VOLLEYBALL TRAVELS TO KANSAS CITY

Monday, February 22

Kansas City, Mo.

4 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Kansas City

Photo by: SDSU Sports Information

2/19/2021 10:14:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Matches 8 & 9 | South Dakota State (2-5, 2-4) at Kansas City (5-1, 5-1)

When	Sunday, Feb. 21 & Monday, Feb. 22 \| 4 p.m.
Where	Swinney Center \| Kansas CIty, Mo.
Video	KCRoos.com
Live Stats	KCRoos.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

The South Dakota State women's volleyball team travels to Kansas City Sunday, Feb. 21 and Monday, Feb. 22. Both matches are scheduled for 4 p.m. inside the Swinney Center.

The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series 11-8. Last season, the Roos defeated the Jacks in four sets in the Comfort Suites University Jackrabbit Invitational Sept. 21.

SCOUTING KANSAS CITY
The Roos are off to a hot start in their first season back in the Summit League, holding a 5-1 record and a 4-0 record at home. Four of their six matches have been decided by five sets. Kansas City enters the weekend on a three-match winning streak.

Kansas City finished 2019 17-12 overall and 12-4 in the WAC. After falling in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, the Roos qualified for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship where they fell to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in four sets.

Kansas City is led by Melanie Brecka, who is third in the Summit League in kills with 103. Alli Schomers ranks third in the Summit League in assists per set with 9.93 and Alex Ratzlaff leads the league in service aces with 15.

Christi Posey is in her 10th season as head coach of the Roos and her 37th overall coaching volleyball at both the high school and college level. At Kansas City, Posey has a record of 150-119 and holds the top spot on the program all-time wins list.

JACKRABBITS' LAST TIME OUT
South Dakota State women's volleyball fell to Denver 3-0 (21-25, 10-25, 17-25) Monday afternoon inside Frost Arena.

Denver improved to 3-1 overall and 3-1 in Summit League play with the win, while the Jackrabbits fell to 2-5, 2-4 Summit League.

Crystal Burk led the Jacks with 13 kills, while adding seven digs. Tori Thompson and Akeela Jefferson tallied six and five kills, respectively. Madison Fay dished a season-best 27 assists, while Hailee Blau tied a career-best three blocks. Jada Barnes tied her career high of eight digs and Tatum Pickar added seven.

While a pair of Jackrabbit errors gave Denver an early 2-0 advantage, six unanswered points pushed the Jackrabbits ahead to a 6-2 lead. Denver battled back to lead 14-11, but an 8-4 run that included kills Burk and Thompson put the Jackrabbits back in front, 19-18. Denver closed the frame on a 7-2 run to win the first set by a score of 25-21.

Quite the opposite of the first set, Denver jumped out to a 10-2 advantage. From there, the Jackrabbits were unable to catch up as the Pioneers cruised to a 25-16 second set win.

Denver led 13-9 in the third set as kills by Fay and Jefferson and a Pioneer error put State within one (13-12). Denver outscored the Jackrabbits 12-5 the rest of the way to complete the series sweep.

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. Most recently, Burk recorded 13 kills against Denver Feb. 15. She ranks fourth in the Summit League with 3.33 kills per set. Last season she tallied 279 kills, 20 service aces and 299 digs. Burk has notched 15 double-doubles in her career.
Akeela Jefferson finished with two career-bests against NDSU, recording 12 kills on Feb. 7 and 12 digs on Feb. 8. Jefferson recorded nine kills and 11 digs against Denver Feb. 14. She ranks ninth in the Summit League with 3.05 kills per set.
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. Pickar combined for 19 digs in the matches against Denver. 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. Madison Fay recorded 27 assists Feb. 15 vs. Denver. Wedel and 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 hosts in-state rival South Dakota Feb. 28 and March 1. First serve is set for 5 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Monday.

-GoJacks.com-