A record 2,853 fans saw South Dakota State volleyball sweep Kansas City in the first event at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings last Thursday.
Kansas City
The first point went to SDSU off a Sydni Schetnan kill, starting a 3-0 scoring run. The Roos responded in kind, tying the game at five points.
After a 5-0 scoring run for the Roos to gain their first lead, SDSU pulled away to leads of three and five points of their own.
A service ace by Rylee Martin gave the Jacks the win in the first set by three points.
The second set was much closer, as the biggest lead for SDSU was just three points.
The Roos could do no better, however, as their biggest lead was a single point.
A five-point margin of victory for SDSU brought the Roos to a must-win situation.
The third set started with a Sylvie Zgonc kill, who already had ten on the night. The Roos took the lead midway through the set in a desperate attempt to force a fourth set.
SDSU then pulled away late, concluding the game with another Zgonc kill to get their first sweep in Summit League play this season.
Sylvie Zgonc finished with 17 kills for the fifth straight game, 11 digs, two assists and a block.
Sydni Schetnan eclipsed double-digit kills as well for the third straight match. Rylee Martin scored a team-high 19 assists, five digs and an ace. The Jacks finished with a .244 hit percentage.
Kaia Dunford led the Roos in kills with 12. She continues to lead the team in this statistic and is the only Roo who has at least 100 kills.
Dunford also scored 11 digs, a block and an ace. Nyle Mathis finished with eight kills, three digs and a block. The Roos finished with a .127 hit percentage.
“Tonight, it felt like more than volleyball,” head coach Dan Georgalas said. “We’re super happy to keep our winning streak going, but this was an event that was just bigger than us and we’re really grateful to be a part of that.”
The Jacks are still unbeaten at 14-0 while the Roos drop to 3-10.
Omaha
SDSU returns to First Bank & Trust Arena Thursday night against Omaha. They are 4-9 overall but have won their first two Summit League matches. Three Mavericks have over 100 kills on the year in Kali Jurgensmeier, McKenna Ruch and Shayla McCormick.
Jurgensmeier sits at 150 kills, averaging just under three kills a set. Ruch is the team’s best blocker with 42 on the year, an average of 0.81 a set and is the Summit League’s seventh-best hitter with a .288 hitting percentage.
McCormick leads the Mavericks in service aces with 13.
The team averages 12.1 kills per set, which is only ahead of Denver and Oral Roberts in the Summit League.
They rank second-to-last in total points, sixth in hitting percentage at .191 and last in service aces at 1.23 per set.
Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday and can be watched on the Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus.
