SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The 2023 Summit League volleyball season begins Friday with all nine teams taking the court for the first official serves of the season. The opening weekend will see 25 matches for league teams, including four meetings against Power Five squads. On Friday, preseason favorite South Dakota will head to Ames, Iowa where the Coyotes will begin their season against Iowa State, while Omaha hosts Texas A&M.
 
On Saturday, North Dakota will face Oregon State in Bozeman, Mont., while the Mavericks continue their season-opening home tournament with a match against Kansas. Both of Omaha’s matches will be streamed live on the Summit League Network.
 
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TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (19-12; 12-6, 4th SL - 2022) | @DU_Volleyball
Next Up: vs. North Florida (8/25; 5 p.m. MT); at UC Santa Barbara (8/26; 8 p.m. MT); vs. New Mexico State (8/27; 12 p.m. MT) – UCSB Tournament: Santa Barbara, Calif.
Previous Matches: N/A
Denver will be under the direction of first-year head coach Megan Pendergast, who was a long-time assistant at UCLA, Oklahoma and Tulsa ... DU’s roster includes three graduate students in Cassie Davis, Mackenzie Fidelak and Cadi Boyer ... Boyer is the top retuning kills leader for the Pioneers with 171, while Ryen Wilkens appeared in 28 matches last season where she recorded 279 digs, tallied 13 service aces and totaled 13 matches with double-digit digs ... Denver boasts sisters in Emma Mirabelli, who returns for her second season, and Molly, who joins the squad after a three-year stint at Purdue Fort Wayne.
 
KANSAS CITY ROOS (10-21; 7-11, 7th SL - 2022) | @KCRoosVB
Next Up: vs. FDU (8/25; 9 a.m. CT); at Florida Atlantic (8/25; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Holy Cross (8/26; 10 a.m. CT) – FAU Invitational: Boca Raton, Fla.
Previous Matches: N/A
The Roos are led by a pair of returners that were recognized with postseason honors a season ago. … Senior outside hitter Odyssey Warren earned honorable mention honors and was the only Roo to start in all 31 matches ... She led the team and ranked eighth in the league with 3.28 kills per set along with 0.28 aces per set ... Sophomore middle blocker Kimora Whetstone, a member of last season’s All-Freshman Team, ranked second on team and 18th in the league among qualifying players with a .239 hitting percentage.
 
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (12-18; 9-9, 6th SL - 2022) | @UNDvolleyball
Next Up: vs. Kennesaw State (8/25; 11 a.m. CT); at Montana State (8/25; 8:30 p.m. CT); vs. Oregon State (8/26; 12 p.m. CT) – Bobcat Classic: Bozeman, Mont.
Previous Matches: N/A
In his first year at the helm of the UND program, head coach Jesse Tupac took the team from one win the previous season to 12 wins in 2022, including a .500 finish in league play ... The Fighting Hawks are coming off a season in which they made the league tournament for the first time since making it in their debut season in 2018 ... Elizabeth Norris (honorable mention) and Paige Barber (all-freshman team) return for UND after an impressive 2022 season ... Norris recorded 538 assists and notched six triple-doubles on the season, which was tied for the second most in the nation ... Barber finished with 121 kills including 107 in League action with three matches in double-digit kills.
 
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (21-12; 13-5, 3rd SL - 2022) | @NDSUvolleyball
Next Up: vs. UC Riverside (8/25; 8 p.m. CT); vs. Seattle (8/26; 12 p.m. CT); at Idaho (8/26; 4 p.m. CT) – Idaho Volleyball Classic: Moscow, Idaho
Previous Matches: N/A
North Dakota State reached the 20-win mark for the fifth time in the program's Division I era thanks to the play of four All-Summit League honorees, including the Setter of the Year, Kelley Johnson ... Johnson who will compete in her final season in Fargo, led the league and ranked eighth in the nation with 1,342 assists, averaging 10.57 assists per set ... Ally Barth, a member of the All-Freshman Team, connected on 83 kills and averaged 1.57 kills per set ... After advancing to the Summit League semifinals last season, the Bison made their first appearance in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC).
 
OMAHA MAVERICKS (20-11; 14-4, 2nd SL - 2022) | @OmahaVB
Next Up: vs. Texas A&M (8/25; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Kansas (8/26; 7 p.m. CT) – Omaha Invite: Omaha, Neb.
Previous Matches: N/A
The Mavericks are coming off one of their most successful seasons as a Division I program, reaching the Summit League Championship match for the second year in a row ... After posting their second-consecutive 20-win season, Omaha participated in its first Division I postseason tournament, earning a bid to play in the NIVC ... The Mavericks were led by six All-Summit League honorees, headlined by Kali Jurgensmeier, who was named Freshman of the Year ... She was joined by All-League First Team members Shayla McCormick and McKenna Ruch ... Jurgensmeier led all league freshmen with 264 kills, a .261 hitting percentage, 311 points and 74 blocks ... Both McCormick and Ruch received AVCA All-Region honors, while Ruch became the second Maverick to earn AVCA All-American honors in the D1 era with an honorable mention accolade.
 
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (9-21; 6-12, 8th SL - 2022) | @ORUVolleyball
Next Up: vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi (8/25; 4:30 p.m. CT); at Sam Houston (8/25; 7 p.m. CT); vs. Nicholls (8/26; 1:30 p.m. CT) – Bearkat Invitational Tournament: Huntsville, Texas
Previous Matches: N/A
Oral Roberts will be under the direction of first-year head coach Luke Ward, who comes to ORU after spending the last eight seasons at Trinity International as the head coach ... Whilte at Trinity, he led the Trojans to an NCCAA National Championship in 2022 ... Ward has already welcomed eight new players to the 2023 roster, including Nadia Wheeler, who followed Ward to Tulsa after helping the Trojans to a 30-9 record ... Ward recorded 152 kills and 39 blocks in 2022 ... Kalena Vaivai was named an All-Summit League honorable mention honoree last season after leading the team with 611 assists ... Vaivai averaged 6.87 assists per set and totaled a team-high 25 service aces ... Junior outside hitter Trinity Freeman will be one of the Golden Eagles’ top returning players after logging a team-best 342 kills with 17 double-digit kills last season.
 
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (4-26; 2-16, 9th SL - 2022) | @Tommievball
Next Up: at UIC (8/25; 12 p.m. CT); vs. Lindenwood (8/26; 1 p.m. CT); vs. Oakland (8/26; 1 p.m. CT) – UIC Tournament: Chicago, Ill.
Previous Matches: N/A
St. Thomas enters its third year as a Summit League member and will be led by All-Summit League honorees Emma Goerger and Tezra Ruduzitis ... Goerger ranked ninth in the league with 0.97 blocks per set  and also averaged 2.67 points per set ... Ruduzitis totaled 44 kills, one assist, three service aces, 34 digs, 10 total blocks and 52 points ... Ellie Dammann and Claire Ricard are the lone seniors on the team as the former ranked 17th in the League with 67 blocks, while the latter totaled 37 digs, 42 blocks and 60 kills.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (29-4; 16-2, 1st SL) | @SDCoyotesVB
Next Up: at Iowa State (8/25; 6:30 p.m. CT); vs. DePaul (8/26; 2 p.m. CT) – Cardinal & Gold Challenge – Ames, Iowa
Previous Matches: N/A
South Dakota captured both the Summit League regular season and tournament titles in the same season for the first time in program history last year and returns 13 players from that squad ... One of the headliners for the Coyotes is All-Summit League First Team member Madison Harms, who contributed 309 kills and hit .355 overall, which was the third best mark in the League ... The middle blocker set a school record for the rallying scoring era with 157 total blocks and ranked third in the league at 1.23 blocks per set ... USD has won at least 15 matches in all nine seasons under head coach Leanne Williamson ... The Coyotes will have big shoes to fill as reigning Summit League Player of the Year Elizabeth Juhnke will be on the sidelines for her final season, serving as a student assistant.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (18-15; 11-7, 5th SL) | @GoJacksVB
Next Up: vs. Green Bay (8/25; 11 a.m. CT); vs. Winthrop (8/25; 6 p.m. CT); at Wyoming (8/26; 7 p.m. CT) – Rumble in the Rockies: Laramie, Wyo.
Previous Matches: N/A
South Dakota State is coming off an impressive season that included the program's first trip to the NIVC ... The Jackrabbits will have to replace All-Summit League First Team member Crystal Burk, who helped guide an SDSU offense by accounting for 36 percent of the team's kills a season ago ... Burks graduated ranking third all-time on the SDSU charts in career kills ... The Jackrabbits have eight returners back and seven newcomers for the 2023 season ... The newcomer group is highlighted by the addition of Louisville transfer Sydni Schetnan ... Setter Raegen Reilly will be a key piece to a veteran group this season after the junior dished out 1,307 assists in her sophomore campaign, which was good for first place on SDSU’s single season assists chart in the rallying scoring era.
 
*Records are from 2022 season
 
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