SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Omaha took sole possession of first place in the league standings with just over a week left in the regular season. The Mavericks can earn their second regular season title in three years if they win against Denver and South Dakota State.
Denver, who sits in second place, hosts Omaha on Wednesday in a highly anticipated match. The Pioneers close out the regular season with a home match against Oral Roberts on Nov. 15.
Kansas City, North Dakota State and South Dakota are all tied for the third spot with a 9-4 league mark, while South Dakota State is in the driver’s seat to secure the final spot in the championships. The Jackrabbits could earn a spot in next week’s tournament with either one win or one North Dakota loss.
All the action from the final week of league play can be watched on
Summit League Network.
TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (11-11; 10-4 SL) | @DU_Volleyball
Next Up: vs. Omaha (11/8; 6 p.m. MT); vs. Oral Roberts (11/15; 6 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: at Oral Roberts (W, 3-0); at Kansas City (L, 3-2)
The Pioneers defeated Oral Roberts on the road, 3-0, before falling to Kansas City, 3-2, last week ... Cassie Davis posted a combined 36 kills, including 29 kills against the Roos ... Her 29 kills are the second-most in a match in Denver Division I tenure ... Her 29 kills were also the most in any match by a league player this season ... On the defensive side of the ball, Molly Mirabelli notched eight total blocks, including five block assists against the Roos ... Denver will host first-place Omaha on Wednesday night in a highly anticipated match between the top two teams in the standings.
KANSAS CITY ROOS (18-6; 9-4 SL) | @KCRoosVB
Next Up: at North Dakota State (11/9; 7 p.m. CT); at North Dakota (11/11; 1 p.m. CT); vs. St. Thomas (11/15; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Omaha (L, 3-1); vs. Denver (W, 3-2)
After falling to Omaha in three-sets, Kansas City bounced back with a superb five-set thriller against Denver ... Odyssey Warren was the star of the show, finishing with a career-high 27 kills and nine digs to will the Roos to victory ... This marked the third time this season that Warren had reached a new career-high in kills and last week, it made her the highest-scoring player for Kansas City since Emily Lucas recorded 30 kills against South Dakota State in 2012 ... The Roos also had success attacking out of the middle, as Carly Gillen finished with 11 kills on .474 hitting and Kimora Whetstone had seven kills on .462 hitting ... Leah Green led Kansas City’s defense with 15 digs, while Kaia Dunford and Sydney Henry notched 10 apiece ... The Roos will go up the I-29 to face North Dakota State and North Dakota before wrapping up their season at home against St. Thomas.
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (6-19; 3-10 SL) | @UNDvolleyball
Next Up: at South Dakota State (11/9; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Kansas City (11/11; 1 p.m. CT); vs. North Dakota State (11/14; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at South Dakota (L, 3-0)
In North Dakota’s lone match last week against South Dakota, Marissa Stockman hit .600 where she recorded seven kills on ten attacks with one service ace ... Elizabeth Norris notched eight kills and 13 assists, while Izzie McCormick led the team with eight digs ... Teagan Timperley reached double digit assists for the seventh straight match with 11 total ... In order for the Fighting Hawks to make the league championships, they will need to at least win the remainder of their three matches and have South Dakota State lose all three of their remaining matches.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (17-7; 9-4 SL) | @NDSUvolleyball
Next Up: vs. Kansas City (11/9; 7 p.m. CT); at South Dakota (11/11; 4 p.m. CT); at North Dakota (11/14; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. South Dakota State (W, 3-2)
Ali Hinze helped NDSU extend its win streak to six matches with a 3-2 triumph over South Dakota State ... She totaled a team-high 18 kills and averaged a team-best 3.6 kills per set ... The senior outside hitter added 17 digs (3.4 per set) and recorded her fifth straight double-double ... Taylor Quan notched a team-high 20 digs (4.00 per set) and it marked her second match this season reaching the 20-dig plateau ... The Bison are in a tie for third place with Kansas City and South Dakota at 9-4 ... NDSU will conclude its season against the Roos followed by two road matches against the Coyotes and Fighting Hawks.
OMAHA MAVERICKS (12-12; 11-3 SL) | @OmahaVB
Next Up: at Denver (11/8; 7 p.m. CT); vs. South Dakota State (11/11; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at Kansas City (W, 3-1); at St. Thomas (W, 3-0)
Omaha took sole possession of first in the league standings thanks to a pair of road win against Kansas City and St. Thomas ... Rachel Fairbanks had a week to remember, as the outside hitter led the Mavericks with 30 kills (4.29 per set), a .431 attack percentage and 31 digs (4.43 per set) ... She became the first Maverick this season to top 20 kills in a single match and the first to have at least 20 kills and 20 digs in a match since last season after recording career highs with 20 kills and 23 digs against Kansas City ... She now has six straight matches with double-digit kills and had her fifth consecutive double-double in the match against the Roos ... Omaha will match up with Denver is a rematch that saw the Mavericks sweep the Pioneers on Oct. 11 ... If Omah defeats both Denver and South Dakota State this week, they will have earned its second regular season title in the last three years.
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (3-22; 1-12 SL) | @ORUVolleyball
Next Up: at South Dakota (11/9; 6 p.m. CT); vs. St. Thomas (11/12; 1 p.m. CT); at Denver (11/15; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Denver (L, 3-0); at South Dakota State (L, 3-1)
With Oral Roberts’ two losses last week, they have been officially eliminated from postseason competition ... Outside hitter Trinity Freeman logged her team-leading eighth double-double of the season after totaling a match-best 13 kills to go along with 14 digs against South Dakota State ... The junior has now led the Golden Eagles in kills in 19 of the last 20 matches ... Breanna Rivas led all players with 22 digs against the Jackrabbits ... At the net, Kedron Burk registered a match-high tying five blocks ... ORU will close out its season against South Dakota, St. Thomas and Denver.
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (6-19; 2-12 SL) | @Tommievball
Next Up: at Oral Roberts (11/12; 1 p.m. CT); at Kansas City (11/15; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. South Dakota (L, 3-0); vs. Omaha (L, 3-0)
St. Thomas ended its home season with a pair of losses against South Dakota and Omaha and will close out the season on the road against Oral Roberts and Kansas City ... Against the Coyotes, Ellie Gustafson collected her fourth double-double of the campaign with 11 kills and 12 digs ... Freshman Ella Voegele led the team in digs with 15 total ... Against the Mavericks, sophomore Tezra Rudzitis had a strong match with a .500 hitting percentage for nine kills and two service aces ... The Tommies finished out league play with two road matches against Oral Roberts and Kansas City.
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (15-9; 9-4 SL) | @SDCoyotesVB
Next Up: vs. Oral Roberts (11/9; 6 p.m. CT); vs. North Dakota State (11/11; 4 p.m. CT); at South Dakota State (11/14; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at St. Thomas (W, 3-0); vs. North Dakota (W, 3-0)
After being in a tie for fifth in the league standings last week, the Coyotes swept a pair of matches to move into a tie for third with Kansas City and North Dakota State ... Madison Harms, who was named the TicketSmarter Summit League Volleyball Offensive Peak Performer of the Week, totaled 26 kills to average 4.33 kills per set on a .605 hitting clip ... On defense, Harms was just as efficient as the senior middle blocker totaled 10 blocks to average 1.67 blocks per set ... She tallied four blocks, including two solo blocks, in USD’s win over St. Thomas ... Harms posted six blocks, including one solo block, in the Coyotes’ 3-0 win over North Dakota .. She is just 15 blocks away from owning the all-time career blocks record for the Summit League ... The Coyotes have now won 15 or more matches in a season for the 10th straight season.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (8-17; 6-7 SL) | @GoJacksVB
Next Up: vs. North Dakota (11/9; 7 p.m. CT); at Omaha (11/11; 12 p.m. CT); vs. South Dakota (11/14; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at North Dakota State (L, 3-2); vs. Oral Roberts (W, 3-1)
South Dakota State went 1-1 last week with a five-set road loss to North Dakota State and a four-set home victory over Oral Roberts ... Against the Bison, a trio of Jackrabbits finished with double-digit kills, led by a 20-kill outing from Sylvie Zgonc ... Masa Scheierman added 15 kills and Katie Van Egdom chipped in 10 ... Van Egdom paced the squad with 18 digs for her eighth double-double of the season ... Against the Golden Eagles, Sydni Schetnan posted a team-high 12 kills to go with four blocks, while Zgonc added 11 kills and 12 digs for her third double-double in her last four matches ... For SDSU to earn a spot in the league championships, they will need to either win at least one of their three remaining matches or have North Dakota lose a match.
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