DES MOINES, Iowa – The South Dakota State volleyball team beat UMass Lowell in four sets for its first victory of the season and was later swept by host Drake on Friday at the Hotel Renovo-Wildwood Lodge Invitational.
The Jackrabbits (1-7) take on Eastern Illinois at 10 a.m. and Iowa at 3 p.m. today.
• SDSU 3, UMass Lowell 1
The Jackrabbits bounced back from a first-set loss to beat the River Hawks 24-26, 25-22, 25-6, 25-15.
“We finally put a complete match together and didn’t let up,” said SDSU coach Nicole Cirillo. “We were disciplined in our game plan and executed at a high level to earn the win.”
Makenzie Hennen led all players with a career-high 22 kills. She recorded her third double-double of the season and sixth of her career with 10 digs.
Hennen also netted a career-best five service aces as the Jackrabbits totaled 13 – the fourth-most in a single match and second-most in a four-set match in school history.
Hennen added two blocks for a 29-point showing.
Ashlynn Smith had a personal-best 15 kills and added 10 digs for her first double-double of the season and fifth of her career.
Payton Richardson and Sydney Andrews both notched three blocks (one solo apiece) as SDSU racked up 11 as a team.
Maddie Fay dished out 39 set assists and Ellie Thein collected 10 digs.
Kate Bilyeu led UMass Lowell with 10 kills and Malia Randolph had a double-double with 13 set assists and a match-high 14 digs.
• Drake 3, SDSU 0
The Bulldogs (8-0) won by the set scores of 25-20, 27-25 and 25-23.
“It was another good and complete match for us,” Cirillo said. “We are starting to find rhythm as a team. You don’t lose too many matches with the stats that we had tonight. I’m proud of the team for fighting and I’m looking forward to getting back at it tomorrow.”
Hennen recorded a match-high 18 kills and logged her fourth double-double of the season and seventh of her career with 14 digs.
Smith added nine kills, while Sierra Peterson had eight kills and hit .333 for the match.
Fay tallied 36 set assists and Thein came up with 14 digs. Richardson recorded three of the team’s eight blocks and Smith added two.
Caitlyn Cheek led Drake with 14 kills, while Kylee Macke tallied 16 digs.
Emily Plock registered 13 kills, including two in a row to close out the second second.
Photo from www.gojacks.com.
