The Basics
Score: No. 1 South Dakota State 3, No. 5 Denver 2
Records: South Dakota State (27-1, 15-1 SL), Denver (13-15, 7-9 SL)
Location: Swinney Center – Kansas City, Mo.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Top-seeded South Dakota State had to reverse sweep No. 5 seed Denver to capture the first semifinal of the 2024 Summit League Volleyball Championship at the Swinney Center Monday. The Jackrabbits dropped the opening two sets but regrouped from there to reach the tournament title game for just the second time in program history (23-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-10).

Early on it was all Pioneers as DU reeled off the first five points of the opening set and led 8-1 before the Jackrabbits could settle in. SDSU did just that, eventually taking a brief lead only to see DU earn the first-set victory. The Pioneers led throughout a majority of the first set losing the lead only once as the Jackrabbits rallied to square things up at 22-22 and take a 23-22 lead on an attack error by Cassie Davis.

From there, the Pioneers strung together the final three points, including the final two on back-to-back attack errors by Sylvie Zgonc, to secure a 1-0 advantage.

The Jackrabbits fared much better at the start of set No. 2 building an early 6-3 advantage but the Pioneers stayed within striking distance. The teams would exchange a series of 3-0 runs in what would become a back-and-forth affair. Molly Mirabelli's fourth block of the set squared things at 10-10.

With the teams tied at 13-13, freshman Jamia Johnson registered back-to-back kills to give DU a two-point cushion. The Pioneers would not trail again in the set but never led by more than two as they survived to establish a two-set advantage.

Facing a must-win set, the Jacks never trailed in the third as they pulled away late to cut DU's set advantage in half with a 25-22 victory. Freshman of the Year Madison Burr closed things out with a kill.

Denver held an early 2-1 lead in the fourth set, but it was the Jackrabbits who imposed their will the rest of the way. Sydni Schetnan and Zgonc teamed up for six kills each to help the Jacks pull even at two sets a piece and the 23-15 and 24-16 set leads for SDSU were the largest by either team in the match.

The Jackrabbits broke a 7-7 tie in the fifth set with three straight points but the Pioneers would rally to even things at 10-10 on a service ace by Emersen Werge. However, the freshman's ace would be the final point SDSU would yield as the Jackrabbits tallied the next five to prevent the Pioneers from becoming the first No. 5 seed in tournament history to make the final. 

Who Stood Out
Zgonc, the Summit League Player of the Year, overcame a slow start to register a match-high 24 kills and 14 digs, registering her 18th double-double of the season and fourth straight. She combined for 13 of those kills in the pivotal fourth and fifth sets, including scoring nearly half of her team's points in the finale after posting seven.

Schetnan added 16 kills and nine total blocks as the Jackrabbits posted 15.0 as a team in the match.

The Pioneers had a quartet of players reach double-digit kills led by Mirabelli with 15. The graduate student posted her second career double-double after adding a match-high 11 total blocks.

Ava Reynolds and Johnson each had five kills in the opening set and the DU defense registered four blocks to earn a 25-23 victory. Reynolds finished with 14 while Johnson joined Davis in finishing with 11.

Davis, Reynolds and setter Briley Decker also had double-doubles for the Pios. Davis added a career-high 18 digs to go with her 20th double-digit kill effort of the campaign. Reynolds added 11 digs, while Decker had 13 digs to go with a match-high 39 assists. 

Turning Point
After Denver scored three straight to pull the fifth-set score even at 10-10, the Jackrabbits scored the final five points to reach just the program's second tournament final. Zgonc started that spurt with her 23rd and 24th kills of the match, then a service ace by Burr sandwiched between a pair of DU attack errors closed things out in thrilling fashion for the top seed.
 
Notable

• SDSU is making just its second title-game appearance and first since 2007 when the program also won its only previous regular season title. The Jackrabbits won its lone tournament title that season as well. 
• Zgonc registered her seventh 20-plus kill performance of the season.
• Mirabelli’s 11 total blocks are the third-most blocks in Summit League Volleyball Championship history.
• The Jackrabbits improved to 5-1 in five-set matches this season, while the Pioneers fell to 4-2.
• The No. 1 seed has now made the tournament final in five straight seasons but won only one of those matches (South Dakota; 2022).

Up Next
The South Dakota State will meet the winner of the No. 2 Omaha vs. No. 3 South semifinal in Tuesday's championship match at 7 p.m. CT.