SDSU Volleyball team opens First Bank & Trust Arena in impressive fashion

BROOKINGS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) -South Dakota State volleyball extended its win streak to 14 matches Thursday night with a sweep (25-22, 25-20, 25-19) over Kansas City in the first-ever athletic event at First Bank & Trust Arena. The Jackrabbits are 14-0 on the season and 3-0 in Summit League action.

The Jackrabbits set a new SDSU volleyball attendance record with 2,853 fans on hand for the program’s home opener.

Sylvie Zgonc posted her ninth double-double of the season to lead the Jackrabbits in both kills and digs. The sophomore tallied 17 kills for the fifth-straight match and had 11 digs. Sydni Schetnan was also in double figures with 11 kills and only two errors for a .346 attack rate. Schetnan is hitting .542 through three Summit League contests. She took part in three blocks on the night.

Katie Van Egdom chipped in five kills for the offense, followed by four apiece from Madison Burr and Alyssa Groves. Groves got in on four blocks (one solo, three assists) and Burr matched Schetnan with three block assists. Burr, a middle blocker, was second on the team with eight digs in the match.

Rylee Martin dished 19 assists and had an ace serve. Camryn Honn surpassed 2,000 digs for her career with 11 on the evening. She also had an ace. Liberos Alia Schlimgen and Joslyn Richardson along with Rachel Wieber recorded seven digs each.

The Jackrabbits hit .244 for the match and held the Roos to .127. SDSU also had the edge in kills (43-26), assists (40-35) and blocks (9-3). KC aced SDSU four times, compared to two aces for the Jacks, and the sides were tied in digs at 52.

Kaia Dunford’s 12 kills led Kansas City’s offense while Leah Green’s 13 digs was the high for the defense. Sydney Henry tallied 29 assists. KC falls to 3-10 on the season and 1-1 in conference matches.

Set one: Schetnan took the first competitive swing in First Bank & Trust Arena history and found the floor for the Jacks’ 1-0 lead, then had another to make it 3-0. KC came back to tie the set at 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7 and 10-10 before the Jackrabbits powered their way in front. Schetnan and Zgonc had a kill each to go up 12-10, then two unforced KC errors made it a four-point game, 14-10. Consecutive Kansas City errors capped an 8-3 Jackrabbit run for the 18-13 lead. The Roos made a comeback push and took their first lead of the night at 20-19 following an 8-1 run. Katie Van Egdom ended the run with a kill, tying the set at 20, then Madison Burr and Annalee Ventling-Brown made it a 21-all set with a block and Schetnan knotted things up at 22 with another kill. From there, SDSU scored the final three points of the set. Rylee Martin put down an ace for the winner.

Set two: An ace from Camryn Honn, then another block from the Burr and Ventling-Brown duo gave SDSU a 7-4 lead in set two. Kansas City scored three straight to tie the set . From there, the sides traded points and the set saw nine more ties until the Jacks finally pulled ahead, 20-18, after a kill from Schetnan and a solo block by Groves. After a Kansas City timeout, Groves and Van Egdom had kills that helped the Jackrabbits lead 23-19. Out of another KC break, the Roos had another attack error and Burr won the set with a kill from Martin.

Set three: The Jacks got points from Schetnan, Van Egdom and Zgonc to lead 7-3 early in the final set. A Jackrabbit block and kill, and a Roo service error put SDSU ahead, 11-7. Kansas City scored six of the next seven points to take the lead, 13-12. Schetnan immediately tied the set at 13 with a kill, then took part in back-to-back blocks with Groves to go back on top. With the set tied again, this time at 18, SDSU ended the match on a 6-1 run. Zgonc had three kills, including the winner, and a solo block during the final stretch.

NOTES

• South Dakota State has matched the program’s longest win streak and longest unbeaten streak to start a season in the rally-scoring era. The Jackrabbits also started 14-0 in 2000. The program record for longest win streak and longest unbeaten streak with 20 consecutive matches, which happened in 1975.
• Camryn Honn’s 2,000 career assists have come from stops at Jacksonville, New Hampshire and South Dakota State.

UP NEXT
South Dakota State is off Saturday. The team will host Omaha Thursday for the team’s annual Pink Game and North Dakota Saturday.

Copyright 2024 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.