Jacks fall 3-0 in Summit opener

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BROOKINGS – North Dakota State swept South Dakota State in the Jackrabbits’ Summit League home opener Sunday evening, winning by the set scores of 25-13, 25-21 and 25-22 at Frost Arena.

Erika Gelzinyte led a balanced Bison attack with 10 kills and a block assist. Bella Lien had eight kills and 2 1/2 blocks.

Brianna Rasmusson guided the offense with 32 set assists to go with four service aces, two kills, two blocks (one solo) and 11 digs. Allie Mauch totaled five kills and 2 1/2 blocks. McKenze Burke contributed five kills and an ace, while Emily Halverson had four kills and a block.

Mikaela Purnell paced the defense with 18 digs.

The Jackrabbits’ Ashlynn Smith finished with a match-high 12 kills, and added a block assist and seven digs. Makenze Hennen had eight kills. Payton Richardson chipped in with four kills and 1 1/2 blocks (one solo). Hanna Jellema had four kills, a block assist and 10 digs.

Mattison Munger (15) and Kari Brucker (13) combined for 28 set assists. Ellie Benson came up with 19 digs and Munger added 10.

"We tried a few different things today. I wouldn't say they all worked perfectly, but I think it got some of the kids thinking. We just had to try something different. We saw some improvement in certain areas that we wanted to see improvements in," Jackrabbit head coach Nicole Cirillo told SDSUSports Information. "Throughout the match, we still have an issue of starting the match out slow. In set three, we make a great comeback, but we were in such a big hole early. We are still working hard. We are still trying to figure out what is going to work.

"Better defense for us. Much better defense for us. Just switching where some of our players helped tremendously. We put Ellie in the middle of the court and let her roam and read a little bit more. By far that was the best change that we made," she said.

NDSU improved to 11-3 (2-0).

SDSU (2-13, 0-2) plays host to Oral Roberts on Friday at 7 p.m.