The Jackrabbits continued their Summit streak with a sweep of Oral Roberts last Thursday, Oct. 28 then followed it up with a 3-1 win against Denver on Saturday, Oct. 25. SDSU now moves to 16-3 and 10-0 in Summit League play.
ORAL ROBERTS
In the first set against ORU, SDSU pulled away to a 10-5 lead. But ORU brought it back to an 11-9 lead for SDSU. But SDSU was just too much for the Golden Eagles in the first set and won 25-18.
In the second, it was the Jacks jumping to a 10-3 lead early. ORU wouldn’t be able to overcome the Jacks’ lead and SDSU would go on to take a 25-15 win to secure a 2-0 lead.
The third would be tight to start with the Jackrabbits clinging to a 9-7 lead. After ORU kept it relatively close the whole set, junior outside hitter Sylvie Zgonc would give the Jacks a close 25-22 win to close out the sweep.
Zgonc was the Jacks’ leading scorer with 12 points coming on 11 kills while also adding 11 digs.
For the Golden Eagles, it was sophomore Cortnee Smith leading the team in points with 14.5.
DENVER
On Saturday, the Jacks handled business at home against Denver and in the first set, SDSU went from down 2-0 to taking a 10-5 lead. The freshman Hanna Klein gave the Jacks a 25-15 win to take a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, SDSU jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but Denver stormed back to take a 10-9 lead. SDSU followed suit and rallied to take an 18-14 lead. Denver would come back and tie the set at 21-21 before SDSU would eventually go on to get a 25-23 win.
The third set would be neck and neck to start before SDSU eventually pulled out to a 16-12 lead. The Jacks held the lead until Denver took control with a 20-19 advantage. The Pioneers never relinquished their advantage and would go on to win 25-21 to stay alive, now down 2-1.
Much like the third set, the fourth started out close with both teams trading leads before Denver pulled away to a 17-13 lead, looking to even the match. And it looked like they would do just that, holding a 20-16 lead. Denver eventually got the set to match point with a 24-22 lead before SDSU went on a 4-0 run to take a 26-24 set win and a 3-1 match win.
Sylvie Zgonc had a monster night, recording a season high in kills with 23 and points with 26. Zgonc was also close to another double-double, adding nine digs.
Sophomore Madison Burr also had a big night with 18 points on 15 kills and six block assists.
Senior Ava Reynolds led the Pioneers in points with 16 on 14 kills. Reynolds also managed to get 14 digs on the night to secure a double-double.
OMAHA
The next test for the Jackrabbits will be this Thursday on Oct. 30, when the Jacks travel to face the Omaha Mavericks. The Mavericks currently sit at sixth in the Summit League standings with a 4-6 record.
The Jacks opened conference play against the Mavericks just over a month ago. SDSU came out on top with a 3-2 win in Brookings.
In the first matchup of the season, it was the freshman Klein who led the Jacks in scoring with 19.5 points, which, up to this point, is a career high for the first-year player.
On the other side of the floor, Kali Jurgensmeier also had a successful match with 23 points on 20 kills.
On the year, the senior Jurgensmeier leads the Mavericks in points with 304. She also leads the way in kills with 252.
The only other Mav with over 150 points is Freshman Faith Venable, who has tallied 258.5 points on the season on 209 kills.
USD
After the matchup in Omaha, the Jacks will return home to play rival USD on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m.
Less than two weeks ago, the Jackrabbits traveled to Vermillion and defeated the Coyotes 3-1 after losing the first set. USD currently sits at third in the Summit League with a 7-3 conference record.
The junior Zgonc had a big performance with 21 points on 21 kills. Zgonc also added 11 digs to her stat line.
For the Coyotes, sophomore Lauren Medeck leading the way with 15 points and seven digs.
The Jacks’ next matchup will be in Minnesota against St. Thomas on Saturday, November 8.
