MAYVILLE, ND -- Less than 24 hours after an electric atmosphere led the Mayville State University Comets to a five-set win over the top-20 nationally ranked Bellevue Bruins, the team was back out onto the court at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon, taking on the Dakota State Trojans in both teams' second conference games of the 2019 season. Dakota State played hard, handing the Comets their first loss of the conference schedule, in a three-set victory for the Trojans.

"Our blocking wasn't where it needed to be," Mayville State head coach Lindsey Johnson said. "We live and die by our block, and today we died by it."

Johnson said Friday night's match, which included a hot gym, power outage and lots of condensation breaks on the floor, played a part in Saturday's loss.

"I think it played a part," she said. "I think we definitely were tired, mentally and physically exhausted, but that's not an excuse."

Dakota State and Mayville State battled back-and-forth in the first set, with the Trojans coming out on top 25-20, but sets two and three were all Dakota State, winning 25-15 and 25-12, respectively.

"They're (Dakota State) a good team," Johnson said. "They're going to give teams a lot of trouble."

The first set was all back-and-forth until the halfway point.

With the Comets trailing 11-10, Dakota State rallied off seven straight points, to take a commanding 18-10 lead. Barbara Briceno had two big kills during that run, which was led by great serving efforts from Peyton Groft.

The teams then traded points, before Mayville State went on a pair of three-point runs, pulling them to within 22-19, behind kills by Elora Passa, Hannah Bliss and Victoria Johnson. The Comets also picked up a point on a block by Bliss and Ashley Pyburn. Johnson's kill brought the Comets to within four points at the time.

"Briceno is a great player," Johnson said. "I knew she was going to get her kills, I was hoping we could stop her in other places, but we just couldn't."

Maddie Polzin's attack error late gave Mayville State some life, but a kill by Polzin on the next play put the first set away, 25-20.

Set two was all Dakota State, with the Trojans jumping ahead early 12-5.

Mayville State never really recovered in the second set, as the Trojans extended their lead to 18-8 later, before the Comets scored back-to-back points, on an attack error by Dakota State and a kill by Johnson.

But then, Dakota State went on a 4-0 run, pulling ahead by 12, only to have their lead dwindle again, to nine, before going ahead 23-13. Two attack errors by Dakota State made it 23-15, but then back-to-back attack errors by Mayville State's Kiana Johnson ended set two for the Comets, who fell 25-15 and trailed in the match 2-0.

The third set was simply Dakota State's set. The key run was a 19-7 start, led by 14 kills by the Trojans, along with three service aces. The other two Trojan points came on attack errors by Mayville State.

All Mayville State would be able to muster in relation to a run was a 2-0 run by a kill by Victoria Johnson and Kiana Johnson, both, followed by a kill by Victoria Johnson, on a pass from Jordyn Lucas.

Victoria Johnson led the Comets with seven kills, followed by Bliss with five and Passa with three.

Kiana Johnson had five blocks to lead the Comets, with Victoria Johnson picking up four and Bliss three.

Passa was the lone Comet in double-figures in the assists category, picking up 16 assists in the loss. Jayden Warner had a team-high 20 digs for the Comets.

Mayville State drops to 1-1 in North Star Athletic Association play.

The Comets will return to the court on Friday, when they travel to La Crosse, WI, for a matchup against the Viterbo V-Hawks, followed by a trip to Forest City, Iowa, on Saturday to take on the Waldorf Warriors.

"Our conference is tough," coach Johnson said. "It doesn't matter where you're sitting or where you're at, every game is going to be a tough match."

The key is rebounding from the loss Saturday.

"You gotta bounce back," Johnson said. "Because our conference season is such that we play Friday-Saturday every weekend."

The loss broke a 10-game winning streak for the Comets, dating back to an August 31 victory over Bethel College in the Concordia (Nebraska) Tournament.