Volleyball welcomes Denver, Oral Roberts

MATCHES 23 & 24: South Dakota State (5-17, 2-8); Denver (16-6, 8-2); Oral Roberts (6-19, 2-9)

When	Friday, Nov. 1, 2019 \| 7 p.m.	Sunday, Nov. 3, 2019 \| 1 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena I Brookings, S.D.	Frost Arena I Brookings, S.D.
Live Video	Jackrabbits All-Access	Jackrabbits All-Access
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #PERFORM

The South Dakota State women's volleyball team returns to Frost Arena to host Denver and Oral Roberts in a pair of Summit League matches. The Jackrabbits take on the Pioneers on Friday at 7 p.m., followed by the Golden Eagles on Sunday at 1 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
The Jackrabbits fell to both North Dakota State, 3-1 (23-25, 14-25, 25-21, 19-25), and Western Illinois, 3-0 (21-25, 20-25, 23-25), on the road last weekend. State is now 5-17 overall and 2-8 in Summit League play.

Crystal Burk recorded a career-best 20 kills on a .277 hitting clip against NDSU. She also held a team-high 15 digs to log her sixth double-double this season. Makenzie Hennen also registered a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. Defensively against the Bison, Tatum Pickar added 14 digs, while Tori Thompson and Anna Nerad each posted five blocks.

Against WIU, the trio of Ashlynn Smith, Burk and Thompson each recorded 7 kills. Hennen led the Jacks with 16 digs.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Denver
Denver is on a six-match winning streak as it holds an overall record of 16-6 with an 8-2 Summit League mark. Most recently, the Pioneers defeated Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-1, and swept Oral Roberts. Purdue Fort Wayne and South Dakota are the lone Summit League teams to serve the Pioneers a loss this season. Lydia Baralo heads the offense for Denver with 254 kills and 31 service aces. Amanda Green and Tina Boe have tallied 175 and 149 kills, respectively. Boe also holds a team-best hitting clip of .364. Ellie Anderson and Lorrin Poulter direct the offensive efforts with 398 and 205 assists, respectively. Leading the net defense is Brianna Green with a total of 88 blocks, averaging 1.26 blocks per set. Macy Carrabine has accumulated 284 digs for the Pioneers.

Tom Hogan is in his fourth season at the helm of Denver with a record of 73-18. Denver holds the lead over the Jacks in the all-time record with 13-1. When the two teams met earlier this season, Denver came out on top, 3-1 (13-25, 15-25, 31-29, 18-25).

Oral Roberts
The Golden Eagles are 6-19 on the season with a 2-9 record in Summit League matches. Oral Roberts has a seven-match losing streak, most recently falling to Omaha on Tuesday in straight sets. CeCe Madison has tallied a team-high and Summit League leading 392 kills, averaging 3.96 kills per set. Laura Shoopman adds 210 kills while leading the team with 25 service aces. Sylvia Lawson aids the Golden Eagle offense with 875 assists, averaging 8.84 assists per set. Sarah Thiessen leads the back-row defense with 338 digs, while Madison isn't far behind with a total of 301digs. Bri Greenlee adds 67 blocks to the defensive efforts.

Oral Roberts is under the direction of head coach Sheera Sirola who is in her 16th season with a record of 270-193. The Golden Eagles hold a 16-5 advantage in the all-time series over the Jackrabbits. Earlier this season, the Jacks fell to Oral Roberts on the road, 3-1 (23-25, 26-24, 16-25, 20-25).

POSITION RUNDOWN
Outside Hitters

Makenzie Hennen has a total of 266 kills, 236 digs and 21 blocks. She has recorded double digit kill totals in 16 of the 22 matches the Jacks have played, while registering a double-double in 11 matches. Hennen is just 9 kills away from reaching her 1,000 career kill milestone. The senior holds a hitting percentage of .141 including a career best mark of .556 in the Jacks' win over Prairie View A&M. She tied her career-best of 24 kills against Milwaukee. Hennen ranks seventh in the Summit League in kills per set (3.17) and eighth total kills (266).
Crystal Burk has tallied 208 kills, 16 service aces and 228 digs. She registered a career-best 20 kills against North Dakota State last weekend. Against Kansas City, she recorded a career high of 19 digs. Burk notched her ninth ever double-double against NDSU with 20 kills and 15 digs. The sophomore was named to the EIU Panther Invitational all-tournament team.
Ashlynn Smith has a total of 179 kills, 69 digs, 38 blocks and 22 service aces. Smith registered her first double-double of the season against North Dakota with 11 kills and 11 digs. The senior was named to the Katrinka Crawford Invitational all-tournament team.

Middles

A trio of freshman, in Anna Nerad, Tori Thompson and Abbey Fryauf, have covered the middle for the Jacks.
Nerad has led SDSU's blocking in 11 matches including a career high of seven blocks against Louisiana Monroe. She has a total of 60 blocks, 75 kills and 38 digs.
Thompson has tallied 112 kills and 44 blocks, including a career-best performance against Fresno State with 12 kills on a .550 hitting percentage.
During the opening weekend of Summit League play, Fryauf debut in the starting lineup. She has recorded 10 blocks and 11 kills.
Sydney Andrews has appeared in five matches, including one start. She has recorded seven kills and three blocks

Back row

Tatum Pickar paces the Jacks with 328 digs, averaging 3.90 digs per set. She has also posted 13 service aces. Drew McDougall has earned some playing time as a freshman and has tallied 89 digs.

Setters

Carly Wedel and Madison Fay aid the offense with 396 and 345 assists, respectively. Wedel posted a career-best 51 assists against Milwaukee.

POST SEASON ACCOLADES
Makenzie Hennen became the first Jackrabbit since Ashley Beaner in 2016 and the eighth overall to earn all-league honors as she was named honorable mention All-Summit League.

After posting a 3.425 GPA as a team, the Jacks were recognized by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, earning the Team Academic Award for the 2018-2019 season.

#PERFORM
With #PERFORM as the official hashtag for the 2019 campaign, SDSU looks to take the next step in Cirillo's fifth season. SDSU closed last year with a pair of wins in its final five matches, and seven Jackrabbit returners blend with eight promising newcomers on this year's team.

SMITH, HENNEN NAMED PLAYERS TO WATCH
SDSU's Ashlynn Smith and Mackenzie Hennen were recognized by the Summit League as 2019 Volleyball Players to Watch.

Smith started 25 of 29 matches for South Dakota State last season, finishing second on the team in kills (251) and kills per set (2.46). The Laporte, Indiana native recorded a pair of double-doubles and had double-digit in 10 matches.

Hennen, an All-Summit League honorable mention pick in 2018, started all 29 matches and was the team's top all-around threat. She led the Jackrabbits in kills (340), kills per set (3.27) and attempts (1,098) while sitting second in digs (281), service aces (13), digs per set (2.70) and solo blocks (seven). The Jordan, Minnesota native had two 20-kill matches, 18 10-kill matches and 13 double-doubles. Hennen has 725 career kills and is on pace to reach 1,000 kills before her collegiate career comes to a close.

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Sydney Andrews

Ashley Beaner

Crystal Burk

Madison Fay

Abbey Fryauf

Makenzie Hennen

Drew McDougall

Anna Nerad

Tatum Pickar

Ashlynn Smith

Tori Thompson

Carly Wedel

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