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Kelly Herrmann reached the 1,000 dig milestone, Kaitlin Klingemann reached the 1,000 kill milestone and the Jackrabbits gutted out a 35-33 win in the fourth set to give South Dakota State a 3-1 win over Western Illinois on Friday in Summit League action.
“Kelly is such a solid all-round player for our squad. This milestone is a difficult one to reach and Herrms has put in the extra efforts to make it happen,” head coach Phil McDaniel said after the match. “Kaitlin is a player for us who played multiple roles for our team. She works hard in the gym every day and 1,000 kills from a middle is a phenomenal accomplishment.”
The Fighting Leathernecks , who fall to 9-13 overall and to 3-8 in the league, won the first set 25-22, but the Jackrabbits, who improve to 14-8 overall and to 6-4 in league play, won the next two sets by the scores of 25-22 and 25-20 before the final set marathon.
“We worked for a hard fought win tonight over a very solid Western team,” head coach Phil McDaniel said. “Our focus this time through the conference is and will remain on the defensive side of the ball and in our transition offense. I thought we handled both well tonight.”
Kelli Fiegen and Margit Hansing both finished with 15 kills to lead the Jacks. Fiegen added nine total blocks, four solo and five assist in the win, while Hansing added 21 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
Klingemann, who became the 16th member of the SDSU 1,000-Kills Club, finished with 14 kills and a solo block. Herrmann finished with 12 each in kills and digs after entering the match one dig shy of becoming the 14th member of the SDSU 1,000-Digs Club. Hermann’s double-double marks her fourth of the season and 14th of her career.
Shay Birath led the Jackrabbit defense with 26 digs, which leaves her 105 digs shy of the SDSU career digs record of 1,929.
Western Illinois’ Samantha Fournier led all players in the match with 28 kills. Ann Miller and Katie Hosteng both added 13 and Heather Smith 12 kills in the loss. Miller added 14 digs to complete the double-double.
The Jackrabbits return to action on Saturday against IUPUI at 4 p.m. CT.
