The Jackrabbit volleyball team went 2-1 in the Diet Coke Classic on Sept. 12, 13 and 14.
The Jacks’ first match was against a solid Dayton team, but the Jacks showed out, sweeping the Flyers 3-0. The Jacks won the first set in a close 25-22 fight. The second set was even closer, with SDSU edging out Dayton 25-23. In the third, the Jacks led wire to wire, winning 25-17.
In the second match of the tournament, SDSU got another sweep, beating the University of South Florida after three close sets. The Jacks won the first two sets 25-22. The Jacks finalized their second sweep of the tournament by getting a 25-23 win in the third set.
The Jacks ended the tournament losing 3-1 to the host team, Minnesota. In set one, the Jacks lost close with a score of 25-23. The Jacks bounced back in the second set, winning 28-26. Minnesota won the next two sets 25-18 and 25-20 to seal a 3-1 win over the Jacks.
The Jacks now return home to host Boise State back-to-back on Friday, Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 20 at noon.
The Jacks are led by junior outside hitter Sylvie Zgonc, who is coming off a great performance against Minnesota, where she had 18 kills and 15 digs. In the three-match tournament, Zgonc totaled 44 kills and 35 digs. In total for the season, Zgonc has 115 points, 106 kills and 77 digs. Against Boise State, Zgonc will also look to add to her streak of double-double performances, which currently sits at four straight matches.
Sophomore Madison Burr has also had a solid season so far, racking up 87 points on 64 kills and a team-leading block total of 32.
Not far behind Burr’s block total is Sydni Schetnan, who has tallied 31 blocks on the season to go along with 49 kills. Schetnan is third on the team in scoring with 67.5 points.
Freshman Hannah Klein sits at 65 points on the season. The newcomer has been a dangerous scoring threat, racking up 58 kills on the season.
Junior setter Rylee Martin has had a phenomenal season setting up all these scoring threats. Martin has 247 assists on the season while also scoring 33 points of her own.
Boise State
The Boise State Broncos will come into Brookings with a 7-2 record, coming off the Boise State Invitational, where they went 3-0.
The Broncos are led in scoring by senior Kailyn Jager, who has tallied 105 points on the season with 90 kills and 24 blocks.
Jager isn’t the only Bronco with triple-digit points on the season. Fifth-year senior Arianna Bibly has 100 points on the season with 86 kills, while adding 76 digs.
Eliza Sharp is another Bronco to keep an eye on. The redshirt freshman leads Boise State in blocks with 48 while adding 66 kills and has a total of 94.5 points.
Fourth on the Boise State team in scoring with 90 points is junior middle blocker Layla Smith. Smith has 69 kills and 37 blocks on the season.
The Jacks will open Summit League play after they host Boise State when they play Omaha Thursday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. at First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings.
