By Game 3 Friday night, Nancy Nyongesa had South Dakota Mines guessing. The Dickinson State senior had the Hardrockers scared before then though.
Nyongesa proved her prowess with her 19th kill of the sixth-ranked Blue Hawks' 30-26, 30-20, 30-23 Dakota Athletic Conference victory at Scott Gymnasium.
Late in the third game, the 5-foot-11 outside hitter skied high, swung hard and adjusted slightly to lightly tip a kill past Mines junior Alena Ori, who cautiously ducked out of the way to avoid what she thought would be face-to-ball contact.
"I think it's her jump. She's such a big presence," Mines coach Beth Honaker said. "My girls were just stuck on their heels, expecting she was going to hit hard. After she did a couple times in Game 1, that's what they were expecting."
With All-American senior Elizabeth Rodriguez sidelined with a sprained ankle, Nyongesa felt the need to increase her intensity.
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"I can play all the positions and everybody is doing the same thing," said Nygonesa, who added 11 total blocks and two aces. "We have to fill in the gaps, so the other teams don't see the gaps. As a team, that's what we're supposed to be doing."
Mines did its best to put DSU (16-1, 6-0 DAC) in a hole early in Game 1. The Blue Hawks didn't hold a stable lead until senior setter Katelynn Stiefel had a kill and an ace and Nyongesa followed with a kill to spark an 8-2 DSU run to cap the first Game 1.
The Hardrockers (14-3, 3-3 DAC) rallied from a 23-12 deficit in Game 2 with a 6-0 run, but couldn't survive Nyongesa's big game. She tallied six kills, three blocks and two aces in the game.
DSU senior Elizabeth Castillo had six of her nine kills in Game 3.
"I don't think we struggled as much as they were ready to play," DSU coach Dave Moody said. "Their record indicates that they've been successful against opponents in the past. They don't quit. They've got a lot of heart. I think we all played pretty well, I honestly do."
