Volleyball drops two in a row

 

The SDSU volleyball team fell to the Denver Pioneers three sets to none last Friday night at Frost Arena, then traveled to face Oral Roberts, where they pushed the Golden Eagles to the brink before ultimately falling three sets to two.

The Jackrabbits have now lost three in a row and dropped to 3-22 overall on the season and 2-7 in the Summit League.

In the first set, the score was tied at 19 when Denver won four points in a row to take a 23-19 lead and would not look back, winning the set 25-21.

“I thought we came out in set one and played great,” Head Coach Nicole Cirillo said. “We executed our game plan. We had 28 digs just in the first set, so nothing to be ashamed of.”

The Jacks came out slow in the second set falling behind 15-5 and eventually dropping the set 14-25.

“They got on a run right off the bat and you kind of saw us shrivel up and we just couldn’t really get ourselves out of that.” Cirillo said.

The third set was almost identical, as SDSU fell behind 18-6. Denver won the set 25-15 and won the match.

“Sets two and three are something we’re gonna dwell on for a little bit, but it’s just another opportunity for us to learn and move forward.” Cirillo said.

The Jacks struggled on offense, finishing with an attack percentage of .027. That included an attack percentage of .000 in the second set.

“They’re a bigger team and we had to find different ways. The things that had been successful at first weren’t working and we just ended up making a lot of mistakes along the way.” Cirillo said.

Senior middle blocker Lizzie Palmer finished the match with eight digs, giving her 1,000 career digs.

“Her meeting that goal is a huge accomplishment for not only her, but this team as well.” Cirillo said.

Palmer becomes one of just 20 Jackrabbits to reach 1,000 career digs.

“It means a lot to me, I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Palmer said. “You can’t do anything on defense without your blockers and everyone else setting it up for you so a lot of credit goes to my teammates.”

The Jacks then traveled to Tulsa to take on Oral Roberts where they fell three sets to two. This was the second time SDSU had lost in five sets to ORU this season. Freshman outside hitter Ashley Beaner finished with team-leading 13 kills while Palmer finished with a team high 23 digs.

The Jackrabbits return to action this Friday when they take on IUPUI at 7 p.m. in Frost Arena.