SOUTH DAKOTA STATE STUNS DENVER IN QUARTERFINAL

Thursday, November 25

Vermillion, S.D.

7:00 PM

South Dakota State University

19-11,10-8Summit League

No. 3 Denver

23-6,14-4Summit League

South Dakota St.

Denver

Photo by: Molly Sheppard/USD

11/25/2021 11:59:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Vermillion, S.D. - For the first time since 2010, South Dakota State is heading to the semifinal round of the Summit League Championships. Down 2-1, the No. 6 Jackrabbits rallied to upset No. 3 Denver in five (19-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 15-10) and will play No. 2 South Dakota Friday night.

"I'm super proud of our group," said head coach Dan Georgalas. "If you look at the stat sheet there's no one that stands out. We had a balanced offense in a different system for us and we were able to make it work. This team believed in each other, and I think that made the difference. We practiced our championship point moment before we left for Vermillion and I swear it happened just like we practiced it. A great moment for our program, we are excited to play USD tomorrow."

A dominant fifth set capped off the Jackrabbits' comeback effort. A solo block by Crystal Burk to open the set sparked an 8-1 Jackrabbit run and forced Denver to use both its timeouts early on. Sydney Andrews and Hailee Blau notched a kill each to push the Jacks' lead to 10-3.

The Pioneers scored three consecutive points to pull within four at 11-7 and the sides traded points for the remainder of the match. Burk tallied the final kill of the night as her attack made contact with the Pioneer block and dropped to the floor between defense.

SDSU registered a .353 clip in the final set, its best of the match, and held Denver to .000. The Jackrabbits used a balanced attack to total eight kills in set five with three each from Andrews, Blau and Chloe Stitt and two from Burk.

The opening game stayed close and saw the Jackrabbits down just one at 8-9 before a 4-0 Pioneer run made it a five-point margin. Denver pushed its lead to seven at 20-13 and finished off the set with a six-point win.

State started set two up 8-2 before the Pioneers battled to tie it up at 9-9. Stitt gave the Jackrabbits set point with a 24-20 lead and the Jacks held off the Pioneers for the 25-23 win.

Neither team led by more than two points in set three until Denver scored three straight to go up 21-18. SDSU got back to within one before the Pioneers' Hailey Green put down three straight kills to take the set.

A 7-1 stretch in set four gave the Jackrabbits a 16-12 lead before Denver responded with a 5-1 run of their own for the 17-all tie. The Jacks went back-and-forth with the Pioneers until a Blau block and Still kill gave SDSU its 25-23 win to tie the match at 2-2.

Stitt and Burk both had double-double performances for the Jackrabbits. Stitt notched 12 kills and 12 digs while Burk had 11 kills and 16 digs.

Ella Thompson also had a big night, putting down nine kills at a .467 clip to go with seven blocks. Hailee Blau took part in eight blocks, a career high.

Tatum Pickar posted 17 digs and Carly Wedel and Jasmine Weidemann combined for 41 assists.

NOTES

The Jackrabbits last Summit League postseason win was 11/17/07 - more than 14 years ago.
Denver has played in every Summit League championship match up until this season has won five of the last six tournament championships.
Denver won both meetings in the 2021 regular season 3-0.
SDSU is 5-2 in five-set matches this season.
Crystal Burk has 14 double-doubles on the season and Chloe Stitt has seven.
The Jackrabbits move to 2-18 all-time against the Pioneers.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits will take on No. 2 South Dakota Friday night at 7 p.m. in Vermillion at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.

-GoJacks.com-