No. 20 Warriors Defeat (RV) Dakota State in NAIA Opening Round

FREMONT, Neb. – No. 20-ranked Midland University hosted an Opening Round match of the 2024 NAIA Volleyball Championship on Saturday against (RV) Dakota State University. In a tightly contested match, the Warriors outlasted the Trojans in four sets (29-27, 25-13, 21-25, 25-23) on Saturday inside the Wikert Event Center.

The Warriors overcame a late first-set deficit and battled through a resilient Trojans squad to secure their spot in the tournament's final site.

In the opening set, Midland built a commanding 20-13 lead but saw Dakota State (24-11) rally with an 8-0 run to pull ahead 23-22. Facing set point at 24-23, a timely setter dump by Brena Mackling swung momentum back to the Warriors. After fending off multiple set points, Midland finally closed the set 29-27 with a kill from Abbey Ringler.

The second set was all Midland, as the Warriors rode their momentum to a dominant 25-13 win. A balanced attack led by Jacki Apel, who recorded five kills in the set, and a match-high .333 hitting percentage, powered the Warriors to a two-set lead.

Dakota State responded in the third, staying even with Midland through 18-18 before a five-point run gave the Trojans the edge. Despite a late push by Midland, the Trojans held on to win 25-21, fueled by a stellar .400 hitting percentage in the frame.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle with Midland pulling even late after a 23-21 deficit. Back-to-back kills by Brooklynn Snyder tied the set, and a Trojan error followed by another Snyder kill secured the 25-23 victory and the match for Midland.

Snyder led all players with 21 kills, while Apel added 13 and Ringler contributed 12. Lauren Williams chipped in with eight crucial kills. Setters Stella Kuehl and Mackling guided the offense with 31 and 24 assists, respectively, as the Warriors hit .204 as a team.

Defensively, Delanie Vallinch anchored the back row with a match-high 30 digs, surpassing Midland's career digs record in the process. Kailyn Scott (18 digs), Delainey Cast (17), and Mackling (11) also delivered strong performances.

"You've got to give Dakota State a ton of credit. They are a really good team," commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. "You don't beat No. 3 [ranked] Jamestown and not have a really good team. They are well coached and congrats to them on a great season.

"I'm really proud of our girls. They've had the ups and downs this year that go with growing pains with a young team and they just hung in there" added Coach Giesselmann. "Game one was really indicative of it. We had a big lead there then made some mistakes and we let them back in it. They [Midland] didn't let the moment get too big for them. I thought that was crucial to us winning the match"

"The goal every year is to get to Sioux City. For our four seniors, they've been amazing young women and that was a big thing for me personally. I wanted our seniors to end their careers in Sioux City. It is just as important to get our young players, our freshmen, experience at the Tyson Events Center. The extra practices that we get from the time the conference tournament starts to the start of pool play, matters a lot for these young kids."

Midland (19-11) will begin preparation for the final site of the NAIA Volleyball Championship, set to begin on December 4 in Sioux City, Iowa at the Tyson Events Center. The Warriors will learn their pool assignment on Sunday afternoon when the NAIA releases the final site schedule.