VOLLEYBALL SET FOR ROAD TEST AT NDSU

Sunday, February 7

Fargo, N.D.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

North Dakota State

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

2/5/2021 10:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Matches 4 & 5 | South Dakota State (2-1) at North Dakota State (2-2)

When	Sunday, Feb. 7 & Monday, Feb. 8 \| 1 p.m.
Where	Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse \| Fargo, N.D.
Video	NDSU All Access
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| North Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

FIRST SERVE
The South Dakota State women's volleyball team will head north to Fargo, N.D. for its first Summit League road test. The Jackrabbits will face North Dakota State Sunday, Feb. 7, and Monday, Feb. 8. Both matches are schedule for 1 p.m. inside Benston Bunker Fieldhouse.

The Bison hold a 79-20 advantage over the Jackrabbits in the all-time series. Sunday will be the 100th all-time meeting. The two teams split their meetings last season, both winning 3-1 on their home court.

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE
After finishing 13-16 overall and 8-8 in league play, NDSU currently sits at 2-2 overall and 0-2 in league play after taking six of seven sets against North Dakota and falling in both matches against Kansas City.

Freshman Ali Hinze leads the team with 45 kills on the season while Alexis Bachmeier has hit 44. Along with her 33 kills, Kirstin Tidd leads the league in hitting percentage with .527. Defensively, Bella Lien has 310 career blocks, including nine blocks Jan. 31 against Kansas City.

Jennifer Lopez is in her fourth season leading the program after spending two years as a North Dakota State assistant. Lopez has an all-time record of 43-47 overall and 23-25 in the Summit League.

JACKRABBITS' LAST TIME OUT
The South Dakota State women's volleyball team completed the series sweep over Western Illinois as it earned its second consecutive 3-0 victory (25-17, 25-23, 25-21) Monday afternoon.

Crystal Burk registered a double-double with 11 digs and a team-leading 12 kills, while adding three blocks. Sydney Andrews and Akeela Jefferson tallied nine kills each. Carly Wedel dished 39 assists and added seven digs, three kills and one service ace. Tatum Picker and Jada Barnes posted 19 and eight digs, respectively.

The Jackrabbits earned a series sweep over a Summit League opponent for the first time since 2016 when they swept Western Illinois. Additionally, State posted back-to-back sweeps over a Summit League opponent for the first time since 2011 and the Jackrabbits defeated Western Illinois and Kansas City in straight sets

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.
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.

-GoJacks.com-