On Saturday, Oct. 12, volleyball hosted Dakota Wesleyan University to wrap up an important weekend at home. The Tigers’ comeback five-set victory over DWU was a significant step toward extending their season. The Tigers’ weekend sweep of Dakota Wesleyan and Waldorf gave them the head-to-head tiebreaker should it matter at the end of the season and put both teams in a tie for ninth place in the conference standings. Currently, Doane is one game off of the Top 8, which guarantees a spot in the GPAC Tournament. Now, the overall record for the Tigers is 7-15, and 3-7 in the conference.
DWU won the first set, 27-25, but Doane would win the second one, 25-16. In the third set of the game, Dakota Wesleyan prevailed 13-25, and the game entered a crucial fourth set. However, the Tigers would win the fourth set 25-20 and force the last and decisive set, which the Tigers won 15-13, in a super tight match.
After Dakota Wesleyan leveled the score at 13, Doane ended the contest with consecutive kills from freshman Natalie Wood and senior Kayden Schumacher.
With 18 kills, Wood led the Tigers, and Schumacher came in second with 13. Freshman Hilary Hupp recorded a career-high 10 kills, while senior Taylor Sluka and freshman Kate Roseland both scored 11 kills. Sophomore Camdyn Carpenter was in on a career-high five total blocks. Carpenter ended up with 21 digs, while senior Grace Zeier recorded 26. In the game, Doane totaled 115 digs. In addition, senior Mackenzie Painter and sophomore Chloe Rose both contributed 13 digs, while junior Lillian Parolek contributed 14.
In their upcoming game on Friday, Oct. 18, Doane will play out of conference to reignite a rivalry. Nebraska Wesleyan will host the Tigers at 6 p.m. on their trip to Lincoln.
