KANSAS CITY — The South Dakota State Jackrabbits rallied from a 2-0 deficit as they defeated the Denver Pioneers in five sets to win a semifinal matchup in the Summit League Tournament on Monday night.

The Jackrabbits advanced to Tuesday’s championship match with the win where they will face South Dakota for the conference title and an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament at 7 p.m.

“All season, there’s just kind of been a special sauce that this group has had,” South Dakota State head coach Dan Georgalas said. “You just have to attribute it to the locker room and culture and the way we treat each other. …That’s the stuff that comes out when your back is against the wall and you’re in a high-pressure situation and this group wanted it really bad.”

The Jackrabbits had a slow start as Denver scored the first five points of the match as part of an 8-1 run. SDSU closed the gap to 15-12 on a kill by Sylvie Zgonc but the Pioneers pulled away again, using a 5-2 run to go ahead 20-14 on an attack error by Rylee Martin.

The Jacks turned it on with an 8-3 to tie the set at 22-22 on Katie Van Egdom’s kill and an attack error by Cassie Davis gave SDSU a 23-22 lead but a kill by Jamia Johnson and an attack error by Zgonc gave Denver set point and another attack error by Zgonc gave the Pioneers a 25-23 win in the opener.

The Jacks jumped ahead for a 9-6 lead early in the second set but they couldn’t pull away after the Pioneers tied the set at 9-9. Denver took an 11-10 lead on Alyna Finucan’s service ace and didn’t trail the rest of the set although SDSU never trailed by more than two points.

With the Pioneers holding onto a 23-21 lead a kill by Sydni Schetnan brought the Jacks within a point but Molly Mirabelli and Cassie Davis used back-to-back kills to finish the second set and earn a 25-22 victory.

“We just started out really tight,” Georgalas said of the first two sets. “I can’t say enough good things about Denver. Their coaching staff and some of their players just had absolutely stand-out performances today and, man did they come out with a purpose. …They wanted it more than us in the first two sets.”

With SDSU’s season on the line, the Jacks mounted a tremendous response with the third set tied at 15-15. A Davis service error and back-to-back kills by Zgonc and Sydni Schetnan opened up an 18-15 lead and when Denver closed the gap to 19-18, Zgonc scored another kill to put the Jacks up 20-18.

An Ava Reynolds kill cut the Jacks’ lead back to one point but SDSU rattled off five straight points to earn set point at 24-19. A kill by Briley Decker, an attack error by Anna Ventling-Brown and a kill by Davis helped Denver get within striking distance but a kill by Madison Burr put the third set away with a 25-22 win.

The third set created momentum which helped SDSU win its most decisive set of the night. The Jacks and Pioneers were tied at 3-3 early but SDSU opened 13-6 run that helped them take a 16-8 lead. The Pioneers scored four straight points to close the gap but SDSU continued to pull away, forcing a fifth set with a 25-18 victory.

The fifth set was even as SDSU took an 8-7 lead on a kill by Alyssa Groves as both teams switched sides but Denver battled back to tie it at 10-10. After a timeout by the Jacks, Zgonc set the tone with back-to-back kills to begin a decisive rally.

An attack error by Reynolds preceded a service ace by Burr and a block by Zgonc and Schetnan forced an attack error on Mirabelli, which completed the comeback and punched SDSU’s ticket to the Summit League title match.

It was also a fitting end for Zgonc, who started the match slow but finished with 24 kills and a .276 hitting percentage to go with 14 digs, and four total blocks to show why she was named the Summit League Player of the Year.

“She may have put too much pressure on herself with all of these awards and accolades…but she’s a rock,” Georgalas said of Zgonc. “She was able to kind of change the story for herself in this match and she really finished strong.”

Schetnan had 16 kills and 11 total blocks for the Jacks while Van Egdom had seven kills. Ventling-Brown had six kills with five total blocks and Groves had five kills with five total blocks and four digs.

Rachel Wieber, Joslyn Richardson and Madison Burr each had two assists for the Jacks while Camryn Honn and Rylee Martin each had 26 assists. Richardson also led SDSU with 17 digs.

Mirabelli led Denver with 15 kills and 11 total blocks. Reynolds had two aces. Decker had 39 assists and Finucan led Denver with 19 digs.