn Palace.