JACKRABBITS SET FOR PAIR OF MATCHES AT OMAHA

Friday, March 5

Omaha, Neb.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Omaha

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

3/4/2021 4:38:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Matches 12 & 13 | South Dakota State (2-9, 2-8) at Omaha (8-4, 7-3)

When	Friday, March 5 - 7 p.m. \| Saturday, March 6 - 6 p.m.
Where	Baxter Arena \| Omaha, Neb.
Video	OMavs.com
Live Stats	OMavs.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter I Facebook

The South Dakota State women's volleyball team travels south to play two matches vs. Omaha March 5-6. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.

The Jackrabbits are 20-34 all-time against the Mavericks. Omaha took both matchups last season, winning 3-0 Oct. 21, 2019 and 3-1 in State's last match of the season Nov. 17, 2019.

State, who is currently 2-9 overall and 2-8 in Summit League play, looks to end an eight-match losing streak. The Jacks sit in eighth place in the league standings coming into the weekend.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
Omaha entered the season picked third in the Summit League Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll. Through 12 games, Omaha sits in fourth place in the league standings at 8-4 overall and 7-3 in conference play.

The Mavs enter the series vs. the Jacks on a five-match winning streak after defeating South Dakota in five sets Feb. 15 and sweeping the series against North Dakota and Western Illinois in the past two weekends. In that span, Omaha has won 15 of 19 sets. Omaha began its season playing with a .500 record until taking off in mid-February.

Omaha ranks second in the league with 581 total kills and first in service aces with 76. Defensively, Omaha is holding opponents to a .173 hitting percentage.

Leading the Mavericks is Sadie Limback, who ranks third in the league in both hitting percentage (.371) and kills (169). Limback recorded 25 kills against North Dakota back on Feb. 22. Anna Blaschko has 102 kills while hitting .286 on the season. Claire Mountjoy sits atop of the league leaders in digs with 211 (4.59 per set).

Matt Buttermore is in his second season as head coach of the Mavericks. In 2019, he led the Mavericks to a 19-14 overall record and 10-6 in conference play. Omaha qualified for the Summit League Volleyball Championship and advanced to the championship match after defeating No. 5 seed North Dakota State and top-seeded South Dakota. The Maverick's run ended with a four-set loss to Denver.

JACKRABBITS' LAST TIME OUT
South Dakota State women's volleyball was swept by South Dakota (19-25, 13-25, 15-25) Monday evening inside Frost Arena.

The Jackrabbits are now 2-9 overall and 2-8 in Summit League action as South Dakota improved to 8-4, 7-1 Summit League.

Crystal Burk led the way for the Jacks with 10 kills and three blocks while also adding 12 digs. Akeela Jefferson and Tori Thompson recorded nine and four kills, respectively. Tatum Pickar led the squad with 19 digs. Carly Wedel and Madison Fay dished 21 and seven assists, respectively.

South Dakota was ahead 7-5 when four unanswered Jackrabbit points which included a kill by Burk and a Pickar ace pushed State ahead 9-7. An 8-2 run gave the Coyotes a 15-11 advantage, but State answered with five-straight points that featured three Jefferson kills and two aces by Nerad to lead 16-15. The trend of runs continued as USD came back with seven unanswered points to pull ahead 22-16. From there the deficit was too great for the Jacks to overcome as South Dakota took set one, 25-19.

South Dakota led 6-4 to open the second but a pair of Coyote errors and a Thompson kill tied it up at 7-all. USD went on a 15-3 run to create enough separation that would lead to a 25-13 second set win.

The Jackrabbits held a 7-3 advantage, but USD went on a 12-2 spurt that included seven straight points to lead 15-9. The Jackrabbits were outscored 10-6 the rest of the way as the Coyotes completed the series sweep with a 25-15 final 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. Burk recorded 13 kills against Denver Feb. 15. She ranks fifth in the Summit League with 3.30 kills per set. Burk recorded a season-high 16 kills Feb. 21 and had 13 kills and 14 digs Feb. 22. Burk finished with two double-doubles against South Dakota, combining for 25 kills and 25 digs in the two matches. 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. Jefferson hit nine kills in both matches vs. South Dakota and has recorded at least five kills in every match this season.
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 24 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 10 of the 11 matches this season, including a career-best seven against Kansas City Feb. 22. Thompson hit 10 kills and recorded four blocks in the first match against South Dakota. 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 5.05. 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. Against USD, Pickar had 23 digs in the first match and 19 in the second. 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. Barnes ranks third on the team in digs with 77.
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. Wedel continued to pile on the assists in the first match against South Dakota, recording 45 in four sets played.
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 returns to Frost Arena to host North Dakota for its final home series of the season March 12-13. First serve is set for 7 p.m. both nights.

-GoJacks.com-