VOLLEYBALL HOSTS DENVER

Sunday, February 14

Brookings, S.D.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Denver

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

2/13/2021 10:38:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Matches 6 & 7 | South Dakota State (2-3) vs. Denver (1-1)

When	Sunday, Feb. 14 & Monday, Feb. 15 \| 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

FIRST SERVE
The South Dakota State women's volleyball team returns home to face Denver Sunday, Feb. 14. And Monday, Feb. 15. Both matches are scheduled for 1 p.m. inside Frost Arena.

Denver holds a 15-1 advantage against the Jackrabbits in the all-time series. Denver took both matchups last season, winning 3-1 in both matches.

SCOUTING DENVER
Denver was picked second in the Summit League Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll. Last season, Denver won its fifth Summit League Tournament championship in the last six seasons after claiming a 23-9 overall record and 13-3 conference record.

Denver fell in three games to eventual national champion Stanford in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Pioneers opened their season with a series split against Omaha Jan. 31 - Feb. 1. Denver won the first match in three games and fell in four the next day. Denver had its bye week Feb. 7-8.

So far in 2021, Denver has found success on both sides of the net with leading the league in blocks per set (3.57) and service aces per set (1.71), while ranking third in kills per set (12.43).

Lorrin Poulter and Tina Boe have a share of the team lead in kills with 17. Ellie Anderson has 43 digs. Defensively, four Pioneers have eight-or-more blocks in seven sets played. Boe, Brianna Green, Ari Winters and Poulter make up the top four league leaders in blocks per set.

Tom Hogan is in his sixth season as head coach of the Pioneers posting a 97-28 overall career record and 54-9 record in the Summit League.

JACKRABBITS' LAST TIME OUT
FARGO, N.D. – The South Dakota State women's volleyball team fell to North Dakota State in straight sets (16-25, 23-25, 22-25) Monday afternoon in Fargo, N.D.

The Jackrabbits fell to 2-3 overall and 2-2 in Summit League action, while North Dakota State improved 4-2, 2-2 Summit as it completed the series sweep over SDSU.

Crystal Burk recorded nine kills, 12 digs and a block, while Akeela Jefferson followed closely behind with eight kills and 12 digs. Hailee Blau posted seven kills and Carly Wedel dished 25 assists. Defensively, Tatum Pickar led with 17 digs, while Tori Thompson tied a career-best three blocks.

The Jacks took a 5-4 lead in the first set with a kill by Jefferson. The teams alternated points until the score sat tied at 8-8. A pair of NDSU errors gave the Jackrabbits a 10-8 edge, but Bison outscored SDSU 17-6 the rest of the way to win the first set.

North Dakota State held a 15-10 lead midway through the second when a Thompson block, Burk ace and an NDSU attack error put the Jackrabbits within two. The Bison went on a 7-4 run to maintain the lead at 21-16. A 6-1 run capped off by back-to-back kills from Burk, tied the score at 23-all. NDSU scored the final two points to capture a 25-23 second set victory.

The Bison led throughout the final set as they held a 17-15 advantage. A 6-2 Jackrabbit run, including service aces by Jefferson and Andrews along with kills from Wedel and Blau, gave State a 21-19 lead. North Dakota State closed the set on a 6-1 run of their own to complete the sweep with a 25-22 third set victory.

POSITION RUNDOWN
Outside Hitters

Crystal Burk registered a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs in the season opener against Drake. Against Western Illinois, she averaged 4.33 kills per set and added another double-double early in the season with 12 kills and 11 digs. Last season she tallied 279 kills, 20 service aces and 299 digs. Burk has notched 15 double-double in her career.
Akeela Jefferson finished with two career-bests last weekend against NDSU, recording 12 kills on Feb. 7 and 12 digs on Feb. 8.
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. Blau tallied nine and six kills, respectively, in the pair of matches against Western Illinois. Kate Nelson made her Jackrabbit debut against Western Illinois.

Middles

Tori Thompson recorded five kills, two blocks and a service ace in the season opener. She has recorded at least one block in all three matches this season. 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.
Nerad led SDSU's blocking in 14 matches last season. She totaled at team-best 80 blocks, while adding 100 kills and 51 digs. The sophomore played two sets against Western Illinois where she tallied six kills and one block.
Abbey Fryauf played in 24 sets, while recording 11 kills and 10 blocks.
Sydney Andrews posted a team-best three blocks at Drake. In the second match against Western Illinois, she hit an impressive .643, including nine kills on 14 attack attempts. She appeared in seven matches, including one start a season ago.
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. In the pair of matches against Western Illinois, she tallied 14 and 19 digs, respectively. She paced the Jacks with 419 digs, averaging 3.92 digs per set last season.
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. Against Western Illinois, she tallied 34 and 39 assists, respectively. 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.

Up next
South Dakota State visits Kansas City for two matches Feb. 21 and Feb. 22. First serve is set for 4 p.m. each day at the Swinney Center.

-GoJacks.com-