Jimmies sweep Hawks

JAMESTOWN -- Dickinson State surprised Jamestown College early on with a different defensive look.

But the Jimmies weren't fazed for long.

Jamestown College battled back from early deficits in the first two sets and went on to sweep the Blue Hawks 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 on Friday night at the Hansen Center.

The Jimmies' 13th straight victory, their 12th straight Dakota Athletic Conference win and their 11th sweep in 12 conference matches clinched an outright DAC championship. It's the first back-to-back conference titles for Jamestown since 1985-86.

"I thought our defense picked it up after we got blocked a few times," said Jimmie senior setter Kayla Fee. "And we showed our competitiveness as a team."

The Jimmies have won 36 of 37 sets in conference play, but nothing came easily against the Blue Hawks.

"That team is tough," Jimmies coach Jon Hegerle said. "It wasn't easy. They really play to their strengths well. They threw a different defense at us and that threw us for a spin at first.

"We did a good job of taking advantage of it and making some plays that people might not have noticed, putting the ball where they weren't because of the style of defense they were playing."

The Blue Hawks opened up 3-0 leads in each of the first two sets, and Dickinson had a lead late in the third before the Jimmies scored six of the final eight points to finish off the sweep.

"We don't really worry about the first eight points," Fee said. "We know we can come back if we stick together as a team."

The Blue Hawks gave the Jimmies a battle.

"That team will never lie down," Hegerle said. "They keep going and going and going. If you back down, they're going to take advantage of it. That happened a bit in Game 3."

"We're getting closer and closer," Dickinson State coach Ryan Platt said. "Jamestown is a really good team. They have a good coach. It's little things here and there.

"This is a fun atmosphere to be playing in. You can't hear very much. The Fee sisters are always tough to stop. They were on top of their games."

The Jimmies used an 11-3 run in the first set to take a 17-10 lead. The Hawks pulled within three late (21-18) before Jamestown finished off a 25-18 win.

In the second set, Jamestown took its first lead at 13-12, built a four-point lead and finished on a 3-1 run, capped by kills by Samantha Revering and Allison Church on set point.

Jamestown (19-7, 12-0 DAC) led 9-4 in the third set, but the Blue Hawks came back and took a 20-19 lead on an ace by Bree-Anna Slykhius before the Jimmies finished with a flourish. Clinging to a 23-22 lead, Revering came up with a big block and Katie Zent put down a kill for match point.

"Samantha Revering was the difference tonight," Hegerle said. "She made such a big impact tonight. She hit the ball well, she jump served well, and that last block at the end of Game 3 -- coming from the back of the court, sprinting up and blocking that ball ... that showed the kind of character she has."

Revering finished with eight kills, a team-high two aces, four digs and two blocks.

Katie Zent, a freshman outside hitter from Lefor, had a team-high 10 kills and added four blocks.

The Blue Hawks (10-14, 7-5 DAC) were led by Jennifer Hartman with nine kills and Micaela Parker with eight.

"We never give up," Platt said. "We're getting better and better every time we play. To come in and play Jamestown and almost take a game ... we have such a large number of new players. We're just starting to jell now and we haven't even come close to reaching our potential. That's the fun part."

DSU 18 20 22 -- 0

JC 25 25 25 -- 3

Kills: DSU, Jennifer Hartman 9, Micaela Parker 8, Karen Almeida 5, Crystal Franklin 3, Shaunda Dvorak 2, Lindsay Meyer 1. JC, Katie Zent 10, Ali Edwards 8, Samantha Revering 8, Shannon Fee 7, Kayla Fee 4, Allison Church 2.

Blocks: DSU, Dvorak 2 solo, 5 assists; Parker 2 solo, 3 assists; Almeida 1 solo, 6 assists; Hartman 1 solo, 5 assists; Franklin 1 solo, 5 assists; Meyer 0 solo, 3 assists. JC, S. Fee 2 solo, 2 assists; Zent 1 solo, 3 assists; Revering 1 solo, 1 assist; Edwards 0 solo, 2 assists; K. Fee 0 solo, 1 assist.

Aces: DSU, Myshada Rosado 2, Meyer 1, Sasha Bruels 1, Bree-Anna Slykhuis 1. JC, Revering 2, Jada Meiklejohn 1, Edwards 1.

Digs: DSU, Bruels 9, Slykhuis 6, Rosado 6, Shelby Thirsk 5, Whitley Abrahamson 5, Meyer 4, Hartman 3, Almeida 3, Franklin 2, Parker 1, Milena Brkic 1. JC, Krysten Williams 10, Church 7, Meiklejohn 7, Edwards 6, K. Fee 5, S. Fee 4, Revering 4.

Assists: DSU, Abrahamson 13, Rosado 12, Meyer 7, Hartman 2. JC, K. Fee 33, Meiklejohn 1, Edwards 1, Church 1, Williams 1.

Records: Jamestown College 19-7, 12-0 DAC, Dickinson State 10-14, 7-5 DAC.