Volleyball Closes Regular Season on the Road

Thursday, November 10

Fargo, N.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

North Dakota State

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

11/8/2016 2:54:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

SDSU Match Notes

            The South Dakota State volleyball team closes the 51st overall regular season
and 10th Summit League regular season this weekend when it travels to North Dakota State and to South Dakota. The Jackrabbits play the Bison at 7 p.m. Thursday and the Coyotes at 6 p.m. Saturday in the South Dakota Corn Utilization Showdown Series.
            SDSU (5-21, 4-10) is tied with Omaha in seventh place in the league standings after dropping a 3-2 match to Omaha and defeating Western Illinois, 3-2, this past weekend.
            North Dakota State (12-16, 10-4) is third in The Summit League standings after winning a pair of road matches at Fort Wayne (3-2) and IUPUI (3-0) and defeating South Dakota (3-1) earlier in the week.
            South Dakota (22-6, 11-3) went 1-2 last week, losing at NDSU (3-1) and Fort Wayne (3-0) and defeating IUPUI (3-0). The Coyotes are second in the league standings.

Following Along

Live stats are available for the North Dakota State and South Dakota matches on GoJacks.com.

Setting the Scene

South Dakota State needs a pair of wins this weekend and could finish as high as sixth in The Summit League.
The Jackrabbits are 24-53 in Summit League road matches since 2007. The Jacks need to end a two-match losing streak. Their last road victory was at Western Illinois Oct. 16.
The Jacks are 1-8 overall and 1-5 in The Summit League on the road this year.
SDSU can split a pair of series this weekend. It lost to NDSU in five sets Oct. 11 in Frost Arena. It lost in three sets to USD Oct. 2.
South Dakota State and North Dakota State meet for the 88th time with the Bison leading the all-time series, 72-15. The Jacks are looking for their first win over NDSU since winning in four sets Sept. 16, 2012, in Frost Arena.
The Jackrabbits and South Dakota meet for the 79th time with the Jackrabbits leading the all-time series, 55-23. The last win at USD was in the DII era. The Jacks won 3-1, Nov. 2, 2002.

A Quick Glance at South Dakota State (5-21, 4-10)

Second-year head coach Nicole Cirillo's probable starters are seniors Nazya Thies and Ashley Beaner and freshman Makenzie Hennen on the outside; sophomore Sierra Peterson and freshman Ashlynn Smith in the middle; sophomore Mattison Munger setting and junior Ellie Benson as libero.
The Jackrabbits are hitting .144 and averaging 10.90 kills per set. Beaner leads the Jackrabbits in kills (336) and kills per set (3.57).
Munger is SDSU's primary setter, averaging 8.86 set assists while the team averages 10.48.
Thies tops the team in service aces with 22.
Benson leads the defensive corps with a 4.48 digs per set average. Munger is second with a 2.54 average.
The Jackrabbits are holding their own in blocking (126, 1.36 bps). Peterson leads the team with 56 total blocks.

North Dakota State (12-16, 10-4)

North Dakota State enters Thursday's match having won its last five matches.
The Bison are hitting .212 as a team with their offensive attack coming from senior Hadley Steffen. The outside hitter leads the squad in kills per set (3.10) and averages 2.28 digs per set.
Senior middle hitter Emily Miron is hitting a team-high .311 and averages 2.64 kills per set while blocking 0.59 attacks a match.
On defense, NDSU has five players averaging 2.0-or-more digs per set, led by junior libero Mikaela Purnell's 5.76 dps.
Junior setter Brianna Rasmusson is running the offense, registering 9.37 set assists per outing.
Three Bison have 50-or-more total blocks, led by senior middle blocker Emily Minnick's 74.
Series vs. NDSU—NDSU leads 72-15.

South Dakota (22-6, 11-3)

South Dakota enters the weekend having lost two of its last three matches, but is 8-1 at home.
The Coyotes are hitting .244 as a team with their offensive attack coming from senior Audrey Reeg. The outside hitter leads the squad in kills per set (3.93) and averages 3.69 digs per set.
Senior middle blocker Lindsey Brown leads USD with a .403 hitting percentage.
Junior setter Brittany Jessen runs South Dakota's offense, averaging 10.96 set assists. She also averages 3.26 digs per set.
Two Coyotes have 50-or-more total blocks, led by Lindsey Brown's 56.
Sophomore libero Lauren Mattison is recording a team-best 4.52 digs per set and USD averages 18.40 digs per set with five players with 2.0-or-more digs per set.
Series vs. South Dakota—SDSU leads 55-23.

For more information on the South Dakota State volleyball team, follow the Jackrabbits on Twitter (@GoJacksVB) or like South Dakota State Volleyball on Facebook.

-GoJacks.com-