Upcoming Event: Women's Volleyball versus Kansas City on October 9, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
/
7:00 p.m.
Women's Volleyball
vs Kansas City
South Dakota State University Athletics
Thursday, November 25
Vermillion, S.D.
7:00 PM
South Dakota State University
vs
No. 3 Denver
Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia
VOLLEYBALL SET FOR SUMMIT LEAGUE POSTSEASON
11/24/2021 2:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
| Â Summit League Championship | No. 6 South Dakota State vs. No. 3 Denver |
| Â When | Â Thursday, Nov. 25 at 7Â p.m. CT | |
| Â Where | Â Vermillion, S.D. | Sanford Coyote Sports Center | |
| Â TV | Â TheSummitLeague.org/Watch | |
| Â Live Stats | Â GoYotes.com | |
| Match Notes |  South Dakota State | The Summit League | |
|  Social Media |  Twitter | Facebook | |
South Dakota State volleyball will open the Summit League Championship as the No. 6 seed and play in the quarterfinal round against No. 3 Denver Thursday night. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. in Vermillion, S.D. at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. The winner of the matchup will advance to take on South Dakota in the semifinals Friday night.
JACKRABBIT STORYLINES
- South Dakota State enters the Summit League postseason with an 18-11 overall record and 10-8 mark in conference action.
- This is the Jackrabbits' first Summit League postseason appearance since 2010 and the third since joining the Summit in 2007.
- The Jackrabbits' last Summit League Tournament win came in 2007, when SDSU won the championship match over Purdue Fort Wayne. State is 2-1 all-time in the Summit League postseason.
- The Jacks' 18 total wins is the most in a single season since 2007, when SDSU went 25-11 overall.
- The last time the Jackrabbits won 10+ Summit League contests was 2010. That team went 12-6 in conference play.
- Crystal Burk and Ella Thompson earned All-Summit League honors for the Jackrabbits. Burk was an All-Summit First Team selection and Thompson was named to the All-Summit Freshman Team.
- SDSU meets Denver in the opening round after going 0-2 in the regular season matchups between the teams. The Jacks most recently played three close sets with the Pioneers, falling 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 on Senior Day.
- Crystal Burk plays all six rotations for the Jackrabbits and averages 3.81 kills and 2.58 digs per set. She ranks second in the Summit League in total overall kills and overall kills per set.
- Chloe Stitt is also a big hitter for the Jacks. She puts down 3.6 kills on average as the team's second-leading scorer.
The Jackrabbits head into the Summit League Championship as the No. 6 seed and will take on No. 3 Denver Thursday night. The winner will advance to the semifinal round to play No. 2 South Dakota.
The other side of the bracket features No. 4 Kansas City against No. 5 Oral Roberts in the opening round. The winner of that match will play No. 1 Omaha in the semis. The championship match is slated for Saturday afternoon.
The Jackrabbits are 2-8 against the other postseason participants. SDSU split the regular season matches with Kansas City and Oral Roberts.
POSITION RUNDOWN
Outsides - Crystal Burk and Chloe Stitt take care of business on the outside as the Jackrabbits' offensive leaders. The duo has combined for 6.92 kills per set this season, 55 percent of SDSU's total kills. Burk was named to the All-Summit League First Team Wednesday. With .31 aces per set, Stitt paces the team from the service line. Akeela Jefferson may also see time on the outside for the Jacks.
Middles - Sydney Andrews and Ella Thompson serve as the primary middle blockers for the Jackrabbits. Thompson averages .94 blocks and Andrews adds .75 per set. Andrews' .274 attack rate is the top clip of the regular lineup. Her 1.78 kills per set ranks third on the team. Thompson is just behind her with 1.74 kills on average. Thompson was one of seven athletes named to the All-Summit League Freshman Team. Anna Nerad, Tori Thompson and Annalee Ventling-Brown have also played in the middle position. Nerad has been a serving subs in recent contests and has six aces on the year.
Rightsides - Elyse Winter and Hailee Blau take the majority of the swings on the rightside of the net. Blau notches 1.67 kills per set on average and Winter averages 1.41. They contribute more than .50 blocks per set apiece. Abbey Fryauf provides depth at the rightside.
Setters - Carly Wedel and Jasmine Weidemann have both played in the latest matches and combine to dish out nearly 12 assists per set. Wedel blocks .47 attacks per set and Weidemann is averaging 1.95 digs.
Back row - Tatum Pickar paces the Jackrabbit defense with 4.08 digs per set, which ranks sixth in the Summit League. Burk ranks second for the squad 2.58 digs on average. Stitt, Faith Saewert, Jadyn Makovicka and Akeela Jefferson may also see time in the back row.
NOTES FROM THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
- Omaha sits atop the league in five statistical categories: kills (14.61), digs (17.77), opponent hitting percentage (.132), opponent assists (9.71) and opponent kills (10.39).
- The Mavericks rank second-best in the league in hitting percentage (.272), assists (13.03), blocks (2.32), opponent blocks (1.81), opponent service aces (0.95) and third-best in service aces (1.60).
- 2020 All-League Honorable Mention honoree Sami Clarkson leads the league in assists per set with 11.66. Teammate McKenna Ruch owns the second-best hitting percentage in the league (.425) while Jaiden Centeno ranks second in digs per set with 5.08.
- South Dakota leads the league in hitting percent (.290) and opponent blocks (1.44) while ranking second in service aces (1.66) and opponent digs (13.93).
- Madison Harms, a 2020 All-League First Team member sits atop the league in hitting percentage with an average clip of .440.
- The 2020 Summit League tournament MVP, Elizabeth Juhnke ranks second in the league in kills per set (4.08) and points (4.63).
- Denver leads the league in team service aces (1.98) while Lydia Bartalo owns the most total service aces in the league with 38 (0.58 per set). Bartalo has remained among the nation's top five in overall aces per set this season. She currently sits fifth in the NCAA with 0.60 aces per set overall.
- The Pioneers also sit atop the league in opponent service aces (0.88) and opponent digs (12.50) while ranking second in kills (14.17), opponent hitting percentage (.179), opponent assists (9.82) and opponent kills (10.77).
- Kansas City ranks first in assists (13.11) with 2020 Setter of the Year Alli Schomers pacing the Roos' offense with 11.53 assists per set. She currently ranks fourth in the NCAA for total assists this season with 1,235.
- The 2020 Player of the Year, Melanie Brecka dominates the offense for KC and leads the league in kills per set (4.13) and points (4.79).
- Oral Roberts is the best in the league defensively when it comes to protection at the net. The Golden Eagles have accumulated 160 total blocks (2.50) in league play to sit atop the league.
- Sakira LaCour leads the defensive effort for ORU as she sits atop the league with 88 total blocks and averages 1.38 blocks per set. LaCour's 1.33 blocks per set overall average on the season ranks 17th in the nation.
- South Dakota State's offense is led by 2020 All-League Honorable Mention honoree Crystal Burk. She ranks fourth in the league standings in kills per set (3.75) and in points (4.14).
- Chloe Stitt ranks second among the league in service aces averaging 0.42 aces per set in league play while Tatum Pickar is ranked sixth in the league in digs with 4.07 digs per set.
LAST TIME OUT
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - South Dakota State volleyball ended the regular season with a sweep (25-23, 25-21, 25-16) of North Dakota Saturday at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The Jackrabbits finish the Summit League regular season 10-8 and above .500 in conference action for the first time since 2010.
Chloe Stitt recorded her second consecutive double-double and sixth of the season with 13 kills and 14 digs. She tallied three straight ace serves in the opening set to give the Jackrabbits a 15-11 lead.
The Jackrabbits led 20-13 later on in the set before the Fighting Hawks went on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 20. Ella Thompson and Stitt gave the Jacks a 22-20 lead with back-to-back kills and SDSU hung on to take the set.
A 5-1 run part way through the second set gave the Jackrabbits a 16-13 lead. Crystal Burk, Stitt and Thompson notched a kill apiece put SDSU up four at 20-16. Elyse Winter put down the final kill of the second set to give the Jacks a 2-0 match lead.
A dominant .577 Jackrabbit attack rate in set three sealed the match for SDSU. The Jacks had 15 kills and no errors on 26 attacks in the set. SDSU also got four points off UND service errors in game three.
Thompson and Burk added eight kills apiece for the Jacks and Andrews chipped in six kills at a .417 clip. Carly Wedel and Jasmine Weidemann dished out 36 total assists and Wedel added three kills. Burk and Andrews took part in two blocks each.
-GoJacks.com-
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
RS
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
MH
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
MH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's VolleyballVolleyball Weekly Update (10.07.2025)
Tuesday, October 07
Volleyball Weekly Update (09.30.2025)
Tuesday, September 30
Volleyball Postgame Comments vs Omaha (09.25.2025)
Friday, September 26
Volleyball Highlights vs Omaha (09.25.2025)
Friday, September 26