Mitchell, S.D. – No. 9 Dakota Wesleyan volleyball played a tough match to close the books on the 2022 regular season Tuesday night, taking No. 2 Jamestown to four-sets in a loud Fosness Arena as they tried to lock up the fourth seed in the conference tournament.
The Quick Details
Score:
#9 DWU 1 - #2 UJ (24-26, 25-22, 21-25, 19-25)
Records:
#9 DWU 21-6 (GPAC 11-5)
#2 UJ 28-2 (GPAC 15-1)
How It Happened
The Tigers got set one underway with a free point from Jamestown as the opening serve was a UJ service error giving DWU the early 1-0 lead. Dakota Wesleyan began pushing that single point lead, but the University of Jamestown was not far behind as DWU pulled out to a three-point advantage, 10-7. DWU continued to lead for a big portion of the opening set, even as the Jimmies put on a 4-1 run tying the set at 14-14. The Tigers continued putting one or two points between them and UJ as Jamestown burnt their first time out of the set when Dakota Wesleyan led 17-15. Just a handful of points later, head coach Lindsay Wilber burnt her first timeout of the set with a one-point advantage over the second nationally ranked team in the country. The Tigers and Jimmies went back and forth, point-for-point late in the opening set till DWU had the lead at 24-23 over UJ. After the small margin, the Jimmies earned a free point on a bad set by the Tigers before grabbing two kills for the extended first set win, 26-24.
Dakota Wesleyan started to run away with the second set right away, getting the 14-6 lead before UJ called for a timeout attempting to settle the Tigers run. Once play resumed, DWU continued pushing their lead from eight to ten, 19-9 on several attacking errors from the Jimmies and kills from Abigail Brunsing and Ady Dwight. UJ was able to side out and get the serve back to flip the momentum sending Jamestown on an 8-0 run that was split in half with a Tiger timeout. As the Jimmies began to close the margin after their run, 17-19, DWU grabbed three more points with Dwight getting the kill and sending Hanna Reiff back to serve. After back-to-back assisted blocks from Madeline Else, Emily Dale and Mariah Gloe and Dale, the University of Jamestown called for a timeout as DWU pushed their lead back to 22-17. Jamestown rallied for a 5-1 run late in the second set, forcing DWU to take a timeout only holding onto a one-point lead, 23-22. The Tigers secured the final two points needed in the set with a pair of kills from Mackenzie Miller to draw the match even at 1-1.
The third set, DWU led very early, but it was short lived as the Jimmies cleaned up on their errors to get the 11-8 lead early. The Tigers kept the set within reach though, only trailing by four points, 12-16 when the first timeout was called by either side. DWU continued to battle with the Jimmies late in the set, despite some costly errors allowing UJ to side out and get the serve back. DWU fell short of the comeback win in the third set, 21-24 as they now trailed in the match 2-1.
The fourth and what was the final set of the 2022 regular season was all No. 2 Jamestown. After an early 11-9 lead by the Jimmies, the Tigers were able to climb within two points of tying the set, but UJ's ability to side out DWU was detrimental to the Tigers late. Without an answer to the Jimmies attacking late, UJ was able to blemish Dakota Wesleyan's home record as they grabbed the match win 3-1 over DWU.
Overall, Dakota Wesleyan hit .212 percent as a team, while Jamestown hit .324 percent as a team. Dwight led the Tigers with 15 kills and a .325 hitting percentage, while Miller added 12 kills, and Gloe and Dale chipped in with ten kills each. Else added three more kills to the total while grabbing 48 assists, one service ace, nine digs, and two blocks. Dale had a big night at the net with four blocks to lead the team. Reiff tallied 22 digs and one service ace as Gloe and Tya Weideman chipped in defensively with 13 and ten digs, respectively.
Up Next
Shortly after the match, the Great Plains Athletic Conference released the seeding for the GPAC Conference Tournament that is set to begin on Saturday, November 5. The Tigers have been seeded fifth in the tournament, just one spot shy of hosting. The fifth seeded Tigers will travel to Orange City, Iowa Saturday to take on the fourth seeded Raiders of Northwestern. The match at Northwestern is set to begin at 7 p.m. as released by the conference Tuesday evening at 9:55 p.m..
GPAC Postseason Release: https://www.gpacsports.com/article/5257.php#.Y2HlOS-B30p
