(Madison, SD) –
Dakota State University's struggle to get out of the Dakota
Athletic Conference basement wasn't helped Wednesday when
Jamestown College handed the Trojan women a 3-1 (28-30, 20-30,
30-27, 23-30) loss at the DSU Field House.
The Lady Trojans fell to 1-7 in the league and 6-11 overall. Jamestown
is now tied with Valley City State and Black Hills State universities at
5-3 in the DAC. The Jimmies are 13-5 overall for the 2006 season.
In other DAC volleyball action Wednesday, Black Hills State
blanked the S.D. School of Mines & Technology 3-0 (30-27,
31-29, 30-25); Dickinson State University shut out Minot
State University 3-0 (30-24, 30-23, 30-22); and Mayville
State University blitzed Valley City State University 3-0
(30-21, 30-22, 30-25).
DSU attackers couldn't quite hold Jamestown back from
scoring the win, despite getting double-figures kills from
Sandy Smith and Stacy Dunklau, who produced 16 and 11 kills
for the Trojans.
Vicki Kaul and Rachael Jensen added seven kills each for
DSU.
Smith added two solo blocks and Kaul added another.
For the most part, DSU Coach Cynthia Henning was pleased
with her Trojans' net play.
"We have stressed to our players that we need to focus in on our side of
the net, and not focus all our attention on our opponents," said
Henning. "I felt we maintained our composure
and focus very well last night. We got way down in the first game, and
our players battled back and had opportunities
to win Game One.
``I thought we played well as a team, and our players made
the adjustments that we asked them to make during that
match. That's a great step (forward) for our team. Earlier
in the season, we had trouble making some adjustments on the
court, and as our team and players have matured, we have
seen great improvement in their play and, most importantly,
their consistent and aggressive play throughout the match."
Jamestown got 15 kills for Ali Edwards and 11 apiece from
Kristi Kulvinen, Renee Buysse and Megan Dooley.
Darcy Purath contributed two solo blocks and helped out
on five other occasions.
Defensively, DSU was led by Stephanie Nygaard, who had
30 digs. Jensen wasn't too far behind with 12, and Laura
Lanoue added 11 more volley-savers.
"Stephanie Nygaard continues to show improvement at the
libero position for us," added Henning. "Sandy Smith has
become a great leader on the court, not only with her kills
and blocks but also her attitude and her ability to make
things happen on the court. Last night, Rachael Jensen did a
great job for us on defense as well, earning 24 digs. She
also helped us convert those digs into points."
Jamestown's Shantell Rigsby topped all defenders with her 31 digs. Kayla
Fee added 19 digs, Kulvinen 15 and Kristi
Senftner 12.
Katie Bassett led the Trojans with 42 assists, while
Senftner had 34 to lead Jamestown.
DSU's next volleyball action comes at Cedar Rapids, Iowa,
where the Trojans will play in the Mount Mercy Tournament on
Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, DSU takes on host team Mount Mercy at 7 p.m., and on
Saturday, the Trojans play Graceland College at 9:30 a.m. and Johnson &
Wales College at 11:30 a.m.
Nick Huntimer,
Dakota State Sports Information Director
