DWU volleyball claims four-set win over Briar Cliff for seventh-straight victory
Oct. 20—SIOUX CITY, Iowa. — Since the calendar flipped to October, the Dakota Wesleyan volleyball team has yet to lose.
Playing on the road for the third time in a week, the 10th-ranked Tigers extended their win streak to seven matches on Wednesday night, defeating Briar Cliff in four sets. Set scores were 25-18, 25-14, 23-25 and 26-24.
DWU used a 6-1 run to start the first set to set the tone. The Tigers led by as much as 24-14 before a four-point Charger run, but an Abigail Brunsing put an end to the first set.
After Briar Cliff grabbed a 6-4 edge to start the second set, DWU scored 12 of the next 18 points to wrestle away control and eventually scored the final six points to claim a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers looked poised to close out a second-straight three-set win and what would have been their fourth in the seven-match win streak, but it was not to be. An 8-3 DWU lead was chipped away until the Chargers went ahead at 16-15. From there, Briar Cliff came out on top of a back-and-forth ending to force a fourth set.
It was a closely contested fourth frame where the Tigers' biggest lead came late at 23-19. A final push by the Chargers leveled the set at 24, but DWU scored two points to secure the match, punctuated by a kill from Ady Dwight.
As a team, the Tigers hit .194 and put down 55 kills, paced by Dwight's 23 kills (on .373 hitting) and three assisted blocks to go alongside 15 kills and two assisted blocks from Mackenzie Miller. Madeline Else put up 52 set assists, as Emily Dale's nine kills and three assisted blocks and Mariah Gloe's seven kills, 15 digs, two service aces and two assisted blocks rounded out the bulk of the DWU attack. Three Tigers — Hanna Reiff (23), Tya Weideman (16) and Gloe — had double-digit digs in the match.
Briar Cliff (6-19, 1-12 GPAC) got 18 kills, nine digs and one ace from Chloe Johnson to go with 10 kills and five assisted blocks by Sami Wasmund. Toria Andre added nine kills and five assisted blocks of her own, with Tannah Heath notching 43 assists, eight digs and three assisted blocks.
DWU (19-4, 9-3 GPAC) returns to the Christen Family Athletic Center for a ranked matchup with No. 19 Dordt at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21.
