DSU Volleyball Recap

The Dakota State volleyball team has gotten off to a shaky start by going 3-10 this season. This article offers a small recap of the season up until now as well as a preview of the next game.

DSU’s first game of the season was an away game against the Briar Cliff Chargers. The Trojans were swept 25-14, 25-12, and 25-13. Kelci Viesselman led DSU with five kills. Caitlin Pick added four kills, while Annika Stephens had three kills. Stacey Schuller produced five set assists and Freshman Kaylee Vander Wal added four assists. Chelsey Davis led the team in digs with eight for the Trojans. Stacey Schuller and Allison Thielsen each had six digs. Viesselman also had two block assists and a solo block. Tessa Weeldreyer, Schuller and Haley Hillestad each added a block assist for the Trojans. Pick and Vander Wal both had service aces for DSU.

For their second game, the Lady Trojans took another road trip down to Sioux City to play the Morningside Mustangs. Dakota State would once again get swept 25-11, 25-21, and 25-20. Caitlin Pick had six attacks for the Lady T’s and Allison Thieslen recorded five kills. Stacey Schuller provided Dakota State with ten assists. Kaylee Vander Wal put up six assists of her own. Thielsen and Chelsey Davis each had thirteen digs for the Trojans. Taylor Stratton had two service aces. The Trojans were outhit 47-19.

With two games under their belt, the DSU Volleyball team traveled to Mitchell for the Corn Palace Classic. The Trojans split the tournament 2-2 to improve their record to 2-4. During the tournament, Dakota State beat York and DWU, but came up short against Clarke and Saint Mary. The Trojans scored a total of 333 points and Freshman Kylie Martin made the All-Tournament team!

Next, the Lady Trojans had their first home against the Briar Cliff Chargers. Once again, Dakota State was swept 25-11, 25-10, and 25-13. Kelci Viesselman led the offense with nine kills and a service ace. Tessa Weeldreyer added four kills for the Lady T’s.  Stacey Schuller recorded ten set assists. Katherine Gonzalez produced nine digs and Schuller added seven digs.  Kylie Martin and Haley Hillestad each had one block assist. The Chargers had nine more service aces than the Trojans.

On the road again, DSU traveled to Yankton, SD to take on the Mount Marty Lancers. Dropping their overall record to 2-6, they would lose 20-25, 25-13, 25-20, and 25-16. Caitlin Pick recorded nine kills for the Trojans.  Kylie Martin would add seven kills. Brittney Anderson and Allison Thielsen produced five kills each for the team. Stacey Schuller recorded eighteen set assists. Katherine Gonzalez had a match-high twenty-one digs and Thielsen would also added eleven digs.  Anderson and Thielsen each had two block assists for DSU.

Last weekend, Dakota State traveled to Hastings, Nebraska for the Hastings Classic. The Trojans went 0-4 against Hastings, Concordia, Doane, and twelfth ranked Belleuve.

The Trojans did have a bright spot as they traveled to Aberdeen, SD to play Presentation.  They managed to get DSUs first ever victory in the NSAA conference. The Lady T’s swept the Saints 25-17, 25-21, and 25-22. Kylie Martin smashed eleven kills and had an incredible .348 hitting percentage in the match.  Caitlin Pick and Kelci Viesselman each had eight kills for DSU.  Stacey Schuller produced a match-high twenty-one set assists and Kaylee Vander Wal added sixteen assists for the Lady T’s. Katherine Gonzalez led the defense with nineteen digs and recorded three service aces in the match. Viesselman added eleven digs.  Brittany Anderson had two block assists. The Trojans recorded a hitting percentage of .203 and outhit Presentation 40-28 in the match.

Dakota State travels to Peru, Nebraska this Saturday to compete in the “Claws Out Challenge.” They will play games against Grace, Peru State, Friends, and Mount Marty.

Team Leaders

Kelci Visselman leads the team with 11 aces. Caitlin Pick leads the Trojans in kills with 82. Stacey Schuller has 220 assists to lead the team. Katherine Gonzalez has 172 digs and Brittney Anderson has 14 blocks