Dakota Wesleyan volleyball welcomes York College to town tonight fresh off the Tigers’ win over No. 9-ranked Northwestern. DWU swept Northwestern at the Christen Family Athletic Center on Wednesday and is on the verge of receiving the first-ever top-25 national ranking in program history. The Tigers are 11-1 overall with a 2-0 record in the GPAC.
“It seems like the last couple of years, we’ve always been trying to prove ourselves,” DWU head volleyball coach Lindsay Wilbur said. “The crowd was electric. It was awesome to have and to be on campus for the first time and to have that many people. I think we finally said, now is the time to prove ourselves in that win.”
DWU’s defense has been stifling so far, limiting opponents to a .127 hitting percentage and are averaging 2.2 blocks per set through 12 matches. Junior outside Mariah Gloe and sophomore middle Ady Dwight have combined for 46.5 blocks.
“To be a good blocking team, you also have to be a good serving team to get the other team out of system, so I think that’s where it starts for us,” Wilbur said. “We haven’t been really strong in past years (in serving), but this year we’re getting them out of system, so our blockers don’t have to guess and be late on blocks. We’re able to time it really well. And our defense behind our block has been really good.”
DWU is averaging 1.73 aces per set. Junior setter Madeline Else is leading in that category with 18 aces on the season.
The Tigers defeated York College last Friday in straight sets at the Peru State Tournament in Nebraska. Tonight’s match a the the Christen Family Athletic Center is at 7. Tomorrow, Dakota Wesleyan returns to conference match play as the Tigers welcome Morningside to Mitchell.
Morningside comes into the weekend 8-8 overall with a 1-3 GPAC record. Saturday’s conference match will be at 3 p.m.