Hennen Leads Jackrabbits in Home Opener

Thursday, August 30

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

0-4

Seattle

2-2

Seattle U

South Dakota State

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

8/30/2018 9:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

The South Dakota State volleyball team lost its home opener Thursday night 3-0 to Seattle U in the Comfort Suites University Jackrabbits Invitational at Frost Arena.

The Jackrabbits (0-4) lost 25-19, 25-18 and 25-20. Seattle improves to (2-2) on the season.

"We struggled. There is no hiding it. We couldn't pass in sets one and two. Finally, in set three we started passing better, but they just blocked very well," fourth-year head coach Nicole Cirillo said. "We didn't take advantage of some of our opportunities. When we finally fixed one skill, another went downhill. That was just the overall theme, we couldn't get a string of points going because of that."

Junior Makenzie Hennen led the Jackrabbits with 10 kills while senior Payton Richardson added eight. Freshman Ellie Thein recorded a team-best nine digs.

Kansas State transfer Rachel Stark led Seattle U with 11 kills. The Redhawks collected two solo and 18 block assists in the match.

How it Happened: After opening the match with a 3-0 run, SDSU gave up a 7-1 run to fall behind 7-4. The Jacks were within three, 20-17, after freshman Crystal Burk capped a 3-1 run with a kill. Seattle outscored State 5-2 down the stretch.

In the second set, a Hennen kill brought the Jackrabbits within one at 9-8, but Seattle U pushed their lead to 20-14 capitalizing on eight kills, including four by Stark, and four SDSU errors. South Dakota State drew within 24-18, but an attack error ended the set.

South Dakota State used a late run to cut into the Redhawks' lead in the final set. Trailing 23-14, Richardson registered a pair of kills and single kills from sophomore Maddie Fay and Hennen along with two Redhawks errors forced a Seattle U timeout at 24-20. A final kill by Stark end the match.

Notables

The Jackrabbits dropped to 5-10 in Jackrabbits Invitational matches. Their last win in an invitational was Sept. 7, 2012, beating Green Bay, 3-2.
Seattle U is the second Western Athletic Conference team SDSU has faced this season (UMKC).

Up Next
South Dakota State returns to the court at 7 p.m. Friday when it plays Weber State. Play in the Comfort Suites University Jackrabbits Invitational resumes Friday at noon when Green Bay plays Weber State.

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-