Mitchell, S.D. – Dakota Wesleyan volleyball ran the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes out of The World's Only Corn Palace in their fastest three-set match of the season, running only an hour and 13-minutes long.
The Quick Details
Score:
DWU 3 – KWU 0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-23)
Records:
DWU 23-7
KWU 28-7
How It Happened
Kansas Wesleyan was not fazed right away by the packed Corn Palace in the NAIA Women's Volleyball Opening Round match, keeping up with Dakota Wesleyan through the first four points. Mariah Gloe put DWU back on top by one to start the four-point run that followed doubling their score to lead 8-4. KWU burnt their first timeout of the opening set early after that run by DWU. The Coyotes fought their way back to within one point, 9-8 after the timeout, but that didn't last long as the Tigers strung together another three-point run pushing their lead back to four, 12-8. The first set was all about the runs, KWU was able to put together small runs of two points, but the three- four-point runs by DWU continued to push their lead. As Dakota Wesleyan held a four-point lead at 19-15, KWU burn their second timeout of the set, but it was the Tigers who came out of the timeout and grabbed three more points with Gloe serving to lead the Coyotes, 23-15. Kansas Wesleyan snagged two free points after that on DWU attacking errors, before Mackenzie Miller got the kill and the set point as the Tigers grab the 25-17 first set win and 1-0 match lead.
KWU came out firing in the second set, going up 3-0 on DWU with back-to-back Tiger attacking errors and a Coyote ace. Dakota Wesleyan was able to side out with a kill from Miller and sending Callie Slagter back to serve when she sent over a pair of aces tying the set at 3-3. KWU regained the lead for two rallied before DWU knotted the set again at 5-5. Ady Dwight tied the set again at 6-6 starting a three-point run giving the Tigers a two-point advantage, 8-6. After that, the Coyotes were unable to tie the set again as DWU and KWU went point for point till 15-12. As Hanna Reiff stepped back to serve holding a three-point lead for the Tigers, freshman Emily Dale was called upon for back-to-back attack in which she gifted two more points to the Tigers as they pushed their lead to five, 17-12 forcing Kansas Wesleyan to call a timeout. Dakota Wesleyan got two more kills once play resumed from Gloe and Dale as they now held a 19-12 advantage over the Coyotes. Kansas Wesleyan grabbed a kill to side out followed by a free point on a DWU attacking error as they still trailed 19-14. The Tigers went ahead in the match two sets to zero after a 6-2 run ending the second set.
With the Tigers up 2-0 overall in the match, the Coyotes were looking to stay alive and see a fourth set. Kansas Wesleyan was up big, 7-3, when head coach Lindsay Wilber called for a timeout to regroup her team. KWU grabbed two more points to lead 9-3 before the Tigers went on a small run with a pair of kills from Gloe and a Coyote attacking error cutting the margin to 9-6. Kansas Wesleyan continued to battle going up 11-6, but the Tigers got behind the crowd to come roaring back within one point of tying the set at 11-10 as Dale notched a kill followed by Miller and Dale connecting on back-to-back assisted blocks. KWU was able to put on six points to DWU's two, pushing their lead back to 17-12 as the Tigers still searched for their first lead of the third set. Dakota Wesleyan strung together a 6-1 run tying the set at 18-18 with kills from Dwight, Gloe and Dale. The final set was a fight on both sides of the net as one team was looking for the sweep and the other was looking to see a fourth set. Down the stretch, it was KWU grabbed a one-point lead, DWU tied in on the next rally. It wasn't until Dwight gave the serve back to Slagter and the Tigers tied at 22-22, when the Coyotes made a costly attacking error putting DWU up by one, 23-22. Kansas Wesleyan burnt their final timeout of the third set after the error but was able to step back onto the court and tie the set again at 23-23. KWU gave the Tigers a one-point lead, 24-23 on another costly error, this time off the serve as Tya Weideman was back to serve match point. With Weideman serving match point, Madeline Else set Gloe up for the final point needed on the match, and the Tigers got it, winning the third and final set of the match 25-23 as they punched their ticket to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa starting November 30th.
The Tigers hit their best in the second set, recording 20 kills and four errors on 37 total attacks for a .432 hitting percentage. The Coyotes also hit their best in the second set, notching 10 kills and two errors on 35 total attacks for a .229 hitting percentage. Dakota Wesleyan tallied 12 blocks, and 51 total kills with only 15 errors as a team on 114 total attacks. The Tigers in total out hit the Coyotes .316 percent to .191 percent. Dwight led the team with 17 kills and a .615 hitting percentage as she only made one single error all night. Dale also had an evening, recording 11 kills and one single error as she hit .556 percent. Dale also added four blocks to her stat sheet. Miller went for 12 kills and two blocks while Else recorded 47 assists, ten digs and one block. Hanna Reiff tallied 19 digs and a pair of assists in the win. Slagter let the team with three aces while Dannielle Burns grabbed two aces of her own.
Up Next
Tiger volleyball stays alive as they prepare for the final site. The Tigers will begin pool play in Sioux City, Iowa, where DWU will need to win their two pool play matches to reach bracket play where it turns into one match, best of five. The pool's will be announced in the coming days and information about the Tigers pool can be found online at www.dwuahtletics.com and on the DWU Tigers App.
Curious about the other NAIA Women's Volleyball Opening Round Matches that also happened around the country today, check of the NAIA Women's Volleyball Opening Round Rundown the link below!
https://www.naia.org/sports/wvball/2022-23/Releases/OR_Recap
