South Dakota State swept the fourth-seeded North Dakota State Bison in the Summit League Tournament semifinals to move on to the championship game to play St. Thomas.
Back-to-back Summit League Player of the Year Sylvie Zgonc led the Jacks in points with 13 on 11 kills and three total blocks.
“We’re just firing on all cylinders right now,” Zgonc said. “It’s just so fun to play with this group right now.”
Sophomore and 2025 All-Summit League first-team player Madison Burr also had a big night with 12.5 points on seven kills and eight total blocks.
“Fourteen blocks in three sets is a ton. We outpointed them by 18,” head coach Dan Georgalas said. “Just all our metrics looked really, really good.”
Even with the 3-0 sweep, SDSU struggled to contain junior Lauren Jansen, who racked up 18.5 points on 17 kills.
In the first set, the Jackrabbits pounced early. After a few NDSU errors, two Zgonc kills and a Jocelyn Richardson ace, the Bison found themselves in a 9-1 hole and decided to take a timeout.
“First Bank & Trust Arena was really electric. Our team came out with that 9-1 run,” Georgalas said. “When we can get up with an early lead, it really allows our group to settle in and play consistent.”
After the timeout, NDSU found some momentum and scored two straight points. But Madison Burr answered back with two straight kills to make the score 11-3.
At 18-10 with the Bison looking for something to make a run, Annalee Ventling-Brown spiked down a kill to force NDSU to call its second timeout of the set. Once again, the timeout settled things down as NDSU scored two straight points, but Burr responded with another kill to stop the run and make the score 20-12.
NDSU didn’t let the SDSU score stop it and scored another two straight points to close the gap to 20-14. Just as NDSU seemed like it might make a run, an SDSU 4-0 run, including back-to-back Sydni Schetnan blocks, gave the Jacks set point. SDSU went on to win the set 25-15 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set, Zgonc came out firing, scoring 4.5 of the Jackrabbits’ first 10 points with SDSU holding a 10-6 lead. After a few more SDSU points, including two Schetnan kills, NDSU called a timeout down 14-7. Following the timeout and a couple more scores, SDSU led 16-9.
From this point on, the Jackrabbits put on a show. It started with a Zgonc kill, then Rachel Weber followed with two service aces in a row. Burr and Rylee Martin combined for a block, NDSU gave the Jacks another point with an error, and Zgonc showed some defense by combining with Burr for a block, then following up with a solo block, followed by another Bison error.
After this, NDSU finally stopped the 8-0 run, but SDSU already had set point at 24-9. Burr sealed the set with a kill to give SDSU a 2-0 match lead.
Facing elimination down 2-0, the Bison opened the scoring in the third set, getting their first lead of the match. The set went back and forth, with each team’s biggest lead just one point, until the Bison went on a run to take an 11-7 lead, forcing an SDSU timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, the Jacks looked like a different team. Schetnan started with a kill, Zgonc got a kill, Ventling-Brown got a block, and Burr got a block plus an NDSU error, giving SDSU a 12-11 lead and forcing a Bison timeout.
Following the timeout, neither team was able to create separation. Tied at 18-18, NDSU took back the lead and the Jacks called their second timeout of the set. Coming out of the timeout, SDSU went on a run to take a 20-19 lead before Richardson got a dig that went back over the net for an SDSU score to make it 21-19, forcing another NDSU timeout.
.SDSU came out of the timeout and looked unstoppable, going on a 4-0 run to reach match point. Up 24-20, freshman Maggie Meister sealed a championship game appearance with a service ace.
SDSU will now play in its second straight Summit League championship game when it faces St. Thomas on Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 6 p.m. You can watch the match on the Summit League Network or listen on Collegian Sports and 90.7 FM in the Brookings area.
