OXFORD, Miss. – South Dakota State volleyball went 1-1 Friday at the Ole Miss Invite. The Jackrabbits opened the day with a 25-19, 25-12, 25-13 sweep over Alcorn State, then fell in a 25-23, 25-17, 25-9 sweep to host Ole Miss.

South Dakota State vs. Alcorn State – W, 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-13)
Sylvie Zgonc and Sydni Schetnan were incredibly efficient in the match, notching .765 and .667 hitting percentages, respectively. Zgonc finished with 13 kills and no errors on 17 swings while Schetnan tallied nine kills and only one error on 12 attacks. Masa Scheierman added a season-high eight kills in her third appearance of the year.

Stella Winterfeld led the way with 12 digs, followed by Zgonc, Katie Van Egdom and Faith Saewert with three apiece. Elyse Winter took part in four blocks and Van Egdom and Schetnan were in on three each.

Raegen Reilly and Rylee Martin combined for 34 of the Jacks’ 39 assists. The Jackrabbits recorded seven aces as a team, led by Winter with three and Martin with two.

The Jackrabbits hit .385 as a team and held the Braves to a .110 clip. SDSU also bested the Braves in kills (45-23), aces (7-3) and blocks (7-4).

Set One: The sides traded points in the opening set before a 6-1 stretch helped the Jacks pull away late. Winter got in on two blocks for the 3-0 lead, then put down a kill to make it 4-2. Zgonc’s first kill of the day made it 8-6 and her second made it 9-8. Already leading 16-15, McKenna Moehrle notched a kill that sparked the 6-1 stretch. Zgonc added two more kills during the run that put SDSU ahead 21-17. The Jacked ended the set with four straight points.

Set Two: SDSU extended its 10-8 lead to 16-8 with six straight points. Schetnan had three kills in that stretch while Winter and Reilly added one each. Schetnan added a kill and a block to make it 21-10. Scheierman had two kills during a 4-0 run to win the set. The Jackrabbits hit a blistering .500 as a team in set two with only two team attack errors.

Set Three: The Jacks opened up a 9-1 lead in the final set and rolled from there. Zgonc recorded two kills in the opening run. Van Egdom and Scheierman each added a kill and teamed up on a block. Martin aced the Braves twice during a four-point run to make it 17-7. Another four-point run capped by consecutive Van Egom kills gave the Jacks the set and the match.

South Dakota State at Ole Miss – L, 0-3 (25-23, 25-17, 25-9)
Zgonc paced the Jackrabbits with 10 kills against the Rebels, followed by Scheierman and Van Egdom with seven apiece. Van Egdom hit .467 in the contest, the best single-match clip of her career.

Reilly and Martin had 15 and 10 assists, respectively. Schetnan added two. Winterfeld’s nine digs led the defense while Zgonc added six and Martin had five. Zgonc, Winter, Moehrle and Scheierman tallied one block assist each.

SDSU did not tally any ace serves in the match but were aced seven times.

Set One: SDSU outhit Ole Miss .290-.273 in the tight first set. The Rebels worked their way out to a 14-9 lead and forced SDSU to use both its timeouts. Out of the break, the Jacks rattled off a 7-0 run to go up 16-14. Zgonc sparked the run with a kill and, after two Rebel errors, added another kill. Schetnan and Moehrle also had a kill each. Tied at 18-all, Scheierman and Van Egdom pushed the Jacks ahead 20-18, and Scheierman later made it 21-19. Ole Miss ended the set with a 6-2 stretch.

Set Two: Ole Miss raced out to a 9-3 lead in set two. The Jacks battled back with three of the next four points, two of which came off the hand of Scheierman. The Rebels pushed its lead back out to 17-11 and did not let the Jacks score consecutive point for the remainder of the set.

Set Three: Ole Miss got off to a 6-1 start in set three and never looked back. The Rebels led 15-4 on an ace and continued to push for the win, ending the match with five straight points.

NOTES

  • Jacks moves to 2-6 on the season.
  • Sylvie Zgonc just missed the Jackrabbits’ three-set match efficiency mark against Alcorn State. Zgonc hit .765 (13-0-17). The record is .812 (13-0-16), which was set by Emily Rooney at Xavier in 2007.
  • SDSU’s 45 team kills against Alcorn State are its most in a three-set match this year.
  • SDSU’s seven aces against Alcorn State are its most in a three-set match this year.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits close out the Ole Miss Invite against Tennessee Tech Saturday morning at 10 a.m.