Mitchell, S.D. – No. 18 Dakota Wesleyan volleyball grabs the huge four-set win at home against the newly named No. 7 team in the nation of Northwestern. In the match both teams were near equal in kills, hitting percentage, service aces, and blocks.
The Quick Details
Score:
No. 18 DWU 3 – No. 7 NWC 1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 26-24)
Records:
No. 18 DWU 9-2 (GPAC 2-1)
No. 7 NWC 10-3 (GPAC 2-2)
How It Happened
The Tigers got off to a slow start right away in the opening set to find themselves trailing 6-0, but they turned it around, making it only a two-point deficit at 6-4 after a pair of Raider attacking errors and kills from Ady Dwight and Madeline Else. While both teams struggled to hit in the opening set, the Tigers; were unable to capitalize on the NWC errors when needed. DWU equalized the set at 13-13, then again at 14-14 after Else connected with Mackenzie Miller for a kill. Late in the opening set, Mariah Gloe got the Tigers rolling to a 5-1 run, allowing them to tie the game at 22-22. After that tie, the Raiders shut down the attack from DWU with a 3-0 run for the 25-22 opening set win. As mentioned above, neither team hit extremely well in the opening set. DWU posted only 11 kills with seven errors on 56 total attempts for a .071 hitting percentage, while NWC tallied 12 kills and eight errors, on 51 total attempts, to only hit .078 percent.
The Tigers fell behind again early in the second set, 10-5, after several service and attacking errors. DWU swiftly began clawing their way back into the set; going on a big 9-3 run to flip the score and lead by one point, 14-13. Northwestern was unable to regain the lead again but was able to tie the set four different times after, including an 18-18 tie that forced a timeout by head coach Lindsay Wilber. The Raiders needed a timeout as they trailed by two points shortly after 22-20. Dakota Wesleyan kept their attack in rhythm as Dwight sent home the kill that tied the match at 1-1.
DWU hit their best in the third set, and it showed, as they swiftly had a 15-5 lead as everyone was joining the attack including Hanna Reiff, Emily Dale, and Abigail Brunsing. During the opening run to start the third set, the Raiders were poised to take two timeouts as they attempted to squash the momentum the Tigers had built early. The Tigers continued to play well through the third, including a service ace from Tya Weideman, giving DWU lead back to ten points as 19-9. The Raiders made a push late in the set for an attempt to tie the game but ran out of opportunities as DWU took the match lead 2-1 after a 25-19 third-set win.
Both the Tigers and the Raiders hit their best in the fourth and final set, and it showed, needing a 26-24 score to determine the winner. The fourth set; started in the Raiders' favor, leaping into a 12-7 lead over the Tigers. That five-point lead disappeared to only two points after a pair of kills from Dwight, a service error by NWC, and another service ace from Weideman. Northwestern pushed the lead to five points again before the Tigers came roaring back, with a 4-1 run forcing the Raiders to take a timeout. The short hiatus in play worked in the Tigers favor as they cut the NWC lead to one, 22-21: immediately after. The Raiders then tied the game, 22-22, before Dwight put the Tigers back on top by one. NWC earned a point from a Tiger service error, tying the game, once again, at 24-24. Then Else connected with Dwight and Gloe on back-to-back rallies for the final two points and the first top-10 matchup win under head coach Wilber. Both teams hit their best in the final set with only four attacking errors each. The Raiders tallied 18 kills for a .412 hitting percentage, while the Tigers posted 17 kills and a .351 hitting percentage.
Overall, DWU hit .207 percent in the match. Gloe led the team with 15 kills as Dwight; recorded 13, and Miller followed with ten. Else posted 43 assists and 11 digs in the match as Reiff tallied 21 digs. Weideman chipped in on the first-ever top-10 win in the Wilber era posting four service aces. Dwight also had three block assists, while Else and Dale recorded a pair of block assists each.
Up Next
The No. 18 Tigers hit the road for a pair of games, starting on Saturday, September 17, as they head south to Sioux City, Iowa, to face the Mustangs of Morningside. DWU and Morningside; are slated to get underway in the Rosen-Verdoorn Sports Center – Allee gym at 3:30 p.m. for junior varsity teams and 5 p.m. for the varsity squads.