JACKS MAKE ROAD TRIP TO KANSAS CITY

Thursday, September 30

Kansas City, Mo.

7 p.m. CT

South Dakota State University

Kansas City

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

9/29/2021 3:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

MATCH 14: South Dakota State (9-3, 1-1) vs Kansas City (11-4, 2-1)

When	Thursday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.
Where	Kansas City, Mo.
TV	K CRoos.com/Watch
Live Stats	KCRoos.com
Week 5 Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook

South Dakota State women's volleyball continues Summit League action Thursday evening with a trip to Kansas City.

SERIES HISTORY
The Jacks and Roos have met 21 times with the Roos holding a slim 11-10 edge in the all-time series. Kansas City won 3-1 and 3-2 last season.

Crystal Burk recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs the last time these teams met. 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. SDSU outblocked Kansas City 12-9.

Melanie Brecka's 25 kills for the Roos in that match. She also contributed 14 digs. The Jacks gave up 13 ace serves to the Roos, six coming from All Schomers.

SCOUTING THE ROOS
Kansas City started Summit action with 3-1 wins over North Dakota and North Dakota State last week before falling to Denver 3-0 Tuesday night.

The Roos are led by Melanie Brecka's 3.44 kills per set and De'Janae Arnold's .413 attack rate. Arnold is ranked second in the Summit League in hitting percentage. Alli Schomers' 631 assists and 10.69 per set lead KC and the Summit. Brecka and Arnold had 11 kills apiece in Tuesday's match. Schomers gave out 31 assists.

Defensively, Maddie Ren has 273 digs on the season and has a team-high 22 service aces. Kennedy Schritenthal has 21 aces. Arnold leads the blocking efforts with 52 total rejections. Carly Gillen follows Arnold with 46 blocks and contributes 1.07 kills per set.

THE JACKRABBITS
Jackrabbit volleyball is 9-4 on the season and 1-1 in Summit action. The Jacks most recently beat North Dakota 3-1 at Frost Arena.

The Jacks' offense is powered by Crystal Burk's 185 total kills and 3.85 kills per set average, which also leads the League. Chloe Stitt also ranks in the Summit's top-10 hitters, averaging 3.04 kills per set for seventh. Ella Thompson's hitting efficiency of .293 is the best of the Jacks.

Ella Thompson is also ranked on the League's block list. The freshman averages 1.13 blocks per set (54 total), ranking fourth. Wedel is third on the Summit assists chart with 10.17 helpers per set. Burk, Tatum Pickar and Faith Saewert lead the Jackrabbit back row. Burk had a team-high 112 digs this season and Saewert adds 105. Pickar's 4.08 digs per set is the highest average among the SDSU squad and is fifth in the League.

LAST TIME OUT
South Dakota State volleyball picked up a 3-1 (24-26, 25-18, 25-22, 25-17) win over North Dakota Tuesday night at Frost Arena.

Chloe Stitt had one of her best all-around nights in a Jackrabbit uniform, notching 20 kills with a .357 attack rate to go with 16 digs and four aces. Sydney Andrews (11), Ella Thompson (10) and Elyse Winter (10) joined Stitt in double-figure kills. Andrews committed just two errors on 23 attacks for a .391 hitting percentage.

Tatum Pickar tallied two season highs on the night with 20 digs and seven assists. Carly Wedel had 52 helpers and added 14 digs. Andrews and Winter paced the SDSU blockers, taking part in five rejections apiece. Thompson had three.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits will play Saturday at Oral Roberts.

-GoJacks.com-