– Jimmie Women Sweep Dakota Wesleyan GPAC Semis

UJ Women’s Volleyball. GPAC Semifinals at Harold Newman Arena Wednesday.

Jamestown Sweeps Dakota Wesleyan 3-0 25-19,25-23,25-18

Jamestown (UJ) The top-ranked University of Jamestown women’s volleyball team advanced to the finals of the GPAC postseason tournament for the third straight season, sweeping No. 13 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) University Wednesday night at Harold Newman Arena.

Jamestown improved to 30-0 on the year, reaching the 30-win plateau for the third consecutive season.

The Jimmies will host No. 19 Concordia (Neb.) University Saturday at 7 p.m. for the GPAC championship. Concordia, the tournament’s sixth seed, posted its second straight upset, defeating second seed and fifth-ranked College of Saint Mary (Neb.) in five sets Wednesday.

UJ and Concordia met once in the regular season with Jamestown winning 3-0 in Seward, Neb., on October 22.

DWU held serve with the Jimmies in set one, tying the score at 14 after an ace by Callie Slagter. Corina Huff (SR/Pequot Lakes, Minn.) registered a kill on the next play to start a run of five straight UJ points to pull away.

Set two was a back and forth affair with neither team building more than a four-point lead. A 4-0 run by the Tigers tied the set at 18. Taylor Sabinash (SR/Kensal, N.D.) and Jayla Ritter (SR/Forest Lake, Minn.) kills put the Jimmies at set point, then a combo block by Ritter and Anna Holen (SR/LaMoure, N.D.) sealed the set.

After the Tigers got within 9-8 in the third set, a Holen kill started a 6-1 run resulting in a 15-9 lead. DWU got as close as 16-13, only to have Jamestown score the next five points and end any chances of a Tiger comeback.

Holen posted a team-high 10 kills and the trio of Sabinash, Aleah Zieske (FR/Spicer, Minn.), and Kalli Hegerle (SR/West Fargo, N.D.) each had nine. Jackie Meiklejohn (SR/Dickey, N.D.) passed out 21 assists and Megan Gaffaney (SR/Jamestown, N.D.) 20, helping the Jimmies hit .219 for the match.

Ellie Holen (SO/LaMoure, N.D.) led the back row with 23 digs, while Anna Holen had 16 and Hannah Schiele (SR/Jamestown, N.D.) 10. Anna Holen had six block assists and Ritter added four.