JACKRABBITS RETURN HOME TO HOST COYOTES

Sunday, February 28

Brookings, S.D.

5 p.m.

South Dakota State University

South Dakota

Photo by: SDSU Sports Information

2/27/2021 3:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Matches 10 & 11 | South Dakota State (2-7, 2-6) vs. South Dakota (6-4, 5-1)

When	Sunday, Feb. 28 - 5 p.m. \| Monday, March 1 - 7 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

The South Dakota State women's volleyball team returns home to face in-state rival South Dakota Feb. 28 and March 1. First serve is set for 5 p.m. Feb. 28 and 7 p.m. March 1 inside Frost Arena.

The Jackrabbits are 12-20 all-time against the Coyotes. South Dakota took both matches last season in three sets.

State, who is currently 2-7 overall and 2-6 in Summit League play, looks to end a six-match losing streak. The Jacks sit in eighth place in the league standings coming into the weekend.

The two matches this weekend will be a part of the year-long South Dakota Showdown Series, an athletic and academic competition between the in-state rivals.

SCOUTING THE COYOTES
Picked to win the Summit League in the conference's preseason coaches' poll, South Dakota is currently tied for second in the league standings with a 6-4 overall record and 3-1 in Summit League play.

After losing its first two matches of the season against nonconference opponents, South Dakota upset then-No.14 Creighton in five sets on Jan. 29. Following a five-set loss in the second match against the Blue Jays, the Coyotes won their first three league matches before falling to Omaha in five sets Feb. 15. Last weekend, the Coyotes took six of seven sets against North Dakota State in the series sweep.

South Dakota ranks in the top four in several Summit League team stat categories on both sides of the net. The Coyotes are holding opponents to a .156 hitting percentage, which is the lowest in the league. In addition, USD ranks first in total blocks (104) and second in blocks per set (2.67). Offensively, the Coyotes have the second-best hitting percentage in the league at .234.

Madison Harms leads the league in blocks with 51 total and 1.42 per set. Reigning Summit League Freshman of the Year Elizabeth Juhnke holds the league's top spot in kills with 166 total and 4.26 per set. Last season's conference setter of the year Madison Jurgens leads the team in assists with 384. Both Juhnke and Jurgens were named preseason Players to Watch by the Summit League.

Leanne Williamson is in her seventh season leading the Coyotes. South Dakota won a school-record 31 wins in 2019 and won the Summit League regular season title. In the postseason, the Coyotes reached the title game of the National Invitational Volleyball Championships. Williamson, a two-time Summit League coach of the year, enters the weekend with a career record of 134-63.

JACKRABBITS' LAST TIME OUT
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - South Dakota State women's volleyball battled until the end Monday evening, but fell short to Kansas City, 3-2 (31-29, 17-25, 25-19, 18-25, 16-18).

The Jackrabbits, who fell to 2-7 overall and 2-6 in Summit League play, hit .225 in the match compared to the Roos at .223. Additionally, State held a 12-9 advantage in blocks.

Crystal Burk recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs. Akeela Jefferson tied a career-high of 12 kills, while Hailee Blau tallied 11. Tori Thompson led the squad with a career-best seven blocks and added 11 kills. Carly Wedel dished 47 assists and tallied a career-high six blocks. Sydney Andrews and Blau added five and three blocks, respectively. Tatum Pickar recorded a career-best 30 digs for the Jackrabbits.

The teams went back and forth to start the match until a 4-0 run that included two Jefferson service aces, gave the Jackrabbits a 12-10 advantage. State had built its lead to 22-16 when the Roos scored eight unanswered points to take a 24-22 edge. The teams alternated points until a kill by Jefferson and a Kansas City attacking error gave the Jackrabbits a 31-29 first set win.

Kansas City led 11-7 in the second set as the Jacks scored four straight to tie it up at 11-11. The Roos held just a 16-15 edge, but scored seven unanswered points to pull away. The deficit was too great for the Jacks to overcome as the Roos took the second set, 25-17.

The Roos remained on top to begin the third, opening with a 5-2 advantage. Seven-straight points capped off by a kill from Burk gave SDSU a 9-5 lead. From there, Kansas City wouldn't see another lead for the remainder of the set as a kill by Jefferson sealed the 25-19 third set win to put the Jacks ahead 2-1 in the match.

The Jackrabbits trailed just 10-9 in the fourth, but Kansas City went on an 8-2 run to pull ahead 18-11. SDSU was unable to come back from that point as the Roos tied the match with a 25-18 victory in the fourth set.

The team traded a series of runs until SDSU led 12-10. The score reached a tie on four occasions before it sat at 16-all. A kill and service ace sealed the win by a score of 18-16 in the final set.

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. Burk recorded 13 kills against Denver Feb. 15. She ranks fifth in the Summit League with 3.30 kills per set. Most recently, Burk recorded a season-high 16 kills Feb. 21 and had 13 kills and 14 digs Feb. 22. Last season she tallied 279 kills, 20 service aces and 299 digs. Burk has notched 16 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. Jefferson matched her career best in kills (12) in the second match vs. Kansas City Feb. 21. She ranks 10th in the Summit League with 2.80 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. Blau reached a career high in kills with 10 against Kansas City Feb. 22. Amann recorded 10 digs against Kansas City Feb. 21.

Middles

Tori Thompson is the team leader in blocks with 19 so far this season. She recorded five kills, two blocks and a service ace in the season opener. Thompson has recorded at least one block in eight of the nine matches this season, including a career-best seven against Kansas City Feb. 22. 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.
Anna 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 in 2019, 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. Last weekend, Andrews combined to record 13 kills and 10 blocks against Kansas City. 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 is second in the Summit League in digs per set with 4.83. Against Drake, Pickar led the team with 16 digs. 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. In the second match against Kansas City, Pickar recorded a game-high 30 digs to set a new career high. The total ranks second among individual match performers in the Summit League this season. 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. Barnes recorded a career-high 14 digs in the five-set loss over Kansas City Feb. 22.
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 combined for 23 digs in the two matches against Kansas City.
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.

Up Next
South Dakota State travels to Omaha where it will play two matches against the Mavericks March 5-6. First serve is set for 7 p.m. March 5 and 6 p.m. March 6 inside Baxter Arena.

-GoJacks.com-