Despite an electrifying third set, the North Dakota State Bison proved to be too much for the Jacks volleyball team Oct. 1 at Frost Arena.
To say that the first two sets were all NDSU may be an understatement.. The Jacks didn’t  put up much of a fight offensively, scoring only 13 points in each of the first two sets. Things weren’t much better on the defensive end either as NDSU (12-6, 5-1 Summit) never trailed until the beginning of the third set.
The hard-fought third set may give Jackrabbit fans reason to believe that this team can play among the best teams in the Summit League. After being blown out in the first two sets, SDSU played much better in set three as they battled through nine tie scores and held a five point lead at one point.
The set got off to a quick start for the Jacks with kills by Kelli Fiegen and Ellyce Youngren. Another kill from Youngren eventually capped a 12-7 SDSU run and appeared to be enough for a legitimate comeback. SDSU and NDSU traded points for the remainder of the set, which included five lead changes, until NDSU eventually took the set from the Jacks 29-27.
Although there were several bright spots in the loss, SDSU head volleyball coach Phil McDaniel will be looking for more from the Jackrabbits in the future.
“The effort in the third (set) is what I was looking for. My one question was, ‘Why didn’t we start that way in the first two sets?’ That’s what we’re battling right now…we’re not coming out with that same intensity, that same focus, from 0-0, and we have to … We can’t wait for something to happen, we have to make something happen,” McDaniel said.
For junior Kelly Herrmann, the difference between the third set and the first two came down to one thing: bad communication.
Herrmann expressed the same sentiments about the match as her coach, pointing to the many mental mistakes SDSU made over the course of the match.
“We missed 11 serves tonight, which in a three set match is a lot…Those are the little things that make a big difference,” Herrmann said.
SDSU will have little time to make mental adjustments with the top team in the Summit League, Oral Roberts, coming to Frost Arena on Friday, Oct. 7 followed by another Summit League opponent, Southern Utah, on Saturday night.

One thing was clear after SDSU swept Western Illinois at Frost Arena last Saturday night: the Jacks will defend home court with everything they have.

“This is our home and teams should not look forward to coming here. It’s just going to be a battle,” Kelli Fiegen said.

Shay Birath celebrates a point during the Jacks' 3-0 win over Western Illinois

After cruising to 25-16 and 25-18 victories in sets one and two, the Jacks found themselves in an up and down battle in the third set that featured eight tie scores, two lead changes and extra points to determine a winner.

The offense sputtered a bit in set three and the Jacks found themselves trailing 21-23. But back-to-back blocks by Ellyce Youngren and Kelli Fiegen tied things up at 23-23. Each team went back and forth, exchanging points and staving off defeat until the Jacks received a Bailey Philippot spike and a Kaitlin Klingemann kill to seal the set 29-27 – a three-set victory to remain undefeated at home on the season.

Philippot and Kelly Herrmann came through with some nice hitting from the outside, slamming 10 and nine kills, respectively. Four of Herrmann’s kills came in the high drama third set.

“Something we’ve really been stressing lately is that we’ve got to get some kills from the outside. We’ve got to be productive out there. Those two really stepped up tonight and we were able to get them in the system enough to get them some quality swings,” head coach Phil McDaniel said.

The win was a team effort. Six players registered kills with setter Lexi Fowler dishing out 40 assists in the match and appearing to have better timing with her hitters than the previous night against IUPUI.

McDaniel also mixed in a few new players in the rotation, as Margit Hansing, Kelsey Hansen and Ashley Bartek each played a set.

“It’s important to get them in … it’s not just a chance for them to see the court, it’s a chance for them to be productive,” McDaniel said.

After a solid weekend, Shay Birath was honored as the Summit League defensive player of the week for the third time in her career. Birath notched 47 digs and three service aces in wins over IUPUI and WIU. She currently leads the Summit League with 5.88 digs per set and only needs 36 more digs to reach 1,000 career digs.

With the sweep of WIU and five set victory over IUPUI, the Jacks sit at 2-0 in the conference and are now 10-4 overall in McDaniel’s first season as head coach. The 2-0 start in conference is especially important because the Jacks won’t be back to Frost Arena until Oct. 1 against NDSU.

“We’re feeling pretty strong. We still have a lot of tough competition in the conference with NDSU and USD, but we look forward to playing at their level and beating them,” Philippot said.

Early season tournaments can often be viewed as a primer to the conference schedule, and the SDSU volleyball team appears to be ready for the top coat of paint.

Competing in the Georgia Southern Tournament Aug. 26 and 27, the Jackrabbits went 3-1 overall, with victories over Montana State, Georgia Southern and Jacksonville.

“We had a really good weekend. I’m happy with the way we finished. We had one little stumbling block, but other than that, not too bad,” new head coach Phil McDaniel said.

McDaniel takes over a talent-laden SDSU squad that qualified for the Summit League Tournament in 2010. Highlighting the returning talent is reigning Summit League player of the year Kelli Fiegen, as well as senior and four-year starter Ellyce Youngren.

The Jacks sprang out of the regular season gates with a four set victory over Montana State by scores of 25-21, 25-18, 21-25, and 25-18 to give McDaniel his first win as SDSU’s head coach.

Junior Kaitlin Klingemann started her season out on the right foot by knocking down 11 kills in 20 attempts with only

Nanabah Allison-Brewer resigned from her position as SDSU volleyball head coach on Jan. 12, after three seasons leading the Jackrabbits, citing family reasons.

“Although this has been a very difficult decision to make, it is the right one for my family and me. Having the opportunity to coach at South Dakota State has been an amazing experience and I know the program will achieve success in the years to come,” Allison-Brewer said in a statement. “I want to thank the entire Jackrabbit community and the city of Brookings for all of their support, it means a lot to me and my family.”

Allison-Brewer went 36-48 during her tenure as Jacks head coach after Andrew Palileo left for Washington State in 2007. The Jacks went 10-17 in each of her first two seasons, before going 16-14 in 2010. Last season’s campaign included an eight-game conference winning streak to qualify for the four-team Summit League tournament. The Jacks would lost in the first to IPFW.

“We weren’t expecting it at all. She’s been with me for three years and it came as a shock. We were sad to see her go but we understood that family comes first and we were there to support her,” said junior hitter Ellyce Youngren. Youngren was a team captain last season, leading the team in kills and service aces and was named second-team all-Summit League.

“She has a young family and the balance of trying to take care of her family and the demands that you have as a head coach can be difficult at times and she needed to make the choice and family is most important to her. I support her 100 percent in that regard. It was a difficult decision for her because she has a huge passion for volleyball and a love of the game and for her to make that decison and put her family first is a tough one but I think it’s one we all respect.

Assistant coach Kristin Belzung will take over as interim head coach after her first season as a coach for Allison-Brewer.

“We’re very lucky to have her, especially now because she’s a phenomenal coach,” Youngren said about Belzung. “She understands the game and she’s very right for her role and will do a good job of keeping that competitive drive in us through the spring.”

Sell hopes to have a new volleyball coach hired by Mar. 1.

“We’ll do a national search and then we’ll put together a search committee to be able to go through those resumes to find the best candidates that we can bring to campus and interview them,” Sell said.

“Like with all of our programs, we certainly want a strong commitment to the student part of student-athlete,” Sell said of the next head coach at SDSU. “We have a fairly young team and being able to continue the growth process and allow us to compete for Summit League championships and the ability to get into the NCAA tournament is huge.”

The Jackrabbits struggled early in conference play before catching fire in mid-October and playing their way back into contention in November, in part to the dominating play of Summit League player of the year Kelli Fiegen and solid team play all around.

“I’d like to see someone who keeps the family ideals like Nana had, while also continuing to push us and drive us because we have the girls on the team to Summit League, so we just need someone to get us there. We still have the same goals and we’re all still really driven to work hard and keep our focus on the future and what’s to come. Everyday is just a step in becoming the 2011 Summit League champs and we still have our eyes set on the prize,” Youngren said.

#1.1898214:2535854357.png:vball-coach-BRUA.png:Nanabah Allison-Brewer directs the Jackrabbit volleyball team in a game earlier this season. Allison-Brewer resigned last week after three seasons.:Collegian Photo by Stephen Brua

The Summit League has been survival of the fittest all season long and that’s just what the Jacks did Nov. 11 at Frost Arena, as they survived Oral Roberts for a 3-2 victory.

The stage was set for drama, as both teams entered the game at 10-6 in the conference and a Summit League Tournament bid on the line. Things were not looking good early with the Jacks dropping the first two sets, but the offense got going and SDSU never looked back.

“We were patient, played one point at a time, and we were able to chip away,” head coach Nanabah Allison-Brewer said.

Recently named Summit League Female Athlete of the Month for October, sophomore Kelli Fiegen slammed 19 kills with only two errors in 37 attempts for a .459 attack percentage. Junior Ellyce Youngren also had 19 kills on the night for the Jacks, as well as 15 digs.

The first set saw six tie scores and two lead changes and needed extra points to decide the winner. The set was close in the beginning before Oral Roberts pushed their lead to 19-14. The Jacks then went on a roll and battled back to tie the game at 24-24. Oral Roberts then dumped a soft hit in the Jackrabbit defense and landed a kill to win the set 26-24.

Oral Roberts cruised in the second set, as they led from point number one, and won the set 25-20. The Jacks couldn’t seem to get the ball to their big hitters, and that placed them in a two set hole.

“We went back into the team room and the captains said we have to fight, this is for everything,” sophomore Kelly Herrmann said.

The Jacks came out in the third set and played much better volleyball after a disappointing second set. Youngren opened the set with a hard kill in the middle of the Oral Roberts defense, and the Jacks looked ready to cruise in set three as they got out to a 7-4 lead. Oral Roberts had other plans, as they came back to tie the set at 9-9.

The middle of the third set was back and forth, and the Jacks battled through nine tie scores and four lead changes. With Oral Roberts taking the lead at 17-16, the Jacks went on a 9-3 run to close out the set and stay alive for set four.

“(Being down 0-2) You can’t get too emotional or crazy. It was them calming down and pulling together as a team,” Allison-Brewer said.

After landing eight kills in only 12 attempts in the set three victory, Youngren continued to pound the ball in the fourth set, as she led the Jacks to an easy win by a score of 25-19. The Jacks showed the power of all their hitters, as senior Thyele Rechatiko recorded 16 assists and distributed the ball well.

Extra points were also needed in set five, but the Jacks were never behind. SDSU went up 13-9 before Oral Roberts came back to tie things up at 13-13. The Frost Arena crowd came alive in the final points, and the Jacks responded with back-to-back kills from Fiegen and sophomore Kaitlin Klingemann to end the match.

“We came out and refocused (after being down 0-2), and we gave it our all and turned things around in our head,” Herrmann said.

With the five set victory Nov. 11, all the Jacks needed to do was beat Centenary on Nov. 13 at Frost Arena to clinch a spot in the Summit League Tournament. That would prove to be an easy feat, as Centenary entered the match without a conference win, and the Jacks cruised to a 3-0 victory and earned their spot in the conference tourney.

The Jacks are heading to Fargo, N.D. this weekend as the number four seed in the Summit League Tournament, where they will face number one seed IPFW, Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. If the Jacks win, they will play either NDSU or Southern Utah on Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.

#1.1782298:2690494669.png:Volleyball-29-Ryan-Robinson.png:Jackrabbits setter Thyele Rechatiko delivers a jump serve against Oral Roberts on Nov. 11 at Frost Arena. SDSU tallied a 7-2 home record against Summit League opponents during the 2010 campaign.:Collegian Photo by Ryan Robinson

For the first time since 2007, the Jackrabbits will play in the Summit League tournament and SDSU will do so on a roll against conference foes.

With their win over Centenary Nov. 13 at Frost Arena, the Jackrabbit volleyball team closed out their regular season by winning eight straight conference matches and securing the fourth and final spot in the Summit League Tournament this weekend in Fargo, ND.

SDSU’s eight match conference win streak began by defeating Oakland on the road on Oct. 16. In their final push over the last month, the Jacks had key victories over Southern Utah on the road, along with wins against NDSU and Oral Roberts at home.

Leading the offensive attack for the Jackrabbits this season were junior Ellyce Youngren and sophomore Kelli Fiegen. Youngren finished the regular season with 354 kills and played in all 118 sets the team played. While averaging three kills per set, Youngren also chipped in 58 total blocks and led the team with 35 serving aces.

Fiegen, recently named the Summit League’s Female Athlete of the Month for October, led the Jacks with a .390 attack percentage. She also led the team in blocks, tallying 137 in 113 sets played. Fiegen was right on pace with Youngren in the kill category, as she averaged just over three kills per set, and finished with 348 on the season.

The defense was probably the Jacks’ strong point throughout the season, and that defense was lead by sophomore Shay Birath. The Jackrabbit libero played in all 118 sets and finished the season with 541 digs.

Senior Thyele Rechatiko, the Jacks’ setter, was a leader on the court all season long and she had the duties of distributing the ball between SDSU’s great attackers. She played in 114 sets and tallied 1,160 assists. The do-it-all senior also had 303 digs, 105 kills, 33 total blocks and 20 service aces. Another asset Rechatiko brings to the team is her “pesky” hitting because of her ability to find the open spots on the floor.

In multiple interviews during the last half of the season, head coach Nanabah Allison-Brewer talked about how the team was finally starting to bring the offense and defense together. Both sides were definitely shining brightly throughout the final month of the season, and the Jacks now find themselves right where they wanted to be: in the conference tournament.

The team has shown that they have the talent to compete with top-caliber schools in the conference. By winning the last eight conference matches, SDSU has achieved one of their goals by qualifying for the league tournament.

Now the question is whether the Jacks can keep up the pace this weekend in Fargo. SDSU will be facing number one seed IPFW, who earned the regular season conference title with a 14-4 record.

The Jackrabbits lost both matches against IPFW this season. SDSU lost in three sets in the first matchup back on Oct. 2 and took the Mastadons to five sets on the road on Oct. 15. The latter was a match that saw 33 tie scores and 14 lead changes.

The match on Nov. 19 should be a good one, especially with the progress the Jacks have made over the course of the season. If the team can stay relaxed and stay sharp, they could find themselves playing on Nov. 20 for the Summit League Championship against either NDSU or Southern Utah.

SDSU had four players with at least nine kills to keep the Jackrabbits’ conference playoff hopes alive.

Just like a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get from the SDSU Jackrabbit volleyball team. With their season on the line, a border rival in the house and a boisterous crowd on hand, one would wonder if the Jacks would sputter or shine.

On Nov. 6, SDSU left no doubt on how they intend to finish out their season, topping the Summit League-leading the NDSU Bison 3-1 at Frost Arena. Set scores were 20-25, 25-10, 25-20 and 29-27.

“I’m just so happy for each and everyone of our players,” SDSU head coach Nanabah Allison-Brewer said. “They did a great job of coming out tonight and sticking with the game plan and executing it and were able to pull off this big win.”

The Bison did strike first, however. After tying set one at 11, NDSU held their lead behind the solid play of Lauren McLaughlin and Megan Lambertson. They teamed up for 11 kills in the set, and NDSU took the opening set, 25-20.

SDSU took a lead to start the second set and broke the set open when they went on a 15-2 scoring run to build the lead at 23-8. Ketty Cornemann drilled home the final point to even the match at 1-1 after two sets. The Jackrabbits hit .464 on the attack in the second set to power their way to the set win.

“Serving and passing was the key,” Allison-Brewer said. “We finally got into a rhythm in the second set and really found our service and attack and were able to maintain our offense.”

SDSU held a lead in the third set most of the way until Brynn Joki brought the Bison back into the set with her service ace, tying the game 19-19. The Jacks rose to the occasion again to score six of the final seven points, three of them from Bison unforced errors.

Set four was the night’s most closely contested, with the lead changing hands eight times and tied-up scores on 14 separate occasions. The Bison trailed by as much as five before rallying back, and Lambertson’s back-to-back kills tied the decisive set at 20. NDSU had three shots at set point, but the Jacks held it off each time and took the lead for good on a Thyele Rechatiko kill at 28-27. SDSU then held off a Brooke VandenBergh attack behind the efforts of Kaitlin Klingemann and Ellyce Youngren to give the Jackrabbits their first victory over the Bison since 2007.

“I think we’re playing so well,” Allison-Brewer said. “We’re peaking, and we’re growing every single match. We had the loss against USD but we’re learning and doing some wonderful things.”

The Jackrabbits brought tremendous emotion into the rivalry match and played with far more desire than the Bison, who despite winning their last five matches, looked uninspired most of the match.

“We were fighters tonight,” Youngren said. “We just knew that we had to push through and finish this.”

The diversified attack of the Jackrabbits was led by Kelli Fiegen, who quietly had 13 kills. Klingemann had 11 kills, and Cornemann and Youngren each added 9 for SDSU. Shay Birath led the Jackrabbit defense, which had four players with double-digit digs in the match.

Lambertson and Chrissy Knuth were the leaders for the Bison, tallying 18 and 11 kills respectively. Standout setter Jennifer Lopez, who was thought to be out for the season after suffering a liver laceration earlier in the year, dressed and played the final two sets, assisting 21 times. The Summit League leader in aces, Joki, recorded 5 for the Bison, but she also had 5 service errors.

“We knew coming out what we had to do and what our goal was,” Youngren said. “This was a game that decided whether we would make the [Summit] tourney or not, and we decided this year that we’re sick of being fifth.”

SDSU hosts Oral Roberts and Centenary at home this week Nov. 11 and Nov. 13, respectively. The Jackrabbits are tied for the fourth and final spot in the conference, along with Oral Roberts and Southern Utah.

“These two are crucial to get, and we’re still not in for sure and we just need to keep fighting,” Youngren said.

#1.1766785:1471061405.jpg:Volleyball Ryan Robinson 2.jpg:Shay Birath, libero, stretches for a dig against NDSU on Nov. 6. Birath scooped a game-high 24 digs.:Collegian Photo by Ryon Robinson
#1.1766792:545172620.jpg:Volleyball Ryan Robinson 9.jpg:The SDSU volleyball team celebrates after defeating NDSU, 3-1 on Nov. 6 at Frost Arena. The Jacks knocked off the Bison for the first time since 2007.:Collegian Photo

The SDSU volleyball team battled through five sets but came up short Nov. 2 at Frost Arena against the University of South Dakota. The match marked the first time USD had played in Brookings since Oct. 25, 2003.

“We got off on the wrong foot tonight and struggled to get back in the match,” head coach Nanabah Allison-Brewer said.

The match was back and forth all night and included 28 tie scores and nine lead changes over five sets. The Jacks couldn’t seem to get good runs of offense and defense strung together, and USD took advantage.

Leading the way for the Jacks was sophomore Kelli Fiegen who pounded 19 kills in 31 attempts with only one error. Fiegen leads the team in hitting percentage at .378 and her 121 total blocks ranks first as well.

“She (Fiegen) makes herself available as much as possible and is able to push the ball around and get great kills,” Allison-Brewer said.

The Jacks dropped the first set to USD by a score of 25-18. Even though they kept things close, SDSU was playing behind most of the set. By losing the first set, the Jacks dug themselves a hole against a USD team that had won six of their last eight matches.

In the second set, sophomore Kaitlin Klingemann provided a spark for the Jacks, as she landed six kills. SDSU kept things close early and with the score at 7-7, Fiegen landed a kill and the Jacks didn’t look back as they cruised to a 25-20 victory in set two.

“The match had plenty of opportunities to learn, but we need to stay in our rhythm and trust our offense and just play the game,” Allison-Brewer said.

In the third set, the Jacks found themselves down early 1-5, but battled back after a USD serving error to tie things up at 6-6. The score stayed close most of the set, but SDSU hung on for the set victory by a final score of 25-23.

On the verge of ending the match in four sets, SDSU came out strong in set number four and jumped to an early lead. The Jacks allowed USD to slip back in the set, as they tied things up and took the lead in the middle of the set. Despite a small Jackrabbit rally, USD held on to earn the win in set four by a tally of 25-20.

The fifth set belonged to USD as they ended the Jacks’ four match winning streak by a score of 15-11. SDSU did show some fight in the end. While down 8-14, Fiegen pounded three kills to lead a small rally, but a USD kill ended the match and gave them the 3-2 match victory.

“I’m glad we didn’t play like this against NDSU, so if this was in our system, it was nice to get it out now (against a non-conference team),” Youngren said.

After four-straight conference wins over the last two weeks, the Jacks sit a half-game out of fourth place in the Summit League. SDSU will square off with conference-leading NDSU on Saturday night with a 7:30 p.m. start time at Frost Arena.

SDSU will close out the regular season at home, with matches against conference opponents Oral Roberts on Nov. 11 and Centenary on Nov. 13.

Oral Roberts sits right below SDSU in the conference with an 8-6 record, so the Nov. 11 match-up could potentially be a big one for the Jacks. As with any team in the hunt for a postseason birth, the Jacks need to remain focused and only control what they can.

“It’s going to take all of us coming together … finding ways to dig deeper to finish this out and be in the top four at the end,” Youngren said.

#1.1743599:1791480419.png:Ketty Cornemann 11-03-2010 88:Ketty Cornemann notched five kills in SDSU?s match Tuesday. ?We got off on the wrong foot tonight,? coach Nanabah Allison-Brewer said.:Collegian Photo by Aaron Stoneberger
#1.1743600:1979453913.png:Ellyce Youngren 11-03-2010 89:Ellyce Youngren had 16 kills and 15 digs Tuesday. SDSU moved to 13-13 with the five-set loss.:Collegian Photo by Ryan Robinson

The Jackrabbit volleyball team dominated conference foe Western Illinois on Hobo Day in front of a rowdy 1,197 fans. That crowd was the largest to watch a volleyball match at Frost Arena since 2006.

“It was pretty crazy(the crowd) and it was great getting everyone out here to support us,” sophomore Bailey Philippot said.

After going four straight matches that went five sets, the Jacks swept Western Illinois by scores of 25-13, 25-15, and 25-18. The victory also pushed SDSU up to fifth in the Summit League standings with a 7-6 conference record.

The opening of the first set was back and forth until the Jackrabbits went on a 7-0 run to make things 14-6. The combination of a solid offensive attack and a strong defense was too much for Western Illinois from the start.

Sophomore Kaitlin Klingemann recorded her 200th career kill to make the score 20-9, and fellow sophomore Kelly Herrmann shut the door with a kill, with the final score at 25-13.

“I think we’re doing a great job offensively with getting the rhythm down and that’s been a huge part of making us a stronger team in the second half,” head coach Nanabah Allison-Brewer said.

The Jacks seemed to feed off of the large crowd’s energy, as they pounded their way to another set victory by a tally of 25-15. Through two sets, SDSU had a 29-17 kill advantage while hitting .315 with only six errors in 73 attempts. Western Illinois couldn’t seem to get much going against the strong Jackrabbit defense, as they were held to a .078 attack percentage.

“It was really nice to see them put the defense and offense together and get a great lead and keep it for the win,” Allison-Brewer said.

Western Illinois came out in the third set and jumped to an early lead and looked as if they might not go down so quietly. Following a Jackrabbit timeout with Western Illinois leading 6-2, SDSU began to battle back and tied things up at 9-9.

After the teams exchanged kills, the Jacks went on a 7-2 run before a timeout with the score at 17-12. Western Illinois showed a little spark, pushing the score to 18-17. SDSU would then go on a 7-1 run to close out the set and the match.

“Since we’ve gone five sets in the last four matches, our bodies ache. So we really wanted three (sets) and done,” said Philippot.

Sophomore Kelli Fiegen pounded 12 kills with only one error in 20 attempts for a .551 attack percentage. Klingemann added nine kills on the night while Herrmann, Philippot and junior Ellyce Youngren each had 7 kills.

The Jackrabbits are setting themselves up for a possible Summit League Tournament birth. Only the top four teams make it to the tourney, and the Jacks still have some work to do to catch a fourth place Oakland team. They travel to Cedar City, Utah to face third-place Southern Utah Thursday, Oct. 28.

“It’s our revenge game. They came here and beat us in five sets in our own gym, but we plan on beating them in three sets at their gym,” Philippot said.