SIOUX CITY, Iowa — RV Dakota Wesleyan Volleyball traveled down to Iowa to take on the Briar Cliff Chargers in the 2025 regular season finale.
The Tigers were not phased by the road trip and were ready to go from the first serve, quickly jumping out to a 15-8 lead in the first set before securing a 25-12 frame victory. The scoring effort was led by a trio of scorers, which included Evy Knoblock with 11 kills and Karly VanDerWerff alongside Lily Ranschau, who contributed 10 kills apiece. Carlee Laubach also had an impressive three-ace run in the first set to extend DWU’s lead. Reigning GPAC Setter of the Week Kayleigh Hybertson continued her incredible season by adding 37 assists to the statsheet in just three sets, dishing out opportunities to her teammates.
The Tigers continued to roll into the second set, jumping out to another big early lead, extending the score to 17-9 before forcing a Charger timeout. Madisyn Grimsrud and Emily Dale contributed by combining for seven kills and proved to be strong at the net, with Grimsrud leading the team with two blocks. Dakota Wesleyan only gave up a few more points in the frame and rolled to a 25-13 win in the second set. Defensively, the Tigers were once again led by Elizabeth Tyler, who is coming off her third GPAC Player of the Week award of the season alongside Hybertson. Tyler was the match’s leading defender with 23 digs and was aided by Hybertson with 11 digs, along with Abigail Zegar and Presly Pastian chiming in with 10 digs apiece.
Set three saw a similar pace to the previous two, with Dakota Wesleyan getting an early lead before catapulting to a frame victory by double digits. The Tigers got extra help down the stretch from Salamasina Nu’u, who recorded two service aces to aid the DWU scoring effort. The visiting Tigers wrapped up the third set 25-15 to earn their 17th win of 2025. Dakota Wesleyan finishes the regular season with a 17-10 overall record and a 10-6 run in GPAC play.
DWU Volleyball will face the Dordt Defenders in the GPAC Quarterfinals at the Christen Family Athletic Center on Saturday, November 8th, at 7:00 PM. Get updates on the postseason here.