SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The 2022 Summit League volleyball season begins Friday with nine of our 10 teams taking the court for the first official serve of the season. The opening weekend will see 30 matches for league teams including a meeting with a top 25 nationally ranked squad.
 
TEAM TRACKER
PIONEERS (23-6; 14-4 3rd SL) | @DU_Volleyball
Next Up: vs. Western Michigan (8/26; 10 a.m. MT), vs. Green Bay (8/26; 5 p.m. MT), at Colorado (8/27; 6 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: N/A
Hailey Green enters her second season having appeared in all 29 matches for the Pioneers, starting 24 of them ... DU’s roster includes three graduate student transfers in Jordan Lockwood (Pitt), Mackenzie Fidelak (Stanford) and Merle Weidt (Arizona) ... Lockwood appeared in 22 matches, logging 83 kills on the year, highlighted by a season-high nine kills in a win against Baylor ... She was also the AVCA National Player of the Year at Navarro College on the junior college level in 2019.

ROOS (21-10; 12-6 4th SL) | @KCRoosVB
Next Up: vs. Miami [Ohio] (8/26; 4 p.m. CT), vs. No. 21 Western Kentucky (8/27; 1 p.m. CT), at Bradley (8/27; 6 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: N/A 
Kennedy Schritenhal led the Roos with 44 service aces in 2021, ranking second in the league with 0.38 aces per set ... Raina Smith posted double-digit kills in ten different matches and ranked fourth on the squad with 181 kills ... Georgia Mullins, a graduate transfer, brings in a wealth of experience having earned All-America honors and back-to-back Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors at the Division II level for Colorado College ... She earned first-team all-conference accolades after leading the SCAC with a .417 hitting percentage and 3.30 kills per set.

FIGHTING HAWKS (1-29; 0-18 10th SL) | @UNDVolleyball
Next Up: at Montana (8/26; 11 a.m. CT), vs. UC Davis (8/26; 5:30 p.m. CT); vs. UT Arlington (8/27; 11 a.m. CT)
Previous Matches: N/A 
North Dakota will be under the direction of first-year head coach Jesse Tupac, who is making his return to #SummitVB after spending three years as an assistant coach at Denver from 2016-18 ... Ashlyn Olson, a sophomore right side from Spicer, Minn., had a solid freshman campaign last season where she amassed 170 kills for an average of 1.80 kills per set making her second on the team ... She ended the season in the top-25 in the league with 60 total blocks and an average of 0.65 per set .. Tupac brings in three graduate transfers that will help to build a lineup looking to move up in the league standings. 

BISON (12-18; 6-12 7th SL) | @NDSUVolleyball
Next Up: vs. Jackson State (8/26; 10 a.m. CT), at SEMO (8/26; 7 p.m. CT), vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (8/27; 11 a.m. CT)
Previous Matches: N/A 
Ali Hinze, who earned Honorable Mention All-League accolades last season, returns for the Bison after ranking fifth in the league in kills (370) and kills per set (3.43) ... Senior middle blocker Michelle Glover had a solid first season with the Bison as the Wheaton, Ill., native was slotted fifth in the league in blocks per set with 1.08 ... Syra Tanchin enters her fourth season after ranking sixth in the league in total kills with 370 last season ... She ranked seventh in the league in kills per set (3.36), reached double-digit kills 21 times and posted three 20-kill performances ... Ava Schmol connected on a team-best 31 services aces and was slotted sixth in the league in services aces per set (0.35).

MAVERICKS (20-10; 16-2 1st SL) | @OmahaVB
Next Up: vs. Winthrop (8/26; 11 a.m. CT), at South Carolina (8/26; 6:30 p.m. CT), vs. Sacred Heart (8/27; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: N/A 
The Mavericks bring back Setter of the Year Sami Clarkson, who finished her junior season leading the league in assists per set (11.18) and ranked second in total assists (1,219) ... Omaha returns nine from last season’s regular season championship squad, including All-League Honorable Mention Team members Marriah Buss, Jaiden Centeno and McKenna Ruch ... Buss was second on the team with 315 kills averaging 2.97 per set and ranked ninth in the league in both statistical categories... Centeno ranked seventh in the league in digs per set (3.93) totaling 428 digs.

GOLDEN EAGLES (18-11; 11-7 5th SL) | @ORUVolleyball
Next Up: vs. Central Arkansas (8/26; 4 p.m. CT); vs. Tennessee Tech (8/27; 12 p.m. CT); at Missouri State (8/28; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: N/A 
ORU brings back All-League first-teamer Sakira LaCour, who was named to the 2021 All-Tournament squad ... She led the Golden Eagles and the league in blocks with 141, which ranked 22nd nationally and averaged a league-best 1.33 blocks per set (15th nationally) ... Trinity Freeman returns for the blue and gold among the 2021 All-League honorees ... Freeman, led ORU with 285 kills, averaging 2.74 kills per set and ranked second on the team in total points with 334.5.

TOMMIES (2-16; 3-25 9th SL) | @TommieVBall
Next Up: vs. GCU (8/26, 1:30 p.m. CT), vs. San Francisco (8/26; 5 p.m. CT), at Montana State (8/27; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: N/A 
The Tommies’ roster consists of one senior and three juniors to go with 16 sophomores and freshmen ... UST has eight returners who played in 19 or more matches last season that produced a trio of victories in its Division I debut ... Outside hitter Lauren Galvin started all 28 matches and had 325 kills en route to All-Freshmen Team accolades ... Fellow outside hitter Libby Mattila played in all 28 matches totaling, 130 kills, five assists, 14 service aces, 87 digs, 19 blocks and 154 points.

COYOTES (20-10; 15-3 2nd SL) | @SDCoyotesVB        
Next Up: vs. No. 4 Louisville (8/26; 7 p.m. CT), vs. Northern Kentucky (8/27; 6 p.m. CT), vs. Missouri (8/28; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: N/A
USD, who won its third #SummitVB Tournament title overall and second straight last season, returns 11 from last year’s championship team including All-League First Teamers Madison Harms and Elizabeth Juhnke ... Harms ranked third on the team with 257 kills and set a single-season program record with a .409 average hitting percentage ... She also ranked third in the league with a 1.19 block per set average, totaling 24 solo blocks, a school record in the 25-point rally era ... Juhnke was named an AVCA All-Region honoree after leading the Summit League in kills (461) and kills per set (3.97). 

JACKRABBITS (19-12; 10-8 6th SL) | @GoJacksVB
Next Up: vs. UIC (8/26; 10 a.m. CT), at Northern Illinois (8/26; 6 p.m. CT), vs. New Jersey Institute of Technology (8/27; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: N/A 
South Dakota State brings back All-League First Team honoree Crystal Burk after she led the Jackrabbits in kills (442) and kills per set (3.75) ... She played in every set during all 31 matches last season, leading the team with 36 service aces and ranking second in the league in overall total kills with 442 ... The Jackrabbits also return All-League Freshman honoree Ella Thompson ... She ranked third on the team with 194 kills and 1.75 kills per set and took part in 106 blocks, which led the team and ranked fourth in the league. 

LEATHERNECKS (5-24; 4-14 8th SL) | @WIUVolleyball
Next Up: vs. Lindenwood (8/26; 3:30 p.m. CT), vs. Canisius College (8/27; 12:30 p.m. CT), at Purdue Fort Wayne (8/27; 6 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: N/A
First-year head coach Dale Starr will have seven return from the 2021 squad along with eight newcomers ... The Leathernecks boast two members of the 2021 All-Summit League Freshman Team in Karli Wenzel and Brittany Wulf ...Wenzel led the team in digs per set with 3.72, ranking ninth in the league ... Wulf had 2.57 kills per set, assisted on 16 blocks and finished fourth on the team with 162 kills.

*Records are from 2021 season