The South Dakota State women’s volleyball team (8-4, 0-1) is ready to kick off Summit League action at home this week after dropping their first conference match to South Dakota (4-6, 1-0) Friday.

The Jacks started their match well against the favored Coyotes in Vermillion. They picked up the first set after a balanced attack from Crystal Burk, Ella Thompson and Chloe Stitt. However, they would go on to drop set two 25-12. 

SDSU would fight back in set three, pulling within a point at 23-22 after falling behind early on. The Coyotes scored the next two points, taking a 2-1 set lead in the match. South Dakota won set four 25-18 and won the match 3-1. 

SDSU had a .242 hitting percentage, which would usually be good enough for a win, but allowed the Coyotes to hit .425.

“They started a little bit slow, but credit to them, they scored at will,” said coach Dan Georgalas. “Hitting almost .250 is a great offensive performance for us. We just got to remain a little more consistent.”

Burk led the team with 20 kills and eight digs. Carly Wedel had 35 assists, with Thompson and Stitt each contributing six kills apiece.

“Overall, we’re super happy with how we competed,” Georgalas said. “We knew we underperformed against Drake, the match prior. To come out and push one of the top teams in our league and take the first set and feel like we were never really out of the match shows we can compete with any of the teams in our league.”

The Jackrabbits have three matches this week as they look to play North Dakota, Kansas City and Oral Roberts.

North Dakota is off to a rough start in their season as they have only one win in 14 games on the year so far. Meanwhile, Oral Roberts and Kansas City have won their first two conference matches. The Golden Eagles sit at 8-3, while the Roos are 11-3.

“I think this week is fun, getting to play three times in five days,” Georgalas said. “Opening Summit League play at home is gonna be great. North Dakota is better than what their record indicates right now, they pushed us to five sets last year.”

SDSU’s eight wins is already their most in a season since 2012. They hope to continue their strong start as they continue Summit League play.

Jacks record last 10 Seasons 

2011: 13-20, 5-13

2012: 16-13, 8-8

2013: 5-22: 3-11

2014: 6-27, 0-16

2015: 5-27, 4-12

2016: 5-23, 4-12

2017: 2-25, 0-14

2018: 6-23, 3-13

2019: 6-22, 3-13

2020: 6-11, 6-10

2021: 8-4, 0-1