Jacks fall to Northern Arizona and Fresno State

Friday, September 13

Flagstaff, Ariz.

2 p.m. CT | noon MST

South Dakota State University

3-4

Northern Arizona

4-3

South Dakota State

Northern Arizona

9/13/2019 10:39:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The South Dakota State volleyball team fell in three sets to Northern Arizona (14-25, 11-25, 16-25) and dropped a four-set battle to Fresno State, 3-1 (25-19, 16-25, 14-25, 17-25).

The Jackrabbits record fell to 3-5 overall in the early nonconference season.

South Dakota State 0, Northern Arizona 3
Ashlynn Smith led the Jacks with 11 kills and added a service ace. Tori Thompson and Crystal Burk had three kills each. Madison Fay dished out 16 set assists. Anna Nerad led the defense at the net for the seventh straight match with three blocks. Tatum Pickar paced the back row with 10 digs and added an ace.

Kills by Burk, Smith and Thompson started out the first set to give the Jackrabbits a 3-2 edge. A 14-3 run set Northern Arizona ahead, 14-6. Two Lumberjack errors and another kill from Burk made it 17-10. NAU recorded five unanswered points to increase its lead to 22-10 en route to capturing the first set, 25-14.

Smith had a big swing to get the Jacks on the board in the second set, but NAU scored nine-straight to take a commanding lead. The teams traded points as two kills by Smith and a Northern Arizona error helped to chip away at the deficit. State was trailing 18-9 when Nerad and Smith each got a kill to make it 18-10. The Lumberjacks scored five more unanswered points eventually leading them to take set two, 25-1.

Two NAU errors and two kills by Smith gave SDSU an early 4-3 edge in the third set. Northern Arizona scored seven in a row to regain the lead. The teams alternated points as Thompson and Nerad recorded a kill each. Several short runs increased NAU's advantage to 22-13. The Jacks recorded kills from Jefferson, Burk and Smith in a 3-1 run but it wasn't enough to catch up as Northern Arizona won the match with a 25-16 third set victory.

South Dakota State 1, Fresno State 3
Thompson had a career-best performance, pacing the Jacks with 12 kills on a .550 hitting percentage. The freshman committed just one error on a total of 20 attack attempts. Makenzie Hennen was just shy of hitting her signature double-double as she recorded nine kills and eight digs. Smith added six kills to the offensive efforts. Madison Fay posted 20 assists and a team-high two service aces, while Carly Wedel added 16 assists.

At the net, Nerad and Smith led State with four blocks apiece. Pickar registered a team best of 13 digs.

Fresno State took an early 5-2 lead to being the match. Kills from Thompson, Hennen, Abbey Fryauf and Nered highlighted an 8-4 run that gave the Jacks a 10-9 edge. The score was tied at 12-all when big swings from Thompson and Burk coupled by a handful of Bulldog errors gave State a 19-13 advantage. Fresno State was unable to catch up and two kills by Thompson sealed a first set victory for the Jackrabbits, 25-19. Thompson had five kills in the first set alone.

SDSU only trailed 4-3 early in the first set after a kill by Hennen and two Fresno State errors. A 6-1 run extended the Bulldogs lead to 10-4. Throughout the remainder of the set, the teams would alternate points, but it wasn't enough for the Jacks to catch up as Fresno State took the second set, 25-16.

Fresno State opened the third set with a 3-point run, but SDSU answered with four-straight points of their own to take a 4-3 advantage. The Bulldogs came back to hold just an 11-10 edge, but a 14-4 run set them on pace to capture the third set, 25-14.

The score sat tied early in the fourth set, 7-7, thanks to kills from Hennen, Nerad, Burk and Thompson. The score remained close throughout the set until the Jackrabbits held a 16-15 after Thompson and Hennen posted a kill each. From there, the Bulldogs score 10 of the final 11 points to en route to a 25-17 win in the fourth set.

Game Notes

The Jackrabbits are now 0-2 against Northern Arizona and 0-1 against Fresno State.
Tori Thompson had a career-high game against Fresno State with 12 kills on a .550 hitting percentage.
Northern Arizona made an appearance in the 2018 NCAA Tournament

Up Next
South Dakota State will take on LSU at noon on Saturday in its final nonconference match on the road.

-GoJacks.com-