VOLLEYBALL BEGINS SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAY AT HOME

Sunday, January 31

Brookings, S.D.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Western Illinois

Photo by: Dylan Heuer

1/29/2021 11:47:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Matches 2 & 3 | South Dakota State (0-1) vs. Western Illinois (0-1)

When	Sunday, Jan. 31 & Monday, Feb. 1 \| 1 p.m.
Where	Frost Arena \| Brookings, S.D.
Video	GoJacks.com/Watch
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

The South Dakota State women's volleyball team will open its Summit League slate as it returns home to play in Frost Arena for the first time in 441 days as it hosts Western Illinois Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

The Jackrabbits hold a 17-11 advantage over the Leathernecks in the all-time series. WIU has won the last three meetings.

Scouting the Opponents
Western Illinois
The Leathernecks were picked to finish ninth in the Summit League's Preseason Coaches' Poll. Western Illinois also suffered a season-opening loss to Drake, 3-1 (19-25, 17-25, 25-22, 12-25). Mariah Mitchell led the Leathernecks in the match with 16 kills and added eight digs. Sophomore Gabby DePersio recorded 19 digs, while Cassie Hunt added 10. Peyton Bowman tallied five blocks in the match.

Mitchell and DePersio were selected as Summit League Players to Watch this season. Mitchell led the team last season with 269 kills and 313.5 points. Additionally, she ranked second on the squad in blocks with 81. DePersio recorded 361 digs and 87 assists last season for Western Illinois.

Ben Staupe is in his third season at the helm of the Leathernecks with a record of 9-50.

JACKRABBITS' LAST TIME OUT
The South Dakota State volleyball team dropped its season opener at Drake, 3-0 (21-25, 21-25, 20-25), on Sunday afternoon inside the Knapp Center.

Crystal Burk registered a double-double to lead the way for the Jackrabbits with 13 kills, while adding 12 digs. Akeela Jefferson recorded a career-best 11 kills and transfer Hailee Blau tallied nine kills in her Jackrabbit debut. Sydney Andrews posted three blocks, while Tori Thompson and Carly Wedel recorded two a piece. Wedel aided the offensive efforts with 34 assists and added two service aces. Tatum Pickar and Brooke Amann, recorded 16 and 15 digs, respectively.

POSITION RUNDOWN
Outside Hitters

Crystal Burk registered a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs in the season opener against Drake. Last season she tallied 279 kills, 20 service aces and 299 digs. She registered a career-best 20 kills against North Dakota State. She ranked second on the team in kills, kills per set (2.61), digs and digs per set (2.79). Additionally, she was third on the squad in service aces, fourth in assists (27) and fifth in blocks (30). Burk notched nine double-doubles and reached double digit kills in 12 matches.
A pair of new faces to the roster made their Jackrabbit debut at Drake. Hailee Blau tallied nine kills and a block at Drake, while Brooke Amann ranked second on the team with 15 digs.

Middles

Nerad led SDSU's blocking in 14 matches last season. She totaled at team-best 80 blocks, while adding 100 kills and 51 digs.
Tori Thompson recorded five kills, two blocks and a service ace in the season opener. Last season she tallied 153 kills and 64 blocks, including a career-best performance against Fresno State with 12 kills on a .550 hitting percentage. Thompson held a team-best hitting clip of .243.
Abbey Fryauf played in 24 sets, while recording 11 kills and 10 blocks.
Sydney Andrews posted a team-best three blocks at Drake. She appeared in seven matches, including one start a season ago. She tallied seven kills and four blocks
The Jackrabbits add freshman middle blocker Meghan Haan to the squad this season.

Back Row

Tatum Pickar led the team with 16 digs in the match at Drake. She paced the Jacks with 419 digs, averaging 3.92 digs per set last season. Pickar also posted 19 service aces and 72 assists.
Jada Barnes tallied five digs and a service ace in her first match as a Jackrabbit after sitting out last season with an injury.
Freshman Frankie Enna looks to make an impact defensively as a freshman.

Setters

Carly Wedel posted 34 assists, two service aces and two blocks in the season opener. Wedel and Madison Fay aided the offense last season with 480 and 477 assists, respectively. Wedel posted a career-best 51 assists against Milwaukee. Fay recorded a season hight of 45 assists against North Dakota. She also added 14 digs to register a double-double in the match.
Midyear enrollee Jasmine Wiedemann joined the squad this semester, but will not be eligible to play until next season.

Burk, Pickar Named Players to Watch
South Dakota State's Crystal Burk and Tatum Pickar were recognized by the Summit League as Volleyball Players to Watch, announced Wednesday as part of the league's preseason outlook.

Last season, Crystal Burk ranked second on the team in kills (279), kills per set (2.61), digs (299) and digs per set (2.79). Additionally, she was third on the squad with 20 service aces, fourth in assists (27) and fifth in blocks (30). The Newnan, Ga. native registered nine double-doubles, reached 10-plus kills on 12 occasions and logged double digit digs in 16 matches.

Tatum Pickar led the team in digs (420) and digs per set (3.93) a season ago, while ranking third with 72 assists. She ranked fifth in the Summit League in digs per set and sixth in digs. The Cannon Falls, Minn. recorded double figure dig totals in 25 of the 28 matches she played in.

South Dakota State was tabbed eight in the league's preseason coaches' poll, earning 20 points. South Dakota was picked to win the league, Denver was second and the top five finished with Omaha third, and Kansas City fourth and North Dakota State fifth. North Dakota and Oral Roberts sat just ahead of the Jackrabbits in the rankings, with SDSU finishing ahead of Western Illinois in the poll.

-GoJacks.com-