BROOKINGS – After picking up their first Summit League win of the season on Thursday, the Jackrabbits couldn’t go back-to-back in the conference as they fell to Purdue-Fort Wayne, 25-18, 25-20 and 25-21, on Saturday at Frost Arena.
The Mastodons scored the first point of the match, and other than a 2-2 tie, led the entire first set before a Crystal Burk kill and a PFW ball-handling error allowed the Jacks to close within 22-18.
A pair of SDSU hitting errors, followed by a Madelyn Wurster kill, gave PFW the first set, 25-18.
In the second set, the Dons never led by more than four points until Nicole Rightnowar’s kill put them up, 19-14.
Back-to-back kills by Ashlynn Smith and Payton Richardson pulled the Jacks within 24-20, but a Madison Jaqua kill closed the set in favor of the Dons.
Kills by Smith and Syndey Andrews, followed by a Maddie Fay service ace, gave SDSU a 3-0 lead to open the third set, but PFW rallied and eventually tied the score at 17-17.
A service ace and a SDSU hitting error gave the Dons a two-point advantage and they went on an 8-4 run to close out the set – and match.
Burk led SDSU with nine kills as Smith added seven and Sierra Peterson chipped in with five. Payton Richardson had four block while Maddie Fay (18) and Mattison Munger (7) combined for 25 set assists.
Ellie Thein notched nine digs as Makenzie Hennen and Munger contributed seven apiece.
The Mastodons had two players in double-digit kills – Rightnowar and Katie Crowe – while Syndy Boerst chipped in with five blocks and seven kills. Jaqua finished with 41 set assists as Rightnowar and Elizabeth Britner collected 16 and 13 digs, respectively.
SDSU, 4-17 overall and 1-7 in conference play, take on South Dakota at 7 p.m. Friday in Vermillion.
