Blue Hawks earn third straight split to move to 3-3

North Sioux City, S.D. – Dickinson State split a pair of games against teams receiving votes nationally to kick off the Siouxland Invitational in South Dakota on Friday. The Blue Hawks (3-3, 0-0) fell 3-2 to Dakota Wesleyan in the first game before taking down St. Ambrose, 3-1, in the nightcap.

"It was a great finish to a long day," said head coach Stormy Siemion. "The ladies were able to finish strong after a heartbreaker of a five-set match and that is tough to do. I am looking forward to our matches tomorrow. We were able to pull back from some deficits and come out with a huge win."

Game One – DWU 3 DSU 2

Dickinson State got a team-high 26 kills from McKenzie Moser, who also added 16 digs, but fell in five sets after taking a 2-1 lead over the first three sets.

After dropping the first set, 25-22, Dickinson State responded by winning the next two by identical 25-20 scores. Scarlette Schwindt helped DSU forge the early lead and joined Moser in double digit kills with 16 and added 16 digs for a double-double of her own.

Dakota Wesleyan answered back with a resounding 25-11 win in set four before edging out the Blue Hawks in set five, 15-13.

Aubrey Allison led the Blue Hawks defense with 29 digs, while Rylee Kogolshak continued her impressive start to the season with 49 assists and ball handling errors.

Game Two – DSU 3 SAU 1

After dropping game one, the Blue Hawks bounced back with an impressive 3-1 victory over St. Ambrose in game two.

Moser (16 kills, 13 digs) and Schwindt (12 kills, 13 digs) led the way again and Abby Suiter added 8 of her own. Allison added 13 digs of her own and Kogolshak had 39 assists and six digs.

The teams split the first two sets before a nailbiter third set went the way of the Blue Hawks to put them in control. DSU jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the set, but St. Ambrose battled back to take a 23-22 lead after the Blue Hawks were unable to pull away any further, the Fighting Bees had set point at 24-23, but three straight points from DSU turned the match around.

The fourth set was just as close as the third, but four straight points were punctuated by a pair of Kills from Haydin Henschel slammed the door shut for DSU.