MADISON, S.D. — The Carroll College volleyball team dropped a tough Frontier Conference road match on Friday evening, falling 3–0 to No. 24 Dakota State inside the DSU Fieldhouse.
The Fighting Saints (7-5, 2-2) battled through a back-and-forth opening set before the Trojans (6-3, 2-2) pulled away to secure the sweep by scores of 27-25, 25-12, and 25-16.
Carroll came out strong in the first set, building multiple leads leading up to a 24-24 set tie but Dakota State, however, rallied late behind a flurry of kills from Sophie Tuttle to escape with a 27-25 win.
The Trojans carried the momentum into the second set, hitting .208 as a team while limiting the Saints to just four kills in a lopsided 25-12 win.
Carroll responded with more offensive balance in the third, but DSU closed out the match with little resistance in the third set, finishing the 25-16 win with a .429 attack percentage in the final frame.
Freshman McKaila Balcom (Pasco, Wash. / JR) paced the Saints' offense with seven kills, while Elizabeth Heuiser (Helena, Mont. / R-SR) and Taysa Conger (Merino, Colo. / SR) each added six. Sidney Gulick (Kalispell, Mont. / SR) chipped in four kills and seven digs. Defensively, libero Molly O'Connor (Bozeman, Mont. SR) anchored the back row with a team-high 15 digs, and Jansyn Carrizales (Sunnyside, Wash. / JR) added 12 assists and 10 digs for a double-double.
Overall, Carroll finished with 30 kills on a .132 hitting percentage. The Saints recorded 56 digs and five total blocks in the match.
For Dakota State, Tuttle led all players with 20 kills on .356 hitting, while setter Maddi Langerock dished out 39 assists and 16 digs.
The Saints return to action tomorrow afternoon, as they'll see another Frontier Conference road test, taking on Bellevue at 12 p.m. in Nebraska.
Visit www.carrollathletics.com for a recap of the action, and to stay up to date with everything going on in Carroll Athletics.
FOLLOW THE FIGHTING SAINTS
Facebook: @carrollcollegeathletics
Instagram: @cc_saints
X: @CCsaints
#MarchOn
++
