SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State was selected to take home the Summit League volleyball regular season title, garnering 62 points and six first-place votes in the preseason coaches' poll released Tuesday by league officials. The Jackrabbits, who will host the 2025 Volleyball Championship, won the regular season crown a season ago.
South Dakota State held a five-point advantage over South Dakota to claim the top spot in the poll voted on by the league's nine head coaches. The Yotes, who received the remaining three-place votes, beat out St. Thomas for the runner-up spot, finishing with 57 points.
The Tommie’s tallied 48 points to secure third. Omaha claimed fourth with 44 points, while Denver accumulated 36 points to place fifth.
North Dakota State (32) was predicted to finish sixth, while North Dakota (18) and Kansas City (16) were projected to finish seventh and eighth, respectively. Oral Roberts rounded out the poll in ninth with eleven points.
2025 Summit League Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
| Rank |
School |
Points (1st) |
2024 Record (SL) |
| 1. |
South Dakota State |
62 (6) |
27-3 (15-1) |
| 2. |
South Dakota |
57 (3) |
21-10 (10-6) |
| 3. |
St. Thomas |
48 |
18-10 (10-6) |
| 4. |
Omaha |
44 |
17-13 (14-2) |
| 5. |
Denver |
36 |
13-15 (7-9) |
| 6. |
North Dakota State |
32 |
12-14 (8-8) |
| 7. |
North Dakota |
18 |
9-18 (2-14) |
| 8. |
Kansas City |
16 |
6-22 (4-12) |
| 9. |
Oral Roberts |
11 |
4-25 (2-14) |
Players to Watch
Sydni Schetnan | South Dakota State | Middle Blocker | Redshirt Senior
- 2024 All-Summit League First Team and All-Tournament Team honoree
- Played 113 sets across 30 matches while recording 281 kills, placing her second on the Jackrabbit squad
- Led the Summit League with a .388 hitting percentage and 146 total blocks
- Recorded a season high 10 blocks against Bradley (9/14)
Sylvie Zgonc | South Dakota State | Outside Hitter | Junior
- 2024 Summit League Player of the Year, 2024 All-Summit League First Team honoree
- Played 113 sets across 30 matches while tallying a league leading 494 kills throughout the season
- Recorded 301 digs, which ranked first on the Jackrabbit team and 10th in the league
- Posted a season-high 25 kills and 27.5 points against Denver (10/26)
Avery Van Hook | South Dakota | Setter | Junior
- 2024 All-Summit League Honorable Mention honoree, All-Tournament Team
- Led the Coyotes and Summit League with 10.24 assists per set, while also posting 1,208 assists, 319 digs, and 106 kills
- Garnered 19 double-doubles on the season
- Earned Summit League Offensive Peak Performer of the Week honors on Sept. 24
Kamryn Farris | South Dakota | Defensive Specialist | Senior
- 2024 Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, 2024 All-Summit League First Team honoree
- Appeared in all 31 matches for the Coyotes playing in 115 sets and accumulating a league leading 565 digs (4.75/set) and 46 service aces
- Recorded a career-best 38 digs against St. Thomas (11/11)
- Tallied 30+ digs in three matches and had 20+ digs in 11 matches
Megan Wetter | St. Thomas | Middle Blocker | Senior
- 2024 All-Summit League First Team honoree
- Played in 26 matches and 98 sets while garnering 240 kills, 16 assists, 14 service aces, 68 digs, and 102 total blocks
- Ranked first in blocks for the Tommies and eighth in the Summit with 102 total blocks
- Finished with a season-best 16 kills, and two assists at North Dakota State (10/24)
Morgan Kealy | St. Thomas | Setter | Junior
- 2024 Summit League Setter of the Year, 2024 All-Summit League First Team honoree
- Played in 106 sets across 28 matches and garnered 1,020 assists, 60 kills, 23 service aces, 285 digs, and 48 total blocks
- Garnered a career high 53 assists at Green Bay (9/20)
- Ranked second in assists and ninth in digs in the Summit League
Emily Huss | Omaha | Middle Blocker | Junior
- Appeared in 95 sets and started 25 matches while tallying 113 total blocks and 1.19 blocks per set, both of which ranked in the top 10 among league players
- Recorded a season high nine total blocks against Denver (10/17)
- Named Summit League Defensive Peak Performer of the Week on Oct. 8 after recording eight blocks in a win against South Dakota
- Logged 74 kills and 15 digs with a career high seven kills against DePaul (12/6)
Kali Jurgensmeier | Omaha | Outside Hitter | Senior
- 2024 All-Summit League First Team honoree and was also a member of the Academic All-League Team
- Garnered 362 kills, 109 digs, and 94 total blocks during her junior campaign
- Notched double-digit kills in 21 matches with a season high 19 kills against Lindenwood (Dec. 5) and Wichita State (Sept. 21)
- Named Summit League Offensive Peak Performer of the Week on Nov. 5 after recording 29 kills and seven blocks in two wins
Ava Reynolds | Denver | Outside Hitter | Senior
- Appeared in 23 matches while tallying 2.80 kills per set and 1.84 digs per set
- Ranked third on the Pioneers with 244 kills
- Notched double-figure kills in 13 matches with a career high 19 kills against South Dakota (10/24)
- Garnered 160 digs and 26 service aces
Izzy Rawlings | Denver | Setter | Graduate
- Played 71 sets across 25 matches for Rice
- Recorded seven matches with 20+ assists including a career-high 47 against Long Island
- Garnered the second most assists for the Owls (332) and assists per set (4.68)
- Tallied 87 digs and 11 blocks with a career high 18 digs against Long Island (9/15)
Lauren Jansen | North Dakota State | Outside Hitter | Junior
- Posted double-digit kills in nine matches and double-digit digs in six matches.
- Averaged a team-best 0.45 service aces per set, which ranked first in the league
- Tallied 2.41 kills per set to rank second on her team and 18th in the Summit League
- Logged at least two service aces in nine matches, including a season-best five against St. Thomas (10/24)
Ally Barth | North Dakota State | Middle Blocker | Senior
- Appeared in all 25 matches while recording 64 total blocks
- Posted at least one block in 24-of-25 matches while garnering multiple blocks in 16 matches.
- Tallied 116 kills and averaged 1.22 kills per set with a season best (12) at Kansas City.
- Contributed 24 service aces which ranked 22nd in the Summit League
Sadie White | North Dakota | Setter | Freshman
- Garnered over 3,000 career assists during her prep career in Utah.
- Ranks fourth in Utah high school history with 3,228 assists, 902 digs, 185 aces, and 151 blocks
- Earned All-State and All-Region first-team honors three times
- Finished her senior season ranked first in digs, first in blocks and second in aces among all setters in the state of Utah
Paige Barber | North Dakota | Outside Hitter | Senior
- Led the team with 251 kills and 2.49 kills per set
- Played in all 27 matches and 101 of 102 sets
- Reached double-digit kills in 12 matches with a career high 18 against Oral Roberts (10/3)
- Finished the season with 31 total blocks and 69 digs
Ledisi Kpea | Kansas City | Middle Blocker/Right Side | Redshirt-Sophomore
- Played 79 sets across 26 matches while recording 77 blocks, placing her first on the Roo squad
- Notched a career high 12 kills against Montana (9/20)
- Averaged 1.69 kills per set while hitting .204
- Logged five or more blocks in eight matches
Kailee Deffebaugh | Kansas City | Middle Blocker | Senior
- Logged a career best 10 kills against St. Thomas (11/9)
- Averaged 1.34 kills per set while hitting .231
- Ranked second on the Roos averaging 0.75 blocks per set
- Appeared in 73 sets across 26 matches while ranking sixth in the Summit League with 0.36 aces per set
Natassia Baptiste | Oral Roberts | Middle Blocker | Senior
- Recorded the second highest number of kills (130) on the team
- Ranked second on the team in hitting percentage (.203)
- Tallied 48 total blocks with a season-high (5) against Abilene Christian (9/20)
- Garnered a career high 10 kills against Bethune-Cookman (9/6)
Julia Carr | Oral Roberts | Defensive Specialist/ Libero | Graduate
- Finished the 2024 season at Carroll College as the lone player in the nation to average 7.0 digs per set
- Tallied 13 games with 30-plus digs and two with 50-plus digs
- Named a 2024 AVCA All-American Honorable Mention honoree at the NAIA level
- Earned the Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Year accolades
Note: Players to Watch nominated by the league's head coaches
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