SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – We have two new leaderboards in the league standings as Denver and Omaha are tied at the top spot with 5-1 marks. The Pioneers are winners of two straight matches, while the Mavericks have put on a run winning five straight matches.
 
Denver defeated Kansas City, 3-2, last week to snap the Roos’ winning streak of four matches. The Pioneers will head to Omaha tonight where the winner will have sole possession of first place in the standings.
 
All the fun and excitement can be watch on the Summit League Network.

TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (6-8; 5-1 SL) | @DU_Volleyball
Next Up: at Omaha (10/11; 6 p.m. MT); vs. South Dakota State (10/14; 1 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: at St. Thomas (W, 3-1); vs. Kansas City (W, 3-2)
The Pioneers won a pair of matches last week and in doing so, they put themselves at a tie for the top spot in the league standings ... One of the most highly anticipated matches of league action was between Denver and Kansas City, and it didn’t disappoint ... DU came out on top in five sets as they were paced by Cassie Davis’ career-high 20 kills and Briley Decker’s career-high 52 assists ... Mackenzie Fidelak added 14 kills and Ava Reynolds chipped in 11 kills ... Davis registered a double-double of 12 kills and a career-high 14 digs against the Tommies ... Cadi Boyer added 13 kills to help the attack, while Gianna Bartalo chipped in a season-high 20 digs ... Denver and Omaha will face off tonight for the right to earn sole possession of first place in the standings.
 
KANSAS CITY ROOS (13-4; 4-1 SL) | @KCRoosVB
Next Up: vs. North Dakota (10/12; 7 p.m. CT); vs. South Dakota (10/14; 1 p.m. CT); at St. Thomas (10/17; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at Denver (L, 3-2)
Kansas City and Denver battled to a thrilling five-set match, but it was the Pioneers who stood atop for the victory ... With the loss, the Roos ended its four-match winning streak ... Kaia Dunford contributed 15 kills, hit .233 overall, collected one service aces and three blocks in the match ...  Carly Gillen blocked six total shots while adding seven kills ... The Roos amassed a total of 10 blocks, surpassing the Pioneers by two blocks ... Kansas City will open a two-match home stand when they face North Dakota and South Dakota.
 
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (5-12; 2-3 SL) | @UNDvolleyball
Next Up: at Kansas City (10/12; 7 p.m. CT); at Omaha (10/14; 12 p.m. CT); at North Dakota State (10/17; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. South Dakota (L, 3-2)
In North Dakota’s lone match last week, Marissa Stockman garnered a team-high 13 kills on 21 attacks against South Dakota ... She hit .476 in the match, notched a career-high ten block assists and picked up one dig ... Elizabeth Norris came one kill short of a triple-double with 25 assists, 11 digs and nine kills ... Teagan Timperley reached double digit assists for the 16th straight match with 20 against the Coyotes ... She also collected her third double-double of the season with the 20 assists and 11 digs ... Stockman leads all players during league action with a .420 hitting percentage, while Izzie McCormick ranks first with 0.69 services aces per set ... UND will hit the road this week where they will compete against Kansas City and Omaha.
 
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (11-6; 3-3 SL) | @NDSUvolleyball
Next Up: at St. Thomas (10/14; 12 p.m. CT); vs. North Dakota (10/17; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at South Dakota State (W, 3-0); vs. South Dakota (L, 3-2)
For the second consecutive week, NDSU went 1-1 last week with a sweep over South Dakota State and a five-set loss to South Dakota ... Lauren Jansen posted a team-high 29 kills and averaged a team-best 3.63 kills per set ... She recorded a .419 hitting percentage after connecting on 29 kills on 62 attempts with three errors ... Jansen notched a season-high 20 kills with a .474 hitting percentage against South Dakota ... Ali Hinze recorded a team-high 38 digs and averaged 4.75 digs per set ... The senior outside hitter has posted a double-double in each of her last four matches ... She tallied a season-high 20 digs with 11 kills and three blocks against the Jackrabbits and notched a match-high 18 digs with 16 kills against the Coyotes ... Arianna Blohm is quickly climbing the league leaders in blocks, and she ranks second in league play with 1.17 blocks per set and is first with 27 total blocks.
 
OMAHA MAVERICKS (6-10; 5-1 SL) | @OmahaVB
Next Up: vs. Denver (10/11; 7 p.m. CT); vs. North Dakota (10/14; 12 p.m. CT); at Oral Roberts (10/17; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Oral Roberts (W, 3-0); at South Dakota State (W, 3-1)
The Mavericks are now in a tie for first in the league standings thanks to not only collecting a pair of wins last week, but winning five straight matches overall ... Erica Fava, who collected the latest TicketSmarter Summit League Volleyball Defensive Peak Performer of the Week accolade, led Omaha with 36 digs and 5.14 digs per set ... She ranks fourth in league play with 11 service aces and sixth with 0.69 service aces per set ... McKenna Ruch led Omaha last week with 24 kills, 3.43 kills per set and a .488 hitting percentage against the Golden Eagles and Jackrabbits ... She recorded 12 kills and a season-high .571 hitting percentage against ORU and a .409 hitting percentage against SDSU.
 
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (3-14; 1-4 SL) | @ORUVolleyball
Next Up: vs. South Dakota State (10/12; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Omaha (10/17; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at Omaha (L, 3-0); at St. Thomas (W, 3-1)
Kalena Vaivai and the Golden Eagles registered its first league win of the season with a four-set triumph over St. Thomas ... Against the Tommies, Trinity Freeman, Kalena Vaivai and Shelbi Steen all posted double-doubles ... Freeman has now led ORU in kills in 12 straight matches as she captured a match-high 15 kills and 15 digs ... Vaivai orchestrated the Golden Eagle attack as the senior dished out a season-high tying and match-best 44 assists ... Natassia Baptiste totaled a match-best six blocks against the Tommies, including a solo block to seal the win ... Baptiste also totaled seven kills on 15 swings for a .467 attack percentage ... On the week, Baptiste totaled nine blocks (1.29 per set) and 11 kills with a .500 hitting percentage ... Freeman has remained a threat all season long as she sits third averaging 3.68 kills per set.
 
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (4-12; 0-5 SL) | @Tommievball
Next Up: at South Dakota (10/12; 7 p.m. CT); vs. North Dakota State (10/14; 12 p.m. CT); vs. Kansas City (10/17; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Denver (L, 3-1); vs. Oral Roberts (L, 3-1)
St. Thomas lost a pair of four-set home matches last week and will look to rebound with a road match against South Dakota coming up tomorrow night ... The Tommies will then head back home for matches against North Dakota State and Kansas City ... Although UST lost back matches last week, they were able to capture its first two set wins of league play ... Against Denver, freshman Ellie Gustafson led the team with 13 kills and nine digs, while sophomore Kaitlynn Peterson contributed 11 kills ... Gustafson notched her first career double-double and Kaitlynn Peterson achieved a career-high 21 digs against Oral Roberts.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (9-7; 3-2 SL) | @SDCoyotesVB
Next Up: vs. St. Thomas (10/12; 7 p.m. CT); at Kansas City (10/14; 1 p.m. CT); vs. South Dakota State (10/17; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at North Dakota (W, 3-2); at North Dakota State (W, 3-2)
The Coyotes collected two key five-set road wins against North Dakota and North Dakota State last week ... Veteran Madison Harms averaged 3.10 kill per set and one block per set in the victories ... She produced 14 kills and seven blocks in the five-set win over the Fighting Hawks and had 17 kills on 36 attempts with just two errors to hit .417 in the win over the Bison ... Harms totaled 31 kills and a .333 hitting percentage through the two matches ... Kamryn Farris averaged 3.30 digs per set and one assist per set ... She tallied 20 digs, four assists and two service aces in the five-set win over UND ... Against NDSU, Farris had 13 digs, six assists and three service aces ... With the win against North Dakota, head coach Leanne Williamson became just the third Summit League head coach all-time to capture 200 career wins.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (3-14; 1-4 SL) | @GoJacksVB
Next Up: at Oral Roberts (10/12; 7 p.m. CT); at Denver (10/14; 2 p.m. CT); vs. St. Thomas (10/17; at South Dakota)
Previous Matches: vs. North Dakota State (L, 3-0); vs. Omaha (L, 3-1)
Katie Van Egdom averaged 4.71 kills per set on the week and continues to lead the Summit League in that category where she is averaging 4.53 kills per set ... She notched a career-best 22 kills at a .396 clip against Omaha ... Stella Winterfeld averaged 4.0 digs per set on the week where she received at a 1.000 rate with 42 serve receptions and no errors... Winterfeld also had seven assists and three services aces over the two matches ... Despite SDSU’s 1-4 Summit League mark, the team ranks second in assists per set (12.26) and third in kills per set (13.21) in league contests.
 
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