The SDSU women’s volleyball team’s season came to a bitter end is they dropped their final two matches at home, failing to win a Summit League match.

The Jacks started off the weekend on Nov. 14 against Oral Roberts. They started out taking the first set 25-22. Oral Roberts came back and took the second set 25-22. After the intermission, Oral Roberts took sets three and four by scores of 25-18 and 25-17 giving them the win.

The Jacks finished with a attack percentage of .154 while Oral Roberts finished with a .238. The Jacks had 15 blocks which was a season-high in league play.

“We came out and played very well that whole first set and pushed Oral Roberts,” said head coach Phil McDaniel. “Our energy and talk wasn’t very good after that first set, we weren’t coming together as a team and energy is such a key part of this game.”

The Jacks took the court at Frost Arena on Nov. 15 for the last time this season as they took on Western Illinois. They honored their lone senior, Margit Hanson. 

“I had a great run and have made so great teammates” Hanson said. “I will be lifelong friends with them for sure.”

The Jacks came out strong winning the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-17. After the intermission the Leathernecks fought back, winning sets three and four by scores of 25-13 and 25-15, sending the game into a 5th set. 

The fifth set was neck and neck with the teams going back and forth. Western Illinois took a 14-11 lead but the Jacks fought back to make it 14-13 before running out of gas on their comeback and losing the fifth set 15-13.

Junior Carley Gerving had a career and team-high 12 kills. Freshman Ashley Beaner added 11 kills. The Jacks finished with a attack percentage of .162 and Western Illinois finished at .201.

“[The] first two sets – that’s the team I’ve wanted to coach and what I’ve seen in practice sometimes,” McDaniel said. “It’s tough [losing the 2-0 lead] and we have to take better care of Frost Arena and we have to press to take care of our home court.”

The Jackrabbits finish the year with an overall record of 6-26 and a record of 0-16 in the Summit League.

The Jacks only lose one player this year and have a lot of talent returning for next year including their top 3 players in kills, sets and blocks. 

“We’ve got some young setters who will certainly grow and mature.” McDaniel said, “We’ve got some upperclassmen in the middle, our ball control should be better and I certainly see us looking better next fall.”