The SDSU Jackrabbits were shut out by the North Dakota State University Bison by a score of 3-0 Saturday night at Frost Arena in Brookings. This was another big rivalry game for the Jackrabbits as the season record for the series against North Dakota State is now at 0-2.

The Jackrabbits lost by scores of 25-13, 25-15 and 25-21.  This puts the Jackrabbits on a three game losing streak and makes their record fall to 3-18 and 1-7 in Summit League play.  The Bison push their record to 3-18 and 3-5 in league play. The Jackrabbits are now on a losing streak of three games.

The Bison attacked with a better precision (.339) than the Jackrabbits (.182) in the match up. Some of which can be attributed to a lack of focus. “The way we came out in set three,” head coach Phil McDaniel said,” I wish we had that focus in sets one and two.” The Jackrabbits on average only allow a .276 attack average so this was a down game for them.  The Bison also beat SDSU defensively beating them in total blocks in the match five to two.

 The NDSU Bison lead 12-6 early but the Jackrabbits fought back to a 19-19 tie. The Jackrabbits could not hang on to the momentum and fell late only scoring another two points.

The Jackrabbits did not lose their cool, after the disappointing match they kept their composure throughout the game. 

“Through the many lineup changes throughout the match,” McDaniel said, “I thought the girls stayed really composed.” 

Effort was definitely not lacking during the match but mistakes again cost the Jackrabbits both momentum and points.  “The girls worked really hard and they fought for every point,” said McDaniel, “We just have to clean a few things up”.

Courtney Roberts lead the blocks for the Jackrabbits with nine, 94 on the season. Kacey Herrmann lead the team in digs with 14, 228 on the season.  Wagner Larson still leads the team in total kills with 190 and Lizzie Palmer is the leader in digs with 259 on the year. Tiara Gibson had a good game getting six kills with a .500 hitting percentage.

The Bisons’, Jenni Fassebender lead the team in kills with 17 also adding 11 digs giving her a double double. Emily Milligan, however, had the most digs in the game with 15.  Monica Claxton also had an impressive gain with 40 assists.

Both squads ended the match with the same 3-18 overall record, with the Jackrabbits falling to 1-7 in the league and the Bison improving to 3-5 in league play.

The next stop for the Jacks is an away match against The University of South Dakota Coyotes in Vermillion on Friday Nov. 1, at 7:00 p.m.