BROOKINGS, S.D. – The South Dakota State volleyball team continued its unbeaten run this season as it took down Denver, 3-1, on Saturday. The Jacks improved to 20-0 on the season and 9-0 in conference play, matching their best start since 1975. SDSU remains the only unbeaten team in NCAA D1 Volleyball.
Sylvie Zgonc led the way for the Jacks with 25 kills, as SDSU hit .267 and held the Pioneers to a .222 hit percentage. Errors made the difference for the Jacks as they lost the statistical edge in kills, 55-62 but won the attack errors total 16-27. Both sides came up with four aces.
Zgonc recorded her 12th double-double of the year by adding 10 digs to her 24 kills. Alyssa Groves and Katie Van Egdom tied for second in kills with 9 a piece. Groves added six blocks, leading the team. Rylee Martin racked up 26 assists as the Jacks won the last three sets to take the match over the Pioneers.
Set one: The Jacks played an extremely contested first set against the Pioneers. The two teams traded points back and forth getting to 6-6, before Denver took control of the set thanks to kills from Kate Perryman and Cassie Davis. SDSU started the set with a 3-0 run but was never able to put together a streak as they dropped the set 18-25
Set two: SDSU played another tightly contested set in set two, going down 12-15 before rallying off a 6-0 run to take the lead and the momentum in the set. The Jacks went up 24-22 before dropping consecutive points to tie up the score 24-24. Groves grabbed a key kill to put the Jackrabbits up 25-24 and Joslyn Richardson clinched the set point with an ace.
Set three: South Dakota State would go up early in set three thanks to two kills from Zgonc, using that momentum to start the set with the lead, 4-1. The Pioneers battled back tying the set 5-5. The two teams would trade blows until the Jacks ripped off six straight points to go up 23-20 in the set. Two more kills from Zgonc and an attack error by the Pioneers allowed the Jacks to take the set 26-24, up 2-1 in the match.
Set four: SDSU rattled off five straight points to start set four and wouldn’t look back taking a quick 10-2 lead in the set. Madison Burr would lead the way for the Jacks with two key kills in the set to break Denver’s serve. A service error by Denver’s Cassie Davis allowed the Jacks to clinch the set, 25-18, and the match 3-1.
NOTES
- Dan Georgalas breaks his single-season wins total with the 20th win of the year.
- SDSU improves to 3-24 against Denver all-time
- With this victory, the Jackrabbits have won 20 games in a season for the first time since 2007 when they won 25 games.
- The Jacks are now tied for their best start to a season since 1975.
UP NEXT
The Jacks will take on the Omaha Mavericks on Thursday, October 31st. With a win the Jacks would improve to 21-0 their best start in program history.