Orediggers sweep Blue Hawks

• Linaya Schroeder

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson State junior Linaya Schroeder, back left, hits against Montana Tech’s freshman Mikayla Sullivan, bottom left, and senior Lacey Phelan, right, on Saturday at Scott Gymnasium. The Orediggers used three sets to sweep the Blue Hawks.

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The Dickinson State volleyball team was within striking distance to tie the match in the second set after a Melissa Avila kill.

Montana Tech’s Mikayla Sullivan didn’t let that happen.

The freshman middle hitter struck down back-to-back kills and Sydney Norris finished off the set with an ace as the Orediggers swept the Blue Hawks 25-20, 26-24, 25-22 in a Frontier Conference match on Saturday at Scott Gymnasium.

“We were fortunate to stick around in the second set,” Montana Tech first-year head coach Brian Solomon said. “They just had a couple big plays at the end. You’re always fortunate when you can win a set like that on the road.”

Montana Tech (14-8, 4-6 Frontier) came from behind twice in the set after DSU took a 22-19 lead. The Orediggers poured the offense as Korey Krumm, Norris and Sullivan each knocked down kills in a row.

“We were so close,” Schroeder said with a sigh. “I thought we were going to win that, but it’s so crazy how quick the game can change.”

Norris and Krumm led Montana Tech with 14 and 13 kills, respectively. The Orediggers had four players finish with double-digit kills. Sullivan and Shersteen Cline each had 12.

“That’s about as balanced as we’ve been at the end of the match,” Solomon said. “It was good to see how much production we got out of so many different players.”

The Blue Hawks (3-16, 0-8 Frontier) have been in this predicament all season. DSU has been so close, but unable to finish out sets.

“Three or four points are minor mistakes we keep making,” DSU interim head coach Jennifer Hartman said. “If they can start fixing those, we’ll be successful.”

In the third set, Montana Tech and DSU went toe-to-toe in points. The Orediggers broke away to an 18-14 lead, but it was short-lived when the Blue Hawks closed to gap to be within one.

Enter Norris, Sullivan and Cline. The three combined for five of the final seven points to hold off DSU in the sweep.

Schroeder supplied a 10 kills and three digs in the game, while Avila added 21 assists, 11 digs and five kills.

“She was confident,” Hartman said of Schroeder’s performance. “She was aggressive when she needed to be. She played really well and had an amazing day.”

The Orediggers handled the first set with ease, building up a 20-14 lead and finishing it out with a Krumm kill.

“They (Norris and Krumm) hit a great percentage,” Solomon said. “They did deliver quite a few times on some important points on long rallies.”

The Blue Hawks hope to fix the slip-ups with another solid week of practice before traveling to Frontier opponent Rocky Mountain College at 7 p.m. Friday.

“We just have to keep moving on, keep moving forward,” Hartman said. “We have to let this game go and look toward the future.”

MT 25 26 25 — 3

DSU 20 24 22 — 0

Kills: MT, Sydney Norris 14, Korey Krumm 13, Shersteen Cline 12, Mikayla Sullivan 12, Lacey Phelan 1. DSU, Linaya Schroeder 10, Shaunda Dvorak 9, Sarah Zeibig 6, Melissa Avila 5, Ebony Sanders 4, Priscilla Frias 2.

Blocks: MT 0. DSU 0.

Aces: MT, Alison Lunde 3, Phelan 3. DSU, Avila 2, Kelly O’Connor 2.

Digs: MT, Kimmy Kavran 25, Norris 10, Phelan 7, Kirstin King 6, Sullivan 4. DSU, Chelsea Seibel 11, Rebecca Johnson 11, Avila 11, O’Connor 11.

Assists: MT, Lunde 38, Jesse Bowden 12. DSU, Avila 21, O’Connor 11.

Records: MT 14-8, 4-6 Frontier. DSU 3-16, 0-8 Frontier

Tags: college volleyball, dsu athletics, blue hawks, montana tech, frontier conference, sports