DSU Stuns Bellevue in Five-Set Thriller

On Wednesday October 9^th, the Trojan volleyball team upset No. 15-ranked Bellevue. This snapped the Bruins six-match win streak and put the Trojans back in the win column after falling short to No. 4 ranked Viterbo. The Trojans are now tied for first in the conference with a 6-1 record in conference play.

Hannah Jellema, sophomore, and Riley Grandpre, freshman, jump to block. Photo by Donald Weidler.

The Trojans got off to a hot start against the Bruins jumping to a 13-7 lead. However, the Bruins would call a timeout and bounce back with an 18-8 run to take the first set 25-21. The second set would finish differently for the Trojans. After starting out tied 10-10 the Trojans would score seven in a row to put themselves up 17-10. This time they would hold off the Bruins and take set two winning 25-19.

Going into the third set both teams had found the win column. Dakota State would come out strong taking a 6-1 lead. They would easily take set three winning 25-16. However, the Bruins wouldn’t go away, and would handily win the fourth set 25-13. The match would be decided by a fifth and final set. It was back and forth right away between the two teams to start the set. The Trojans would find themselves tied 7-7 until they scored three straight points making the score 10-7. The Bruins would make one last push scoring three straight points of their own tying the set at 10-10 but it would be all Trojans after that. The Trojans would put the ball away five more times winning 15-10 to defeat the Bruins.

Sophomore Peyton Groft successfully bumps a return. Photo by Donald Weidler.

Offensively the Trojan’s were led by Hannah Jellema who had herself a night at the net. She had a career-high in kills and hitting percentage with 20 kills and hitting .441 in the match. Kelsey Pearson also recorded a career-high in kills and hitting percentage with 13 kills and hitting a match-high .500. Barbara Briceno also helped pace the way with 13 kills and 16 digs for the Trojans. Samantha Zell added 10 kills along with 1 solo block and 5 block assists. Nicole Sarringar had a season-high 34 set assists and Rachel Johnson added another 28 assists along with 10 digs. Peyton Groft also tied her career-high with 26 digs and Tayler Correy had 11 digs of her own.

It was a strong outing for the Trojan Volleyball team who was able to upset Bellevue in the five-set thriller. Next up for the Trojans is in-state rival Mount Marty. The Trojans will take a break from conference play to face the Lancers on Tuesday October 15^th in Yankton, SD. Good luck and go Trojans!