JACKRABBITS DEFEAT UND FOR SERIES SWEEP

Saturday, March 13

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

5-10,5-9Summit League

North Dakota

2-12,2-10Summit League

North Dakota

South Dakota St.

Photo by: SDSU Sports Information

3/13/2021 11:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

South Dakota State women's volleyball earned its third straight win Saturday as it defeated North Dakota, 3-2 (25-16, 19-25, 23-25, 25-15, 15-12), to complete the series sweep.

The Jackrabbits improved to 5-10 overall and 5-9 in Summit League play while the Fighting Hawks fell to 2-12, 2-10 Summit League.

Crystal Burk paced the Jackrabbits with a double-double of 16 digs and a career-best 27 kills. Akeela Jefferson posted a career-high 14 kills and three service aces. Tori Thompson recorded eight kills while Carly Wedel and Madison Fay dished 27 and 20 assists, respectively. Tatum Pickar led the back row defense with 23 digs and added three aces. Anna Nerad, Thompson and Burk recorded two blocks each.

The first set was back-and-forth until four unanswered points gave the Jacks a 14-8 lead. The Fighting Hawks came within four (15-11) but kills by Thompson, Jefferson and Wedel as well as a pair of UND errors stretched the Jackrabbit lead to nine. The deficit was too great for the Fighting Hawks to overcome as the Jacks cruised to a 25-16 first set win.

State held a 10-9 edge in the second as an 8-4 run gave UND the lead. A pair of Jackrabbit kills by Jefferson and Nerad put State within two, but the Fighting Hawks claimed five of the final six points to tie the match at 1-1 with a 25-18 second set win.

North Dakota carried its momentum into the third set jumping out to a 10-4 lead. The Jackrabbits battled back to come within two, but UND built its advantage back up to 22-17. A 6-1 run that included three kills by Burk brought SDSU within one (24-23), but UND claimed the final point to take a 2-1 lead in the match.

The Jackrabbits opened the fourth set on a 10-1 run that including six kills, four of which belonged to Burk. The Fighting Hawks wouldn't see a lead the rest of the way as SDSU would force a fifth set thanks to a 25-15 win in the fourth.

UND jumped ahead to a 6-3 advantage, but a 7-2 run gave the Jacks a two-point lead. A Jackrabbit attack error cut the lead to one, but SDSU outscored UND 5-3 the rest of the way to complete the sweep.

Game Notes

South Dakota State is now 55-32 all-time against North Dakota
Crystal Burk and Akeela Jefferson each posted new career highs
Tatum Pickar recorded a combined 49 digs the pair of matches
This is the first five-set win for the Jackrabbits this season
The Jackrabbits' five Summit League wins is the most conference wins for SDSU since the 2012 season

Up Next
South Dakota State will conclude regular season play on the road next weekend as it travels to face Oral Roberts March 19-20.

-GoJacks.com-