DiPaola's 1,000th kill leads Dakota State

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State outhit Presentation (S.D.) 57-32 in kills Tuesday night as the Trojans swept the season series with the Saints with a 3-1 victory (25-15, 22-25, 25-17 and 25-12) at DSU Fieldhouse.  Kristen DiPaola opened the fourth set by smashing her 1000th career kill through two seasons with the Trojans.

Dakota State recorded their third win in the last four matches to improve their overall record to 12-14.  Presentation, NCAA Division III independent member, suffered their eighth straight defeat and dropped their overall record to 3-21.  Dakota State defeated Presentation in Aberdeen, S.D. in three straight sets on Sept. 11, 2012.

With the score tied at 9-9 in the opening set, Dakota State used a 16-6 closing run to secure the first set by the score of 25-15.  Dakota State had a .276 hitting percentage (13 kills with five errors in 29 attempts).  The Saints recorded a minus -.038 hitting efficiency in the first set (six kills with seven errors in 26 attempts).

Presentation jumped to a 9-3 lead in the second set.  The Trojans rallied back with a 16-10 run to tie at 19-19.  PC closed the second set with a 6-3 run for a 25-22 victory to tie the match at 1-1. 

After the Saints scored the first two points in the third set, Dakota State rolled with a 13-3 run to earn a 13-5 lead.  At 16-8 in favor of the Trojans, the Saints scored seven straight points to trim DSU’s lead at 16-15.  The Trojans sealed the third set with a 9-2 closing run for a 25-17 victory and a 2-1 match lead.

DiPaola opened the fourth set by recording a career milestone, becoming the second DSU player to record 1000th career within the last two years (Stephanie Kruggel – Oct. 21, 2011 vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan).  She smashed three consecutive kills to give Trojans a 4-0 lead (PC committed an attack error on the third point of the fourth set).  Dakota State extended to their largest lead of the match at 20-5.  DSU secured the match with a 25-12 convincing fourth set win.

DiPaola amassed a total of 25 kills (8 kills in the fourth set) for the Trojans.  Caitlin Pick smashed 10 kills.  Taylor Mosco added eight kills.  Allison Thielsen had seven kills.  Stacey Schuller produced 41 set assists.

Thielsen led DSU’s defense with 14 digs.  Katie Green added 13 digs.  DiPaola had 12 digs.  Mosco recorded three service aces.  DiPaola and Mandi Atkins each had two service aces.

Pick, Schuller and Mosco each had three block assists (1.5 blocks) for Dakota State. 

Megan Goedert had 12 kills for Presentation.  Kelli Boekelheide added six attacks.  Carly Peterson had 13 set assists.  Mo Bunny recorded 12 set assists.

Tina Boldt had 13 digs for the Saints.  Goedert added 12 digs and a service ace.  Kendra Ostrom had 10 digs.

Karly Fuhrman recorded six block assists (3.0 blocks) and a service ace for PC.  Bunny added five block assists (2.5 blocks). 

Dakota State recorded a killing efficiency of .254 compared to the Saints’ .078 in the match.

The Trojans had eight service aces, while PC had two service aces.

Presentation had seven team blocks compared to DSU six blocks.

It was the final career home match at DSU Fieldhouse for DSU’s three seniors – DiPaola, Green and Mosco.

Dakota State heads on the road this weekend with a pair of matches in Nebraska.  The Trojans head to the Event Center in Fremont, Neb. on Friday to visit Midland, No. 22 in the latest NAIA Volleyball national poll.  First serve is set for 7 p.m.  On Saturday, DSU travels to Omaha, Neb. for a match with Saint Mary (Neb.).  The match is slated to start at 3 p.m. at the Lied Fitness Center.