The South Dakota State Jackrabbits will take on the University of Denver Pioneers this Monday at 4 p.m. at the Swinney Center in Kansas City in the semifinal of the Summit League tournament.
The Jackrabbits come into the Summit League tournament with a 26-1 record and the No. 1 seed in the conference. The Jacks will try to continue their fantastic season with their third win against the Pioneers.
In the season’s first matchup between the Pioneers and the Jacks, SDSU went into Denver and came out victorious with a 3-1 win. When Denver came to First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings, it was more of the same, with another 3-1 victory for the Jackrabbits.
In those two matches, Sylvie Zgonc had a combined 42 kills between both games, helping her earn the accolade of Summit League Player of the Year. She is only the third player in league history to win freshman of the year, followed by player of the year in their sophomore season.
Alongside Zgonc, redshirt junior Sydni Schetnan and freshman Madison Burr lead the Summit League in blocks with 123 blocks for both Jackrabbits.
Setter Rylee Martin is also a key contributor to the team. She has 664 assists, which is sixth in the Summit League.
Going into this matchup, SDSU leads the Summit League in five categories: blocks, hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, points and opponent service aces.
Denver
The Pioneers entered the tournament as the fifth seed with a 13-14 overall record and a 7-9 conference record. After beating the number four-seeded NDSU Bison 3-1 in the first round, they will now set their sights on the first-seeded Jackrabbits.
Though the underdog, Denver still has plenty of firepower to compete with the Jacks.
The Pioneers have three All-League players, with graduate student Cassie Davis leading. Davis headlines the team with an appearance on the 2024 All-Summit League First Team. Davis tallied 362 kills (third in the Summit League) and 34 aces (fifth in the Summit League).
Molly Mirabelli made the 2024 All-Summit League Honorable Mention. Mirabelli was fourth in the Summit League with 118 blocks on the year. She was also in the top 15 in the Summit League, racking 261 total kills.
Outside Hitter Jamia Johnson was selected to the 2024 All-Summit League All-Freshman Team. Johnson had a good Freshman season where she tallied up 133 kills, 36 total blocks and 32 digs.
Denver’s main strength as a team is limiting opponent digs. Denver is first in the Summit League, allowing 11.9 digs a game, which will contrast SDSU’s third-place spot in the conference in digs.
The winner of this match will play in the Summit League Championship game against the winner of the Omaha and USD match, which will happen later Monday at 7 p.m. The championship match is scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m.
