BROOKINGS — South Dakota State extended its unbeaten streak to 15 matches on Thursday night as the Jackrabbits swept Omaha at First Bank & Trust Arena.

The two teams came into Thursday’s contest as the only teams with unbeaten records in conference play in the Summit League. SDSU head coach Dan Georgalas said he knew it was a big match but his team stuck with the process that won them the previous 14 games.

“We could have built this game up bigger than it should have been,” Georgalas said. “Both undefeated. Perennial contender [in Omaha] who is super talented and well coached. They have 6-foot-5 kid after 6-foot-5 kid on that team and are physical. I mentioned it to our team, this could be a Summit League championship preview, but we focused on our process and us. They’re opponent 15.

“It was the same process Monday through Wednesday and the same scouting report execution, and we played phenomenal. I couldn’t be happier and our team impressed the heck out of me. If that’s a marquee game and we want to win against the best teams in our league, you can’t ask for a much better performance than that.”

It was a close first set as the Jackrabbits led 19-18. SDSU then went on a 6-0 run to end the set and took a 1-0 lead.

The Jacks trailed 12-7 in the second set but went on a 7-1 run to go up 14-13. SDSU then led 20-17 but the Mavericks (5-10, 3-1) scored three straight points to tie things up. SDSU would rise in the clutch again though as the Jacks scored five of the next six points and took a 2-0 lead into the third set.

SDSU led 13-11 in set three and then scored three straight points. The Mavericks then cut the lead to 18-16 but another 3-0 run pushed the lead to 21-16. It was then 23-20 and SDSU scored two of the next three points to complete the sweep.

It was the second straight sweep for the Jacks but four of the six sets in the past two matches have been decided by five points or less. Georgalas said his team has been good at the end of sets because they have the confidence that they can get things done.

“[We have good] situational awareness. We get down two points or know that we have to play clean at the end of the set to win. There’s just something about them. They have a chip on their shoulder and they’re hungry. When it gets to 20 [points] and we have an opportunity to win, they are not letting that slip by,” Georgalas said.

SDSU had 38 kills and Omaha had 35. The Jacks had 34 assists and the Mavericks had 32. SDSU had 43 digs and Omaha had 38.

The Jacks were led by Sylvie Zgonc who had 11 kills and five digs. Rylee Martin had 14 assists and nine digs. Cameryn Honn had 10 assists and Alia Schlimgen had 12 digs. Sydni Schetnan had five kills and Alyssa Groves had four kills. Katie Van Egdom had eight kills and Madison Burr had seven kills. Joslyn Richardson had six digs.

Georgalas said depth has played a big part in his team’s 15-0 start as the Jackrabbits played 12 players on Thursday night.

“We have a lot of people playing. 12 or 13 people come in every single night. These are team victories. Anyone can pop off any given night. Everyone knows their role and how they compliment the group, and all of the puzzle pieces are snug tight right now and we’re relying on everyone and it’s super fun,” Georgalas said.

The Jackrabbits 15-0 record is the best start in program history. The 4-0 start to Summit League play is the best since 2007. The Jacks won their first six conference games that season and that is the only season in program history that SDSU has gone to the NCAA Tournament.

SDSU will turn its attention to North Dakota (8-8, 1-4) on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Brookings. The match will be played on Hobo Day and is part of the Hike & Spike promotion as fans that attend the SDSU football game on Saturday afternoon can get into Saturday night’s match for free.

Georgalas said his team is excited to be a part of the Hobo Day celebration but it will be different playing a night game on a Saturday.

“7:00 on Saturday is different. There’s a lot more distractions. We don’t normally play on Saturday night, so we have a long time to sit around and wait. I know our group will be focused come first serve on Saturday night though,” Georgalas said.