Photo Credit: Destiny Soto
Posted: Aug 18, 2022
West Palm Beach, Fla. – Dakota Wesleyan volleyball sweeps their first day in the Sunshine State of Florida with a three-set win against Georgetown and a four-set win against Columbia International, kicking off the 2022 season.
The Quick Details
Game One:
No. 15 DWU 3 – GC 0 (25-10, 25-18 25-9)
Game Two:
No. 15 DWU 3 – CIU 1 (24-26, 25-17, 25-15, 25-17)
How It Happened:
Game One:
- DWU got off to a hot start in their first match of the 2022 season, keeping their errors low while forcing Georgetown into several errors right away for the 4-2 lead in set one.
- Abigail Brunsing started the 5-0 run for the Tigers with a kill from Madeline Else before she grabbed two other kills.
- Georgetown committed a pair of attacking errors during that stretch ,helping DWU stretch the lead to 9-2.
- GC gained a point back with a kill from Hunter Keller cutting the DWU lead to 9-3.
- Mackenzie Miller gave the Tigers an 11-point lead in the first of three sets off a set by Else.
- DWU was unable to hold GC to single-digit scoring but still grabbed the commanding first set win 25-10 with a kill by Ady Dwight and Else.
- Georgetown came out in the second set, putting up six points quickly with back-to-back-to-back service aces for the 6-2 lead.
- Dwight got the Tigers rolling as they began to storm back, flipping the score 9-6 thanks to kills from Else, Brunsing, and Mariah Gloe, along with a massive block from Gloe and Else.
- The Tigers forced several more attacking errors from Georgetown in the second set to help extend our lead to six with a 15-9 advantage.
- After GC lost the lead, the closest they came to tying the set again was 20-16 after a kill from Reese Speed.
- DWU ultimately grabbed the win in set two 25-18, thanks to a pair of consecutive attacking errors by GC.
- Once the Tigers found their rhythm in the third set, it was all DWU as they only allowed nine points from Georgetown.
- DWU put together a 4-0 run that forced GC to take a timeout in hopes of slowing the Tigers down but proved unsuccessful as they grabbed two points off attacking errors by Georgetown and a kill from Else, pushing the lead to 10.
- Else got the Tigers run going again as they went on a 5-0 run to get the win in the first match of the 2022 season.
- The Tigers hit their best in the first set with a .500 hitting percentage while keeping GC to a .120 hitting percentage which was their best of the three-sets.
- Dwight and Brunsing each tallied nine kills as Dwight led the team in hitting percentage with a .692.
- Else tallied 30 of the team's 36 total assists while also grabbing five kills.
- Reiff recorded 17 of the team's 39 total digs.
Game Two:
- The Tigers came out in game two against the Rams, getting a 5-2 lead after back-to-back kills from Dwight.
- Columbia International did not let DWU get a commanding lead in the first set as it was a battle back and forth with multiple ties and lead changes.
- While the Rams hit their best in the first set with a .246 percent, the Tigers hitting .222 percent.
- After a kill late in set one by Dwight to tie the score at 24-24, CIU grabbed two big kills for the extended 26-24 win in set one.
- The battle continued into the second set as both teams kept it within three points.
- DWU broke out to a four-point lead after a CIU attacking error, 20-16.
- The Tigers continued to force attacking errors from the Rams as three of the five remaining points came from CIU errors.
- With a 1-1 match, DWU began to find some rhythm in the third set getting out to a comfortable 10-5 lead after a kill by Gloe.
- After securing a 13-7 lead off a kill from Taylee Indahl, the Tigers went on a 6-0 run, pushing the lead to 18-7.
- Indahl kept the Tiger lead at 11-points after a DWU error just one rally before.
- The Rams began to close that 11-point lead after a CIU kill, service ace, and a Tiger error, but not enough to close the deficit as DWU won some key rallies to grab a set two win 25-15 and lead the match 2-1.
- Dakota Wesleyan put together several small runs early, jumping out to a 10-5 lead after a kill by Gloe.
- Else connected with Gloe and Miller on consecutive sets, grabbing a 14-7 lead.
- CIU once again tried closing the deficit as they put up a block against the Tiger's leading attacker Dwight, cutting the score to 17-12.
- Once DWU was leading 21-14, the Rams called a timeout to try and regroup in hopes of closing the seven-point Tiger lead, but the blue and gray hitters as they shared the attacks with Miller, Gloe, and Dwight for the final points to grab the 3-1 match win in set four by a 25-17 margin.
- DWU hit their best in the third set, with a .312 hitting percentage overall; the Tigers hit .258 percent as Dwight led the team with a .429 hitting percentage.
- The Rams hit their best in the extended first set with a .246 percent as they hit .124 percent overall.
- Dwight tied her career high in kills with 21 while also matching her season highs from the previous two seasons.
- Else also set a new career-high recording 54 assists over the four-set match.
- Reiff, Gloe, and Weideman all tallied double-digit digs with 19,12, and 11, respectively.
Up Next
Tiger volleyball is back in action from Florida on Saturday, August 20. The Tigers kick off the day with an 11 a.m. game against Olivet Nazarene; then, at 3 p.m., No. 15 DWU will face No. 20 University of Columbia Missouri.
