SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The final week of non-league play is here, and it’s going to be an exciting week of #SummitVB action. South Dakota are winners of eight straight matches, while Western Illinois won four in a row for the first time since 2007.
South Dakota State continues to compete in highly contested matches, as three of the Jackrabbits’ six wins have resulted in five-set thrillers.
The Coyotes will look to extend their winning streak when they head to the Sunshine State and compete in the Bulls Volleyball Invitational hosted by South Florida. The first serve of the week goes up today at Kansas City hosts Kansas State at 7 p.m. CT inside the Swinney Center.
TEAM TRACKER
PIONEERS (3-5; 0-0- SL) | @DU_Volleyball
Next Up: at Air Force (9/15; 6:30 p.m. MT); vs. San Francisco (9/16; 6 p.m. MT); vs. UC San Diego (9/17; 3 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: vs. UC Davis (L, 3-1), at No. 1 Texas (L, 3-0)
Denver opened the Longhorn Classic with a 3-1 loss to UC Davis where Jordan Lockwood had a match-high 12 kills for the Pioneers ... DU attackers were helped by a match-high 29 assists from Lorrin Poulter, while Gianna Bartalo notched a team-high 19 digs ... The Pioneers matched up with the top-ranked Longhorns of Texas in what saw DU up by as much as eight points in the second set ... Denver closes out its non-league title at The Thin Air Challenge hosted by Air Force.
ROOS (3-6; 0-0 SL) | @KCRoosVB
Next Up: vs. Kansas State (9/14; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Missouri State (9/16; 10 a.m. CT); vs. Iowa State (9/16; 3 p.m. CT); at Saint Louis (9/17; 10 a.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. No. 19 Kansas (L, 3-1), vs. Northern Illinois (L, 3-0), vs. Wichita State (L, 3-0)
Kansas City stole a set from No. 19 Kansas but fell to the Jayhawks, 3-1 to open their week ... Odyssey Warren and Raina Smith led the Roos’ offense, finishing with nine and eight kills, respectively ... Smith finishes the weekend with 25 kills across three matches, while Carley Gillen was named to the All-Kansas City Roos Classic Team.
FIGHTING HAWKS (2-6; 0-0 SL) | @UNDVolleyball
Next Up: at Green Bay (9/16; 11 a.m. CT); vs. SIUE (9/16; 5 p.m. CT); vs. Drake (9/17; 11 a.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Montana State (L, 3-1), vs. Fordham (L, 3-0)
The Fighting Hawks hosted the UND Classic against Montana State and Fordham, but fell in both matches ... Against the Bobcats, Elizabeth Norris led UND with 23 assists and 2 digs while Kortney Carney finished the match with 19 digs ... North Dakota end the UND Classic with a loss to the Rams as Norris once again led the Fighting Hawks with 13 kills ... UND return to the road and will compete in the Green Bay Invite.
BISON (6-3; 0-0 SL) | @NDSUVolleyball
Next Up: at Austin Peay (9/16; 12 p.m. CT); vs. UT Martin (9/16; 4 p.m. CT); vs. East Tennessee State (9/17; 11 a.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Chicago State (W, 3-2), vs. Central Michigan (L, 3-2), vs. Montana State (W, 3-0)
Ali Hinze was named to the NDSU All-Tournament Team as the junior outside hitter helped the Bison to a 2-1 record at the NDSU Tournament where she posted a team-high 49 kills and averaged 3.77 kills per set ... She reached double-digits in all three matches, including a season-high 21 kills against Central Michigan ... Michelle Glover joined Hinze on the All-Tournament Team by recording a team-high 15 blocks, including three solo blocks, and added 41 kills on the offensive end, including a career-high 19 in the five-set win over Chicago State ... The Bison leads the league and is ranked 20th in the nation in total kills with 485.
MAVERICKS (4-3; 0-0 SL) | @OmahaVB
Next Up: vs. UCF (9/15; 4 p.m. CT); vs. Lipscomb (9/16; 4 p.m. CT); at Kansas (9/17; 2:30 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Florida State (L, 3-0), vs. No. 17 Creighton (L, 3-2)
After being swept by Florida State, Omaha battled it out with No. 17 Creighton, but came up just short, falling 3-2 in the finale of the Omaha Invite presented by Sarpy County Tourism ... Despite the loss, the Mavericks led the Bluejays in kills (74), points (91), aces (5) and assists (72) ... Shayla McCormick picked up her fourth double-double of the season with 21 kills and a career-high 20 digs ... McCormick was one of three players to record at least 20 digs and five blocks in the Omaha Invite.
GOLDEN EAGLES (2-7; 0-0 SL) | @ORUVolleyball
Next Up: vs. UTRGV (9/16; 10 a.m. CT), at Texas Tech (9/16; 2:30 p.m. CT), vs. Arizona State (9/17; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Abilene Christian (L, 3-1), vs. Tulsa (L, 3-1), vs. UTEP (L, 3-1)
Outside hitter Trinity Freeman continues to lead the Golden Eagles this season, as the sophomore led ORU in kills (37) in three matches ... She registered her first double-double of the season against UTEP after recording 16 kills and a career-high 14 digs ... Freeman ranks seventh in the league averaging 3.19 kills per set and sits fifth in total points at 132.5 ... Sakira LaCour led the Golden Eagles with 17 blocks in three matches and now leads the league in total blocks (54), which also ranks fourth in the nation ... Her 54 blocks are four behind the nation’s leader, Tierra Porter of George Washington.
TOMMIES (2-7; 0-0 SL) | @TommieVBall
Next Up: vs. Western Michigan (9/16, 10 a.m. CT), vs. IUPUI (9/16; 2 p.m. CT), at Bradley (9/17, 10 a.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at Loyola Chicago (L, 3-0), vs. Rutgers (L, 3-0), vs. Kansas State (L, 3-0)
St. Thomas opened the first day of the Rambler Challenge with back-to-back shutout losses ... Ellie Dammann led the Tommies with seven kills and a .636 hitting percentage to go along with one block against Loyola Chicago, while Lauren Galvin led UST with 12 kills against Rutgers ... Against Kansas State, Eva Fitzgerald led the Tommies with 10 assists, while Ella Wheatcraft paced the squad with eight digs.
COYOTES (8-1; 0-0 SL) | @SDCoyotesVB
Next Up vs. Stetson (9/16; 9 a.m. CT), vs. Cornell (9/16; 3:30 p.m. CT), at South Florida (9/17; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. CSU Bakersfield (W, 3-0), vs. West Virginia (W, 3-1), vs. Northern Colorado (W, 3-2)
USD’s eight-match winning streak is tied for sixth in the nation as they went 3-0 in the South Dakota Classic ... The Coyotes held and the CSU Bakersfield to a .109 hitting percentage and West Virginia to a .119 hitting percentage with 22 blocks and 56 digs... Elizabeth Juhnke’s fifth double-double of 23 kills and 23 digs combined with Madison Harms’ career-high 23 kills led USD to a clutch 3-2 win over Northern Colorado ... Juhnke ranks third in the nation in kills (181) and sixth in kills per set (4.89).
JACKRABBITS (6-3; 0-0 SL) | @GoJacksVB
Next Up: at Iowa (9/16; 12:30 p.m. CT); vs. Northern Iowa (9/16; 4:30 p.m. CT); vs. North Florida (9/17; 11 a.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Samford (W, 3-2), at Jacksonville State (L, 3-0), vs. Nicholls State (W, 3-1)
Veteran Jackrabbit Sydney Andrews put together two strong hitting performances in the Gamecock Classic, hitting .567 across two matches against Samford and Jacksonville State ... The fifth-year senior tallied a career-high 14 kills for a .571 attack rate against the Bulldogs, then had a .556 clip against the Gamecocks ... In the four-set win against Nicholls State, a trio of Jackrabbits finished with double-digit kills, led by Crystal Burk’s 13 and 12 more apiece from Akeela Jefferson and Ella Thompson ... Burk has now notched at least 10 kills in all nine matches this season and she has seven double-doubles thus far.
LEATHERNECKS (4-6; 0-0 SL) | @WIUVolleyball
Next Up: vs. Drake (9/17; 3 p.m. CT); at Green Bay (9/17; 5 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Texas Southern (W, 3-1), vs. Southern (W, 3-1), at New Orleans (L, 3-1)
For the first time since 2007, Western Illinois are winners of four straight matches as they recently won two of their first three matches at the New Orleans Invitational and swept a mid-week match to Eastern Illinois ... Freshman Elizabeth Ziegler posted 42 kills in 12 sets over the weekend earning all-tournament accolades ... She had an attack percentage of .464 against Texas Southern and in the match against Southern, she tallied a career-high 17 kills and an attack percentage of .593 ... WIU’s #SummitVB Peak Performer of the Week, Karli Wenzel, earned the Leathernecks their first weekly honor since 2017 and the first defensive award since 2016.
#SummitVB
