Blue Hawks drop a pair of matches to close out Siouxland Invitational

Sagan Osborne - Dickinson State Sports & Marketing Information Director

North Sioux City, S.D. – Dickinson State (3-5) dropped a pair of games on Saturday to close out the Siouxland Invitational. The Blue Hawks dropped game one, 3-1, to Briar Cliff University before falling in five sets to Dordt (Iowa) in game two. The Blue Hawks have now played in three five set matches in their last five contests.

"We really battled in our second match today," said head coach Stormy Siemion. "We did some phenomenal things in that game. Having 0 hitting errors in the first set was huge and now we need to see the good and strive for that always. We have some time off now and I am excited to see where we can improve for our final preseason tournament."

Game One – BCU 3 DSU 1

After Briar Cliff took the first set 26-24, DSU responded with a resounding 25-13 win in set two, but failed to capitalize on the momentum and dropped the final two sets to fall in game one on Saturday.

The Blue Hawks got a team-high 13 kills from leading attacker McKenzie Moser, while Scarlette Schwindt and Haydin Henschel each chipped in 8, but a powerful block from the Chargers was too much to overcome.

Rylee Kogolshak distributed the ball well again, collecting 32 assists to go along with 15 digs in the loss.

Game Two – DU 3 DSU 2

After DSU took the first set, 25-22, Dordt answered back with two straight wins to take a 2-1 lead. A 25-17 win in set four kept the Blue Hawks alive, but they were unable to keep up with the Defenders in set five, falling 15-12.

Moser had another solid match, posting 20 kills to go along with 12 digs while Schwindt had 10 and 10 for another double-double. Kogolshak dished out 49 assists and chipped in 10 digs of her own to close out a great individual weekend.

Dickinson State again had trouble with a formidable block from their opponents, getting out blocked 8-3 for the match.

The Blue Hawks will now have a week off before they head to Ottawa, Kansas on September 13 for their final tune-ups before North Star Athletic Association conference play begins.