Dakota Wesleyan held off Dordt in three competitive sets Wednesday night at De Witt Gym, earning a 28-26, 25-23, 25-17 victory.

Box Score (PDF)

In the opening set, the teams traded momentum throughout a back-and-forth frame that featured 10 ties. Dordt surged late with five straight points—sparked by a block from Ellie Weg and Tarren Spartz and consecutive aces from Haley Wielenga—to take a 20-16 lead. The Tigers countered immediately, stringing together a 5-0 run that included kills from Evy Knoblock, Karly VanDerWerff and Madisyn Grimsrud to reclaim control at 22-21. Down the stretch, the final 10 combined points were back and forth: Dordt tied it at 23 on a kill by Myra Carlson, and again at 25 after a Kuperus finish. The Defenders had a chance to take the set on serve at 24-23 and 26-25, but both opportunities got away—first on a Knoblock kill and later on a Ranschau finish. Wesleyan capitalized, taking the set 28-26 on back-to-back kills from Lily Ranschau and Salamasina Nu'u.

Set two followed a similar rhythm as Dordt built an early 10-7 advantage behind kills from Kuperus and Carlson. After a 14-14 tie, Dakota Wesleyan turned the tide with a six-point burst fueled by a trio of blocks from VanDerWerff and Knoblock and a Ranschau kill. Dordt battled back to within 24-23 thanks to late aces from Kylie Beckering and two kills by Peyton Poppema, but VanDerWerff's kill sealed the set for Dakota Wesleyan, 25-23.

Dakota Wesleyan seized control early in set three, racing to a 9-1 start as Dordt struggled to find rhythm offensively. The Tigers' opening surge included two service aces from Elizabeth Tyler and four Dordt attack errors, forcing an early timeout. From there, DWU maintained its cushion as VanDerWerff and Ranschau combined for seven of the team's eight kills in the frame. Dordt trimmed the margin to 20-13 with consecutive kills from Kuperus and Carlson, but the visitors closed it out 25-17.

THE NUMBERS

• Kills: Dordt 38 | Dakota Wesleyan 35

• Kill Efficiency: Dordt .022 | Dakota Wesleyan .149

• Digs: Dordt 54 | Dakota Wesleyan 57

• Points from Blocks: Dordt 8.0 | Dakota Wesleyan 10.0

Dordt Leaders

• Kills: Haley Kuperus 11

• Assists: Carlee Jackson 19, Chloe Huisman 12

• Digs: Kylie Beckering 17

• Aces: Haley Wielenga 3, Kylie Beckering 2

• Blocks: Ellie Weg 5, Tarren Spartz 4