OMAHA, Neb. – No. 4 Denver beat No. 5 South Dakota State (30-32, 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 15-12) in the first quarterfinal match of the 2022 Summit League Volleyball Championship behind Hailey Green’s tournament record-tying high 32 kills. The Pioneers advance to the semifinals where they will meet top-seeded South Dakota Friday at 4 p.m. CT.
 
Who Stood Out
Denver’s Green finished with a match and tournament record-tying high 32 kills on a .319 hitting percentage as well as six digs. Teammate Memphis Glasgow followed with 22 kills and 14 digs, good enough for her third double-double of the season.
Defensively for the Pioneers, five players notched double-figure digs, with Gianna Bartalo capturing the second-most kills in a tournament match in League history with 40 digs.
 
South Dakota State was led by All-League First Team honoree Crystal Burk as she finished with 25 kills and a tournament record 95 attacks. Jadyn Makovicka finished with a team-high 28 digs while Alia Schlimgen registered 16 digs of her own.
 
Turning Point
A back-and-forth opening set saw both teams score 30 or more points for the first time since 2014 and the first time two teams scored 30 or more points in a quarterfinal match in tournament history. Denver looked as though they would take the first set as they had multiple opportunities to close it out, but South Dakota State wouldn’t have it. The Jackrabbits prevailed with a 32-30 triumph in the first set that set the tone for the rest of the match in a back-and-forth showcase.

Denver’s Green paced the Pioneers in the opening two sets, becoming the first player to record double digit kills as she finished the match with a career-high 32 kills. The second set saw DU take a 19-17 lead and would go on to score four straight points to make it 22-17. After SDSU scored three straight points to make it a three-point contest, Denver prevailed by winning set two, 25-22, behind Green’s 16^th kill in the clinching point heading into the third set.

The Pioneers rode their momentum from set two into set three, as the fourth seed started the set on a 6-1 run and went up by as seven, 17-10. Up 21-18, the Jackrabbits would tie it at 21-21 and came back from seven down to secure set three, 26-24.
 
The two traded points back and forth and tied the score at 20-20 in the fourth set. Behind DU’s 18 kills in the fourth set, the Pioneers would force a fifth and deciding set.

After being down 2-1, Denver scorched their way back and took control of the fifth set after leading 4-3 and were up by as much as four and prevailed in the fifth set to win it, 15-12.
 
Notable

• Denver swept the season series, 3-0. The Pioneers won in four sets in Brookings in the first meeting on Sept. 22. In the second meeting on Oct. 22, DUU took the match in three sets.
• Green’s 32-kill performance was not only a career high, but a program record in its Division I era
• Emma Ziegler's 67 assists was the most for Denver since 2007 and tied for the fifth-most assists in a tournament match in League hisory
• Denver entered the championships ranked 11th in all of the NCAA in total blocks with 295.5 and 10th in the nation in blocks per set (2.71)

Up Next
Denver will meet top-seeded South Dakota at 4 p.m. CT Friday in the first semifinal match of the day.
 
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