Waldorf tops Presentation, Sullivan breaks school career digs mark
By Waldorf Sports Information Director
ABERDEEN, S.D. – Briley Sullivan provided 33 digs to break the school career digs record as the Waldorf University volleyball team brought down Presentation College during Friday’s North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) matchup.
The Warriors (13-14, 3-3) won by scores of 22-25, 25-20, 26-24, 25-21 to earn their third consecutive conference victory in a contest that tightened up down the stretch.
“The girls refused to give up,” Waldorf interim co-head coach Cecilia Brandon said. “We battled hard and played with confidence to finish those close sets.”
Sullivan, who leads the Warriors with 544 digs this season, now has 1,851 digs during her career and her performance tied for the seventh-most digs in a four-set match. The junior libero from Laurens surpassed the previous school career-record mark of 1,840 digs, set by 2014 graduate Courtney Palmer.
“Briley has worked extremely hard and it’s impressive for her to have reached this milestone in only three seasons,” Waldorf interim co-head coach Mady Van Metre said.
The Warriors turned in a .189 hitting percentage and raked up 63 kills, which set a new school record for kills in a four-set match. They also matched the school’s four-set match record with 59 assists and tied for sixth in the record books with 100 digs.
Senior Megan Perkins powered Waldorf’s attack with 14 kills and posted a .382 hitting percentage. JuniorApril Jones and senior Brianna Haugen smashed 12 kills apiece while junior Rebecca Bartnicki cranked out 11 kills. The Warriors also received seven kills from junior Kaitlyn Monck.
Bartnicki sported a .429 hitting clip and Jones closed out the match with a .417 attack percentage.
Valerie Rivera paced Waldorf’s offense with 27 assists as the senior setter from Victorville, Calif. moved to third all-time in the school record books with 1,146 assists in two seasons. Freshman Elisabeth Tramm dished out 24 assists.
At the service line, freshman Kelsey Sederquest notched two aces and Jones also tallied an ace for the Warriors.
Tramm recorded 17 digs, Sederquest collected 13 digs, junior Erica Fee turned in 11 digs and Perkins finished with 10 digs. Junior Isabelle Rothbauer and Rivera contributed nine digs each.
Bartnicki battled at the net, providing four total blocks with two solo blocks and two block assists. The Chicago native now has a team-high 82 blocks on the year, which ranks sixth among Waldorf’s single-season records.
Jones accounted for three total blocks behind a solo block and two block assists. Haugen added four solo blocks to help the Warriors generate seven total team blocks on the night.
Presentation (3-18, 0-7) escaped with the win in the opening set, hitting .062 while limiting Waldorf to a .048 hitting effort. The Warriors responded and fired up their hitting the rest of the way. Waldorf hit .133, .246 and .292, respectively in the final three sets to lock up the win.
“The Saints were scrappy and made our hitters make adjustments,” Brandon said. “Our middles stepped up and dominated the front row, along with our right sides.”
Waldorf continues conference play on Saturday, taking on Dakota State University (6-14, 2-4) in a 1 p.m. matchup at Madison, South Dakota. The Warriors currently own fourth place in the NSAA standings and are looking to continue their strong play.
“Overall, it was our third straight conference win,” Van Metre said. “We are proud of the team.”