Jacks thunder through SUU

Friday, October 30

Frost Arena

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Southern Utah

10/30/2009 11:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: SDSU Sports Info

South Dakota State ran away with the first two sets on Friday against Southern Utah, but the Thunderbirds fought back to force a fourth set before the Jackrabbits could put the win away with a late surge for the 3-1 win.

The win boosts the Jacks record to 8-15 overall and an even 7-7 in the Summit League. Southern Utah falls to 7-17 overall in its first year of competition and 4-9 in league play.

Fiona Jones led the Jackrabbits with 16 kills, hitting .371 in the process (6-3-35).

"We had to work hard tonight, come out and play strong and play as a team," said Jones after the match. "We just had to keep pushing through."

Ellyce Youngren finished with 11 kills and hit .304 for the match (11-4-23). Kelly Herrmann hit .385 for the match, with 10 kills on 26 swings with no errors.

Jazmine Ma'afala and Analaine Pelaez both tallied a match-high 21 kills for the Thunderbirds in the loss.

After winning the first two sets by the same 25-17 score, the Jacks led 24-20 with the serve for match point in the third set, but the thunderbirds rattled off the next six points to win the set 26-24 to force a fourth set.

Down by as many as five points at 11-6 in the fourth set, the Jacks fought back to eventually tie the set at 13. The teams went back and forth with the teams exchanging points up to 20.

A Herrmann kills broke the 20-all tie, and the Jacks never looked back, winning the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.

The Jackrabbits return to action on Saturday in Frost Arena for the final time in 2009, when they host UMKC and honor their only senior Stacey Wernert on Senior Night.

The Kangaroos fell to North Dakota State in straight sets on Friday in Fargo, N.D., as the Bison extended their Summit League winning streak to 33 straight and sealed the league's regular season title.