Back among the final 24, DWU volleyball plays with 'house money' at national tourney

Dec. 2—MITCHELL — Given how successful the last time was and how difficult it is to make the national tournament, Dakota Wesleyan University volleyball coach Lindsay Wilber admitted she wasn't sure when the next time her Tiger squad would be among the final 24 teams and reach the national finals in Sioux City, Iowa.

Three years later, a nearly brand new group is getting the chance to play at the Tyson Events Center in pursuit of a national championship. The Tigers (19-11), seeded 22nd among the final 24 teams, will face No. 3 Concordia (Neb.) and No. 14 The Master's (Calif.) on Dec. 3 and Dec. 4 in the pool-play round of the national tournament at the Tyson Events Center. DWU is playing in the national tournament for the fourth-time ever, and the third time in the last five seasons.

"Honestly, I didn't know after (2022) when we went to the Elite Eight and we graduated Ady (Dwight) and I didn't know what exactly it was going to take to get back there," DWU coach Lindsay Wilber said. "But just the way these guys play together and the way that they pull for each other's group is really fun to be around. And it's been really easy to coach and critique and do what we need to do to get better. I think we've just leaned on that to get back to this point."

DWU got to this point with a five-set win over then-No. 23 Park University in the NAIA opening round on Nov. 22 in Parkville, Missouri. The Tigers were up 2-0 in the match and then nearly let it slip away before closing out the Pirates in the fifth frame. Wilber called it the most intense environment she's coached or played in.

"It was tough and we let it get to us in the third and fourth set, and in the fifth set, we decided as a group, 'Like, come on now. We need to turn it on,' and those types of things just add character and build character on your team," Wilber said. "They've had to battle and we're going to use that with everything we got against Concordia and The Master's."

The NAIA pool-play format guarantees DWU two matches in Sioux City, something Wilber said she's looking forward to. DWU's matches are the first two days, followed Concordia-The Master's on Dec. 5, and Wilber said she hopes the team can win at least one match to assure themselves the chance to stay in Sioux City through Friday night. A 2-0 pool record guarantees advancement but if all three teams go 1-1, there's a chance of a one-set tiebreaker played to 25 points to advance to the NAIA quarterfinals.

Coincidentally, the Tigers are meeting GPAC rival Concordia in the first pool play match at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3, in Sioux City. The Bulldogs have ended the Tigers' season in each of the last two seasons in the GPAC quarterfinals in 3-0 sweeps.

Concordia won the earlier season matchup 3-0 on Oct. 18 in Mitchell. That match put DWU at 13-9 on the season, and the Tigers have won six of their eight matches since then. Two-time GPAC attacker of the year Ashley Keck had 11 kills and 20 digs in that match. The Tigers and Concordia are two of four remaining GPAC schools in the tournament, along with No. 2 Northwestern and No. 17 Midland.

"We don't have a ton of expectations. You know, we're not the team to beat down there," Wilber said of seeing the Bulldogs again. "I told the girls we're just playing with house money right now. Against Concordia, they're expected to win, so let's just play our hearts out and see what happens."

And to prove it's a one-match-at-a-time approach, Wilber said DWU hasn't watched any film of The Master's, their second pool play opponent on Thursday night. She said they will focus on the Mustangs after Wednesday's match with Concordia.

"We know we're going to play them down there, so we want to be as locked in on what we're doing each day," Wilber said of the approach. "We want to have fun and experience the first couple of days of the tournament as much as we can."

If it seems like DWU and The Master's have played a lot recently, they have. The teams met earlier this calendar year in both the NAIA men's and women's basketball tournaments.

If there's an identity of this Tigers team, it's defensively. DWU ranks No. 3 nationally in digs per set (20.06 per set), which is No. 1 among teams still alive in the NAIA tournament. (Ironically, The Master's is No. 4 nationally in digs per set and No. 2 among Sioux City-bound teams.)

Mitchell product and Tiger junior Lizzie Tyler was the GPAC co-defender of the year and ranks ninth nationally in digs per set to lead the charge with 631 digs. Junior Kayleigh Hybertson, recently named GPAC setter of the year for the second year in a row, averages nearly 10 assists per set and has tallied 1,099 assists this season, which are both top-20 figures nationally.

"We're (third) in the country in digs per set and we're around 100th in points per set. That's insane but we're in the national tournament," Wilber said. "As a defensive player, it's just a will thing and we have the ability to dig a ball. That's just what we preach and practice and I've always felt I've been a defensive coach because we've never had big bangers at the net. We've always been a team that relied on our passing and defense. If you can just get the long rallies and keep them going, we usually win those and that's something that frustrates the other team."

DWU is balanced with its hitters, led by sophomore Evy Knoblock's 363 kills this season, followed by sophomore Karly VanDerWerff with 277 kills and senior Lily Ranschau with 268 kills. Senior middle blocker Emily Dale has 190 kills, as Ranschau and Dale are the lone two seniors on the roster and Dale is the only returner who had playing time from the last Sioux City national tournament trip in 2022. The middle blocker VanDerWerff starred in the NAIA opening-round win over Park, as the Platte product finished with a career-high 20 kills, and leads DWU in hitting percentage (.247).

"Our motto since last spring to now has been "built to battle" and our goal was to get back here. They've been talking the whole season about how we've just got to get there," Wilber said. "We played at Park and that was hostile and hard and was an upset. So, I don't feel like for this group, the moment is ever going to be too big for them and I feel like they're just going to eat it up."