Sagan Osborne – Dickinson State Sports and Marketing Information Director
Ottawa, Kan. – Dickinson State went 1-1 on Saturday to wrap up the Ottawa Inviational in Kansas. The Blue Hawk defeated Hannibal-LaGrange, 3-1, before falling to William Woods by the same score.
Game One – DSU 3 HLC 1
McKenzie Moser (14 kills, 8 digs) and Madi Wahl (11 kills) led the way for the Blue Hawks as they bounced back after dropping the first set to win the next three and the match.
After Hannibal-LaGrange took the first set, 25-21, DSU responded with a resounding 25-14 win in set two and a gritty 26-24 win in set three to take a 2-1 lead in the match. In the third set, DSU staved off a number of runs from WLC, falling behind 23-22 after leading 21-16, but scored four of the next five points to earn the win.
DSU hit .270 as a team for the match and Rylee Kogolshak dished out 46 assists to pilot the offense.
Defensively the Blue Hawks were led by 14 digs from Aubrey Allison and four blocks from Carmen Pallone.
Game Two – WWU 3 DSU 1
The Blue Hawks struggled to get much going offensively in game two, hitting just .034 in the loss. Moser and Scarlette Schwindt each had 10 kills to lead the team. Abigial Beddes had a strong game defensively for DSU, picking up a season-high 21 digs while Moser added 12 and Kogolshak had 10 to go with her 35 assists.
A big block from William Woods was the difference in the match as the Owls piled up 24 block assists and one solo block to keep the Blue Hawk hitters on their heels.