Oct. 17—MITCHELL — Dakota Wesleyan University volleyball defended its home court at the Christen Family Athletic Center on Friday night, winning the Tigers' Dig Pink match over Briar Cliff in four sets.
Set scores were 25-10, 25-15, 21-25, and 25-11 in favor of DWU, which improved to 17-7 overall and 6-6 in Great Plains Athletic Conference play.
DWU set the tone early with a powerful attack, accumulating 53 total kills, 49 assists, 11 service aces, and 97 digs while finishing with a .198 hitting percentage. After hitting .178 and .294 in the opening two sets, Dakota Wesleyan closed out the match by hitting .344 with 15 kills in the fourth set.
Evy Knoblock spearheaded the offensive attack with a match-high 17 kills, while Karly VanDerWerff delivered 15 kills along with a .289 hitting efficiency. Keatyn Liebsack added eight kills while hitting .368, and Madisyn Grimsrud chipped in seven kills. Setter Kayleigh Hybertson led the offense with 46 assists and 10 digs, while Lizzie Tyler anchored the defense with a match-high 23 digs. Presly Pastian and Abby Zegar contributed 20 and 18 digs respectively, with Zegar also serving four aces.
Briar Cliff (10-13, 1-11 GPAC) finished with 29 kills and 25 attack errors for a .025 hitting percentage. Caton Firkins paced Briar Cliff with seven kills and seven block assists, while Aubrey Hoeft registered nine block assists. Setter Mia Torchia dished out 12 assists, and Ireland Jackson collected a team-high 17 digs.
DWU next plays at Dordt at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24 in Sioux Center, Iowa.
This sports brief was written with the assistance of artificial intelligence. A Mitchell Republic newsroom employee reviewed and edited its contents before this story was published.