SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Kansas City is starting to build some momentum as the Roos are 4-0 in league play and are led by the defensive efforts of Leah Green, who is a three-time TicketSmarter Summit League Volleyball Defensive Peak Performer of the Week. The Roos’ next three matches will be against teams that competed in last year’s Summit League Championships.
 
Denver and Omaha are both 3-1 with the Mavericks collecting three straight wins, including the last two in five sets. North Dakota State and North Dakota are at .500 with 2-2 ledgers and have been led statically by Kelley Johnson of NDSU and Elizabeth Norris of UND.
 
It’s going to be an exciting third week of league action and it all unfolds with a quartet of matches on Thursday, all starting at 7 p.m. CT on the Summit League Network.

TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (4-8; 3-1 SL) | @DU_Volleyball
Next Up: at St. Thomas (10/5; 6 p.m. MT); vs. Kansas City (10/7; 1 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: at South Dakota State (W, 3-1); at South Dakota (L, 3-0)
Denver began its road trip last week with a four-set victory over South Dakota State ... The Pioneers were paced by Cadi Boyer, who finished with 12 kills while accumulating a hitting percentage of .269 along with six blocks ... Boyer posted a match-high three service aces in the win, while Gianna Bartalo registered a match-high 15 digs ... Briley Decker garnered a career-high 42 assists and ranks third in the league averaging 9.36 assists per set ... Through four league matches, Denver leads the league with 2.69 blocks per ser and 2.23 services aces per set.
 
KANSAS CITY ROOS (13-3; 4-0 SL) | @KCRoosVB
Next Up: at Denver (10/7; 2 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at South Dakota (W, 3-1); vs. Oral Roberts (W, 3-0)
Kansas City remains atop the league standings heading into the third week of league play as the Roos defeated South Dakota and Oral Roberts ... Against the Coyotes, Odyssey Warren and Kaia Dunford both contributed 13 kills, while Carly Gillen added 12 of her own on .524 hitting ... Sydney Henry dished out 40 assists and currently leads the league with 172 assists during league competition ... Warren added 13 more kills in a sweep of the Golden Eagles and the Roos hit .349 as a team, which is the second-highest hitting percentage they have recorded this season ... Furthermore, Kansas City’s sweep marked its fourth of the season and was the third time that they did not allow an opponent to reach the 20-point mark in any sets ... Leah Green, who was named the TicketSmarter Summit League Volleyball Defensive Peak Performer of the Week, ranks 11th in the nation with 325 digs and is tied for 23rd with 5.00 digs per set.
 
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (5-11; 2-2 SL) | @UNDvolleyball
Next Up: vs. South Dakota (10/5; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Omaha (L, 3-2); vs. St. Thomas (W, 3-0)
The Fighting Hawks played two league matches in back-to-back days and went 1-1 overall ... Marissa Stockman hit a blistering .607 on the weekend with 19 kills on 28 swings (2.38 kills/set) ... She hit .500 in the five-set grudge match against Omaha with 11 kills on 18 swings ... Stockman followed up that performance with eight kills and six blocks against St. Thomas ... Elizabeth Norris garnered her third triple-double of the season against the Mavericks where she captured 10 kills, 20 assists and 12 digs ... Norris’ three triple-doubles puts her tied for third in the nation and is the only league player to record a triple-double this season ... The Fighting Hawks have the second-lowest opponent hitting percentage in league play at .191 overall.
 
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (10-5; 2-2 SL) | @NDSUvolleyball
Next Up: at South Dakota State (10/5; 7 p.m. CT); vs. South Dakota (10/7; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. St. Thomas (W, 3-0); vs. Omaha (L, 3-2)
NDSU went 1-1 last week and opened at home with a sweep against St. Thomas ... Ali Hinze paced NDSU with a match-high 17 kills and match-best 14 digs for her eighth double-double of the season ... Alexis Boling added 12 kills with a .400 hitting percentage, while Kelley Johnson handed out a match-best 42 assists ... Hinze paced the Bison in a five-set loss to Omaha with her second straight double-double with a team-best 15 kills and match-high 15 digs ... Hinze surpassed the 1,000 career digs mark and has totaled 1,009 over four seasons at NDSU ... Through four league matches, Johnson ranks first with 163 total assists and 10.87 digs per set ... The Bison will head to Brookings to face South Dakota State before hosting South Dakota.
 
OMAHA MAVERICKS (4-10; 3-1 SL) | @OmahaVB
Next Up: vs. Oral Roberts (10/5; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota State (10/7; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at North Dakota (W, 3-2); at North Dakota State (W, 3-2)
The Mavericks have climbed to second place in the league standings after a pair of five-set road wins at North Dakota and North Dakota State ... Amanda Hardt, the TicketSmarter Summit League Volleyball Offensive Peak Performer of the Week, led the Mavericks with 34 kills (3.4 kills per set) and a .369 attack percentage ... Rachel Fairbanks led Omaha with 27 digs (2.7 digs per set), including a double-double of 13 kills and 14 digs against NDSU ... She topped 500 career kills and 500 career digs during the win against the Bison ... The Mavericks registered a season-high 64 kills against the Bison ... Omaha will be riding a three-match winning streak when they host Oral Roberts before facing South Dakota State on the road.
 
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (2-13; 0-3 SL) | @ORUVolleyball
Next Up: at Omaha (10/5; 7 p.m. CT); at St. Thomas (10/7; 11 a.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at Kansas City (L, 3-0)
The Golden Eagles fell in straight sets to Kansas City in their lone match last weekend ... Trinity Freeman, who leads the league with 3.80 kills per set, has led ORU in kills in 10 straight matches as the outside hitter recorded seven against the Roos ... Hannah Jackson logged a team-tying high seven kills, a .357 attack percentage and two blocks ... Breanna Rivas has recorded double-digit digs in four straight matches thanks to her 14 dig effort ... In league play, Kalena Vaivai’s 96 assists ranks fifth, while Rivas’ 3.67 digs per set sits fifth.
 
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (4-10; 0-3 SL) | @Tommievball
Next Up: vs. Denver (10/5; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Oral Roberts (10/7; 11 a.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at North Dakota State (L, 3-0); at North Dakota (L, 3-0)
St. Thomas lost a pair of road matches last week in straight sets and will host Denver and Oral Roberts this week ... Ella Voegele’s 4.67 digs per set in league competition ranks second overall ... Voegele posted 10 digs, four assists and one service ace against North Dakota ... Ellie Gustafson posted 10 and 11 kills against the Bison and Fighting Hawks last week, respectively ... The last time the Tommies hosted Oral Roberts was the regular season finale last season where they took them to five sets in an eventual defeat.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (7-7; 1-2 SL) | @SDCoyotesVB
Next Up: at North Dakota (10/5; 7 p.m. CT); at North Dakota State (10/7; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Kansas City (L, 3-1); vs. Denver (W, 3-0)
The Coyotes remain at the .500 mark as they split home matches last week, picking up a clutch sweep over Denver ... Madison Harms averaged 3.43 kills per set and 1.14 blocks per set through the two matches ... She registered 10 kills on 16 attempts with just two errors to hit .500 in South Dakota’s 3-0 sweep of the Pioneers ... Harms combined for 24 kills through USD’s two matches, including 14 kills against Kansas City ... Kamryn Farris recorded a career-high and match-high 21 digs against the Roos ... She averaged 4.29 digs per set through two matches, tallied nine digs and posted three assists against Denver ... Farris’ 3.73 digs per set sits her fourth in the league only stats ... Avery Van Hook got herself 30 assists, three kills, eight digs and seven blocks against the Pioneers.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (3-12; 1-2 SL) | @GoJacksVB
Next Up: vs. North Dakota State (10/5; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Omaha (10/7; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Denver (L, 3-1)
Katie Van Egdom paced the Jackrabbits with 17 kills and seven digs in a four-set loss to Denver ... McKenna Moehrle took part in seven blocks, including one solo, against the Pioneers ... Rylee Martin led a defense with a career-high 14 digs, followed by Stella Winterfeld with 13 and Sylvie Zgonc with nine ... Raegen Reilly’s 126 total assists puts her fourth in the league charts heading into the third week of league play ... Van Egdom’s 4.42 kills per set tops the leaderboard, while Winterfeld’ 54 digs is third overall ... South Dakota State will host a pair of matches beginning with North Dakota State.
 
#SummitVB