BROOKINGS, S.D. – The South Dakota State volleyball team’s incredible run continues. With a thrilling five-set win over South Dakota Tuesday night, SDSU improves to 19-0 on the season and wraps the first half of Summit League action with an 8-0 conference mark.
State’s win over USD is its first since 2015 and snaps an 18-game losing streak to its in-state foe. Set scores went 25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 26-24, 15-8. South Dakota drops to 13-6 on the season and 5-3 in Summit League contests.
With their backs against the wall in the fourth, the Jackrabbits fought off two Coyote match points and scored the final four to force the tiebreak game. With the momentum swung in the Jacks’ direction, the home team opened the final set with a 3-0 run and never looked back.
SDSU finished one block shy of its program record with 18 as a team and held USD to .129 hitting. The Coyotes hit in the negative in sets one and five. The Jackrabbits hit .223 for the contest with a match-best .349 clip in set four, but were below .100 in set three. The Coyotes had 10 total blocks.
SDSU had a slight 63-61 edge in kills while USD had a 72-71 advantage in digs. Both teams tallied six aces, but the Jackrabbits committed nine serving errors compared to five by the Coyotes.
Sylvie Zgonc was a powerhouse for the Jacks, finishing with 24 kills at a .267 clip to go with 12 digs, four blocks and two assists. She had seven kills in the fourth set and five in the fifth. Annalee Ventling-Brown had one of her best nights in a Jackrabbit uniform. The senior tallied eight kills on 13 swings with two errors for a .462 hitting percentage and posted five blocks on the night. She put down four kills in the fourth and two more in the fifth.
Sydni Schetnan also tallied eight kills. She recorded eight blocks while her middle counterpart Madison Burr had seven.
Zgonc was one of four Jackrabbits with double-digit digs. Rachel Wieber also had 12 while Joslyn Richardson contributed 11 and Rylee Martin added 10. Martin also tallied 27 digs and an ace while Camryn Honn dished 21 helpers and notched two aces.
Lauren Medeck totaled 20 kills for USD and Kylen Sealock added 19.
Set one: A pair of 3-0 runs in the opening set helped the Jacks to an 11-8 lead. USD worked back with three of the next four points to trail by just one. Ahead 17-15, Honn notched a kill that sparked a 5-0 Jackrabbit run for the 22-15 lead. Two unforced USD attack errors made it 24-18, then Burr gave the Jacks the 1-0 lead with a kill.
Set two: Set two went back-and-forth early, but USD eventually worked its way out to a 12-8 lead. A Coyote error plus an ace from Richardson and kill from Zgonc had the Jacks back within one, 12-11. USD answered with the next three points. Down 17-13, Zgonc and Schetnan had kills and Burr had an ace to again make it a one-point game. USD led just 22-21 late but scored the final three points to even the match at 1-1.
Set three: USD jumped out to a big 16-8 lead in the third and eventually led 20-11. The Jacks scored nine of the next 10 points to put themselves back in the set, 21-10. The run included four blocks and a kill from Burr. The Coyotes snapped the run with two straight to lead 23-20. Zgonc had another kill and Schetnan and Ventling-Brown teamed up on a block to make it a one-point set, 24-23, before a serving error put the Coyotes up 2-1.
Set four: A 3-0 USD run put the Coyotes up 14-9. Kills from Ventling-Brown, Groves and Zgonc and a solo block by Schetnan during a 4-0 stretch had the Jacks back within on, 14-13. Katie Van Egdom tied the set at 16 and again at 17 with a pair of kills, then Honn put SDSU ahead with an ace and a USD error made it 19-17 in SDSU’s favor. After a Coyote timeout, USD answered with a 6-1 run to go ahead 23-20. USD had set point with 24-22 and 24-23 leads but the Jackrabbits scored the final four points of the set to force the fifth. Zgonc put down the final two kills.
Set five: A pair of USD attack errors and a block by Schetnan and Ventling-Brown forced an early Coyote timeout at 3-0 in the tiebreak game. Another kill from Zgonc and a block from Schetnan and Van Egdom helped the Jacks extend their lead to 6-2. Richardson tallied an ace to make it an 8-3 advantage at the side change. The teams traded points until 12-6, then consecutive points form the Coyotes had the Jackrabbits using a timeout up 12-8. Out of the break, Zgonc scored the Jackrabbits’ final three points for the victory.
NOTES
- SDSU is now 59-41 all-time against USD, however USD holds a 27-3 advantage in the series’ Division I era. Prior to Tuesday, USD had won 18 straight meetings.
- The Jacks set the record of 19 in another five-set victory over Toledo earlier this season. The Jackrabbits have posted 18 blocks twice this season (versus USD, versus UIC)
- Head Coach Dan Georgalas has matched his single-season win career record at 19.
- Five of the last six contests between SDSU and USD have gone to five sets.
UP NEXT
South Dakota State hosts Denver at 1 p.m. Saturday at First Bank & Trust Arena.