JACKRABBITS SURVIVE IN FIVE AT WESTERN ILLINOIS

Sunday, November 7

Macomb, IL

11 a.m. CT

South Dakota State University

16-9,8-6Summit League

Western Illinois

4-22,3-12Summit League

South Dakota St.

Western Ill.

11/7/2021 4:24:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

MACOMB, Ill. - South Dakota State volleyball battled to a five-set victory over Western Illinois Sunday at Western Hall. The Jackrabbits won the first two sets (25-18, 31-29), dropped sets three and four (24-26, 22-25) and rallied to take set five 15-10.

SDSU was down early in the deciding set as the Leathernecks opened with a 4-0 lead. The Jacks responded with four consecutive points of their own to make it a 4-4 game. The Leathernecks went back up 7-4 but SDSU took its first lead at 9-8 with another four straight points. The sides traded points before SDSU scored the final five points of the contest, using back-to-back Akeela Jefferson kills to end the match.

SDSU pulled away from Western Illinois partway through the opening set and led 16-10 after an 8-1 run. The stretch featured three kills and a service ace by Stitt. The Jackrabbits registered a .342 attack rate in the set and held the Leathernecks to .097.

The Leathernecks used an 8-1 run of their own in set two to go up 18-12. SDSU answered by bringing the set back to within one point, trailing just 18-19. Three straight kills by Crystal Burk held off set point for WIU and gave SDSU a 25-24 advantage. Neither team could go up by more than two until the Jacks finally notched a kill and a block for the 31-29 win.

SDSU was held to a .044 clip in set three and .18 in set four. The Jacks stormed back from a 5-1 deficit to take a 12-9 lead in the third set and led 23-21 before Western Illinois outscored State 5-1 for the win.

Set four was also closely contested and included 13 ties and four lead changes. Western Illinois forced set five with a 6-2 ending to win the fourth game.

Carly Wedel recorded a new career high with 66 assists to go with 12 digs. Four Jackrabbits tallied double-digit kill totals. Crystal Burk had 22 kills, followed by Chloe Stitt (21), Elyse Winter (12) and Sydney Andrews (11). Winter, a freshman, set a new career high.

The Jackrabbits also had four players with double-digit digs. Tatum Pickar paced the back row with 28 digs while Burk added 18 and Jefferson chipped in 10 to go with Wedel's 12.

NOTES

The Jackrabbits have secured a winning season for the first time since 2012. SDSU is 16-9 with four regular season games remaining and the potential for at least one Summit League Tournament match.
SDSU needs just one more League win to guarantee a spot in the Summit League Postseason Tournament. The Jackrabbits are sixth in the standings at 8-6 and have four matches remaining. North Dakota State is seventh with a 5-10 record and three matches to play.
SDSU's 16 wins matches its win total from 2012, the last time the Jacks had more than 15 wins.
SDSU is 4-2 in five-set matches this season.
Two Jackrabbits had more than 20 kills apiece (Burk 22, Stitt 21) for the first time this year.
Burk has 12 double-doubles this season.

UP NEXT
SDSU will return to Frost to host Omaha at 7 p.m. Thursday evening.

-GoJacks.com-