JACKRABBITS PREPARE FOR HOME OPENER

Friday, September 3

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Montana

Photo by: SDSU Sports Information

9/2/2021 9:20:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

By: Jason Hove

MATCHES 4-5: South Dakota State (2-1) hosts SDSU Invitational

When	Friday-Saturday, Sept. 3-4 • vs. Montana, 7 p.m. Friday • vs. California Baptist, noon Saturday
Where	Frost Arena \| Brookings, S.D. \| ORDER TICKETS
TV	Jackrabbits All-Access
Radio	None
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	See below
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook

After some late adjustments to the schedule, the South Dakota State volleyball team is set to open the home portion of its slate this weekend with a pair of matches at the SDSU Invitational.

The Jackrabbits, 2-1 overall, will open weekend play with a 7 p.m. match Friday against Montana at Frost Arena. SDSU faces California Baptist in the tournament finale at noon Saturday. Rounding out the tournament schedules is a match between Montana and California Baptist at noon Friday. All tournament matches will be available for viewing through the Jackrabbits All-Access media portal at GoJacks.com.

SERIES RECORDS: The Jackrabbits will be facing California Baptist for the first time, while playing Montana for the first time in 14 years. SDSU has won the last two matchups with the Grizzlies and hold a 2-1 series lead. Montana won the inaugural meeting between the two squads in four sets on Sept. 3, 2005, in Ames, Iowa, while the Jackrabbits recorded a sweep in Missoula during the 2006 season and a 3-1 victory in Brookings during the 2007 campaign.

Following is a closer look at this weekend's opponents:

Montana
The Grizzlies enter the weekend with a 2-2 record after a pair of five-set victories. Montana ground out a 3-2 win in the season opener against Kennesaw State last weekend, followed by losses to Eastern Michigan (3-2) and the College of Charleston (3-1). The Grizzlies evened their season record with a five-set home win over Seattle on Wednesday.

Montana is led by head coach Allison Lawrence, who is in her fifth season as head coach. The team won just five matches the season before she was hired and has seen steady improvement ever since, including making Big Sky Conference tournament appearances in 2018 and 2019.

California Baptist
Cal Baptist played at the Georgia State Invitational last weekend and came away with a 1-2 record. The Lancers were swept by Memphis and Georgia State on Friday, before picking up their one win on the weekend as they swept Chattanooga.

The Lancers bring back 13 players from last season's roster, along with five newcomers -- two of whom are transfers. They finished last season with an 8-8 record in their pandemic-shortened season and were picked to finish fourth in the Western Athletic Conference or the third year in a row.

LAST WEEK: South Dakota State put together a strong opening weekend, winning two of three matches at the North Texas Invite in Denton, Texas.

On Friday afternoon, the Jacks swept Grambling State while holding the Tigers to a .024 hitting percentage. Crystal Burk led the Jacks with a match-high 10 kills, while Tatum Pickar added 13 digs on the defensive side.

Friday night saw the Jacks going up against host North Texas. After a tight first two sets in which the teams split, the Mean Green pulled away in the third and fourth sets, each by a score of 25-17. Burk shined once again, putting up a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs. Meanwhile, freshman Ella Thompson notched 12 kills and a .409 hitting percentage.

The Jacks wrapped up the tournament Saturday morning by squaring off against McNeese State. The Jacks swept the Cowgirls by scores of 25-20, 25-15, and 25-22 behind a balanced offensive attack and strong defensive effort.

FRESHMAN MIDDLES IMPRESS: Freshman middle blockers Ella Thompson and Annalee Ventling-Brown both turned in impressive performances as they made their collegiate debuts at the North Texas Invite. The duo combined for 12 kills, eight blocks and a .545 hitting percentage with no errors in a combined 22 attempts in the Aug. 28 sweep of McNeese. Ventling-Brown, a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, tallied six kills on nine attempts and a match-high five blocks, with Thompson adding six kills in 13 attempts and three blocks.

A Lakeville, Minnesota, native, Thompson was the Jackrabbits' top hitter on the weekend, posting a .432 hitting percentage (23-4-44) with 23 kills and sharing top blocking honors with Ventling-Brown with seven. Thompson reached double figures in kills for the first time with 12 in the match against North Texas.

STREAKS END: Two Jackrabbit seniors saw long streaks come to an end in the three-set sweep of McNeese State.

Despite leading the team with eight kills, Crystal Burk had her streak of 13 consecutive matches with 10 or kills dating back to last season come to an end.

In addition, libero Tatum Pickar managed seven digs against McNeese, but had her string of 12 consecutive matches with double figures in digs snapped. Pickar has logged double figures in digs in 43 of 48 career matches with the Jackrabbits.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits continue tournament play next weekend at the Blue and Gold Tournament in Toledo, Ohio. SDSU is slated to play host Toledo at 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central) on Friday, Sept. 10, followed by two matches Saturday, Sept. 11 versus Youngstown State (10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT) and Valparaiso (4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT).

-GoJacks.com-