The sixth-seeded South Dakota State volleyball team fell to No. 3 Denver 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-15) in the Summit League Volleyball Tournament quarterfinal in Vermillion Sunday.
SDSU gained its first lead at 16-15 in the first set after a solo block from Elyse Winter broke the tie. The Pioneers battled back and scored six straight points to gain momentum and win the opening frame 25-20.
Denver’s Cassie Davis had six kills in the first set. She finished with 13 total, which led all players. Davis also notched 3 aces in the Pioneers’ second consecutive quarterfinal win over the Jacks.
DU overcame the second set’s slow start and used a 5-0 run to gain the lead from a 6-2 Jackrabbit advantage and win the second set 25-21.
The third set was much the same as the Pioneers started with a 5-1 stretch leading by as many as 12 at 18-6. Davis secured the win for her team with a kill, finishing things out with a 25-15 win and the sweep.
Summit League Freshman of the Year, Sylvie Zgonc, showed out for South Dakota State with 11 kills but couldn’t make enough difference as Denver limited SDSU to a .144 attack percentage throughout the match.
Sydni Schetnan and Rylee Martin tied for the team lead with three blocks each while Martin paced the Jacks with 14 assists. Raegen Reilly joined Zgonc with 10 digs each.
South Dakota State will finish the season with a 9-20 overall record going 7-9 against conference opponents.
The Pioneers advance to their 10th semifinals in 11 years and will face second-seeded Omaha at 4 p.m. Monday at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
