SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Mavericks of Omaha took sole possession of first place in the league standings as they sit at 10-11 overall and have a 9-2 league mark. Omaha bounced back after a five-set loss to South Dakota with a five-set win against St. Thomas. Kansas City (16-5, 7-2 SL) bumped down to second place in the standings after a tough five-set loss to South Dakota State.
 
Denver (8-10, 7-3 SL) and South Dakota (12-8, 6-3 SL) sit third and fourth, respectively, while North Dakota State (14-7, 6-4 SL) are winners of three straight matches and sit fifth. South Dakota State (6-16, 4-6 SL) picked up two key wins and sit sixth in the standings.
 
With less than a month remaining in the regular season, it’s a wide open field and the action begins this week with a quartet of Thursday night matches.

TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (8-10; 7-3 SL) | @DU_Volleyball
Next Up: vs. St. Thomas (10/26; 6 p.m. MT); vs. South Dakota (10/28; 1 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: at North Dakota (W, 3-2); at North Dakota State (L, 3-0)
For the second consecutive week, the Pioneers went 1-1 last week remain third in the overall standings ... In a five-set win against North Dakota, DU was paced by Cassie Davis, who finished with a career-high 22 kills while accumulating a hitting percentage of .309 ... Defensively, the Pioneers had four players reach double figures in digs, highlighted by Gianna Bartalo’s 21, 14 from Briley Decker and 13 more from Ryen Wilkens ... In a three-set loss to North Dakota State, Davis registered a double-double of 12 kills and 12 digs, while Bartalo notched a match-high three service aces ... Through 10 league matches, Davis ranks fourth in the league with 3/47 kills per set, while Cadi Boyer’s 43 blocks sits second overall ... Denver will open a two-match homestand when they welcome St. Thomas and South Dakota on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
 
KANSAS CITY ROOS (16-5; 7-2 SL) | @KCRoosVB
Next Up: vs. North Dakota State (10/26; 7 p.m. CT); at Oral Roberts (10/28; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at South Dakota State (L, 3-2)
Despite the Roos falling to South Dakota State on the road, 3-2, in its lone match of the weekend, they battled until the very end ... After being down 2-0, Kansas City clawed its way back by winning sets three and four ... A trio of players notched double-digit kills, with Kaia Dunford standing out as the leader, registering 14 kills during the match ... Odyssey Warren accumulated a total of 20 digs, surpassing her previous career high of 18 ... The Roos found themselves in their eighth five-set match of the season ... Despite Leah Green’s absence the last two matches, she leads the league with 138 total digs.
 
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (6-16; 3-7 SL) | @UNDvolleyball
Next Up: vs. South Dakota State (10/26; 7 p.m. CT); at St. Thomas (10/28; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Denver (L, 3-2); vs. Oral Roberts (W, 3-0)
The Fighting Hawks went 1-1 overall last week where they fell in five sets to Denver followed by a 3-0 triumph over Oral Roberts ... The match against the Pioneers was headlined by a record-breaking second set that ended in a 38-36 victory for the Fighting Hawks ... The 38 points exceeded the previous high of 36 which happened twice in 2003 ... UND defeated Oral Roberts for the second time this season as Kaycee O’Dell paced the Fighting Hawks attack with nine kills and hit over .400 for the fifth time this season ... Maddy Hornyak reached double-digit digs for the second straight match with 11 ... Izzie McCormick, who led the Fighting Hawks with 20 digs against Denver, ranks seventh in league action with 3.42 digs per set.
 
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (14-7; 6-4 SL) | @NDSUvolleyball
Next Up: at Kansas City (10/26; 7 p.m. CT); at Omaha (10/28; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Oral Roberts (W, 3-0); vs. Denver (W, 3-0)
The Bison are winners of three straight matches, all coming in sweeps ... NDSU powered past Oral Roberts where Lauren Jansen connected on a match-high 14 kills and Ali Hinze added in 10 kills of her own ... Hinze notched a double-double with a match-best 13 digs and 11 kills, while Kelley Johnson chipped in a match-high 38 assists with eight digs ... Against Denver, Jansen paced the Bison once again with a team-high 12 kills and a .310 hitting percentage ... Ava Schmoll led the way on the defensive side of the floor with 13 digs ... Hinze has been a key weapon for NDSU this season as the veteran is averaging 3.68 kills per set (2nd in league play) and fourth in total kills with 136 (4th in league play).
 
OMAHA MAVERICKS (10-11; 9-2 SL) | @OmahaVB
Next Up: vs. North Dakota State (10/28; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at South Dakota (L, 3-2); vs. St. Thomas (W, 3-2)
Omaha’s eight-match winning streak came to an end when they fell in five sets to South Dakota ... Amanda Hardt paced the team with 17 kills, becoming the first Maverick this year to top 200 kills on the season ... Rachel Fairbanks posted 11 kills and 15 digs for her fifth double-double of the season ... She now has 131 kills in 2023, a new single season best, and has eclipsed 600 career digs ... The Mavericks bounced with a 3-2 home triumph over St. Thomas in which Hardt, Fairbanks, Shayla McCormick and McKenna Ruch all record double-digit kills ... Fairbanks extended her double-double streak to three matches as she collected 12 digs and a match-high 18 digs ... Despite going 1-1 overall, Omaha remains in first place in the league standings with a 9-2 ledger.
 
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (3-18; 1-8 SL) | @ORUVolleyball
Next Up: vs. South Dakota (10/26; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Kansas City (10/28; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at North Dakota State (L, 3-0); at North Dakota (L, 3-0)
Oral Roberts was swept in back-to-back matches and will look to bounce back with a pair of home matches coming up ... For just the second time this season, Jaxie Wakley led the Golden Eagles with five kills, while Maite Solabarrieta dished out a season-high 11 assists against North Dakota State ... Freeman registered her 10th double-digit dig performance of the season with 11 against North Dakota ... Freeman continues to showcase why she’s deserving of an All-League honor as the junior outside hitter sits fifth in league play with 3.38 kills per set.
 
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (5-16; 1-9 SL) | @Tommievball
Next Up: at Denver (10/26; 7 p.m. CT); vs. North Dakota (10/28; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at South Dakota State (L, 3-0); at Omaha (L, 3-2)
After falling on the road to South Dakota State in straight sets, the Tommies battled until the end against Omaha, falling in five set ... Despite the loss, St. Thomas picked up two points against the Mavericks in five all-time meetings ... In the match, sophomore Tezra Rudzitis led the Tommies with a career high 17 kills and .412 hitting percentage ... Fellow sophomore Ella Voegele had a career high of her own, with three services aces and adding 12 digs ... Freshman Morgan Kealy added 22 assists for the Tommies, as well as adding eight digs and one service ace ... St. Thomas will head to Denver before hosting North Dakota this week.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (12-8; 6-3 SL) | @SDCoyotesVB
Next Up: at Oral Roberts (10/26; 7 p.m. CT); at Denver (10/28; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Omaha (W, 3-2)
After picking up a home reverse sweep of South Dakota State earlier in the week, the Coyotes did it once again, this time to Omaha ... Sophomore libero Kamryn Farris put up 19 digs, six assists, and one service ace ... As a team, USD’s 15 service aces as a team is the most in a game since 2012 ... Samantha Laird led the way with a career-high 13 kills, outside hitter Kylen Sealock followed with 11 kills and Madison Harms added nine kills and six blocks ... Harms continues to climb the leaderboard in league action with 48 blocks (1st), 1.19 blocks per set (2nd) and a .364 clip (3rd) ... Farris sits second with 168 digs and fourth with 4.31 digs per set ... The Coyotes will hit the road where they will face Oral Roberts and Denver.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (6-16; 4-6 SL) | @GoJacksVB
Next Up: at North Dakota (10/26; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. St. Thomas (W, 3-0); vs. Kansas City (W, 3-2)
South Dakota State won consecutive matches for the first time this season with a pair of home wins ... They also took sole possession of sixth place in the league standings with last than a month remaining in the regular season ... Sylvie Zgonc, the TicketSmarter Summit League Volleyball Offensive Peak Performer of the Week, recorded led the league last week with 32 total kills against the Tommies and Roos ... She notched 10 kills along with an assist in a home sweep over St. Thomas and then recorded a double-double of 22 kills and 18 digs to go along with a .370 hitting percentage in a five-set home against Kansas City ... Masa Scheierman tallied seven service aces in the win against Kansas City, setting a new program record for a five-set match, to go with eight kills, four digs and three blocks ... Katie Van Egdom, who posted a double-double of 18 kills and 10 digs against the Roos, continues to lead the league with 150 kills and 3.85 kills per set in league competition.
 
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