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The 12th-ranked University of Jamestown women's volleyball team captured a share of the GPAC regular-season championship Tuesday night with a four-set win over Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) University at Harold Newman Arena.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Jamestown 3, Dakota Wesleyan 1 (25-13, 25-18, 21-25, 25-13)
Records: Jamestown 22-8 (14-2 GPAC), Dakota Wesleyan 19-14 (8-8 GPAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Jamestown took a convincing 12-point win in the first set, hitting .417 with 18 kills to DWU's eight kills and .147 hitting percentage.
- Aleah Zieske had seven kills while Lexi Olson and Darienne Johnson both had three in the opener.
- DWU led 5-4 before Jamestown tied the score after a service error, then the Jimmies got kills from Logan Sherman, Lily Bertsch, and Zieske as part of a 5-0 run that put UJ in front 9-5.
- The Tigers got as close as 17-11, but the Jimmies took seven of the next eight points to put the set away.
- Jamestown outhit DWU .212 to .044 in the second set, with Zieske providing much of the offense. She had eight kills on 18 attempts, with four straight kills as part of a 5-0 run that proved to be the difference in the set.
- DWU cut UJ's lead to 16-15, but Zieske answered with a kill and Johnson and Sherman teamed up for a block on Abigail Brunsing. Bertsch had a dump shot find the floor, and UJ suddenly was up by four.
- Three of the final four points went Jamestown's way as the Jimmies took a 2-0 match lead.
- The Tigers held off a sweep with a 25-21 third set win. Both teams had 16 kills, but DWU made only two errors while UJ committed five.
- Five players had at least two kills in the set for Jamestown, with Olson and Zieske leading the way with four each.
- The Jimmies opened up a 14-10 lead following an ace by Ellie Holen, then the Tigers responded with four straight points to quickly tie the score.
- UJ's final lead came at 17-16, and they were able to draw level at 18-18 before Dakota Wesleyan regained the lead with four in a row.
- Johnson was a perfect 5-for-5 on the attack in the match-clinching fourth set as the Jimmies scored 19 of their 25 points on kills.
- Olson hit .571 with four kills and no errors, and Zieske also had five kills, including a pair as part of a 5-0 run that gave Jamestown a 13-7 lead.
- DWU closed the gap to 15-11 before UJ took four of the next five points.
- Johnson's kill put the Jimmies ahead 20-13, then back-to-back aces by Tenley Buddenhagen were followed by back-to-back kills by Johnson to put Jamestown at match point.
- Grace Hegerle capped off the victory with the final kill of the evening on an assist by Buddenhagen.
FOR THE JIMMIES
- Zieske posted 24 kills and 19 digs.
- Olson added 14 kills while hitting .452 and had three block assists.
- Johnson finished with 12 kills and hit a team-high .579, joining Olson with three block assists.
- Paige Oswald passed out 27 assists and Bertsch 25 in helping the Jimmies hit .315 as a team.
- Ellie Holen led all players with 29 digs. Hegerle had 13 digs to go along with eight kills.
UP NEXT
- Jamestown will be the third seed for the GPAC postseason tournament, hosting sixth-seed Morningside (Iowa) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 7 p.m.
- The Jimmies, Northwestern (Iowa), and Concordia (Neb.) all finished with a 14-2 conference record, and Northwestern earned the top seed, followed by Concordia, via the conference tiebreak criteria.
- Midland (Neb.), College of Saint Mary (Neb.), Morningside (Iowa), Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), and Doane (Neb.) comprise the fourth through eighth seeds, respectively.