NDSU Opens Summit League Tournament with IUPUI on Nov. 18

Friday, November 18

Denver, Colo.

7:30 p.m. MT

North Dakota State Athletics

IUPUI

Photo by: Andrew Bridges

NDSU Opens Summit League Tournament with IUPUI on Nov. 18

11/15/2016 11:14:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

The Summit League Volleyball Championship Tournament Page
NDSU Volleyball Release (11-15-16).pdf

North Dakota State (11-5 SL, 13-17) received the No. 3 seed and is scheduled to open t he Summit League Tournament against No. 6 IUPUI (8-8 SL, 12-19) at 8:30 p.m. Central Time Friday, Nov. 18, at the University of Denver's Hamilton Gymnasium ... The NDSU/IUPUI winner will play No. 2-seed South Dakota (13-3 SL, 24-6) at 8:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Nov. 19 ... The championship match is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT Sunday, Nov. 20 and will be broadcast on Altitude TV and ESPN3 ... All five matches will be streamed free of charge on thesummitleague.org ... The winner advances to the NCAA tournament ... The Bison are 5-8 in away matches and 1-4 at neutral sites.

Summit League Volleyball Championship
Hamilton Gymnasium, Denver, Colo.
Friday, Nov. 18 -- Quarterfinals
(4) Fort Wayne (13-17) vs. (5) Oral Roberts (16-14), 6 p.m.
(3) North Dakota State (13-17) vs. (6) IUPUI (12-19), 8:30 p.m. Live Stats

Saturday, Nov. 19 -- Semifinals
(1) Denver (21-7) vs. Fort Wayne/Oral Roberts, 6 p.n.
(2) South Dakota (24-6) vs. NDSU/IUPUI, 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 20 -- Championship
Championship Match, 3 p.m.
Winner advances to NCAA Tournament on Dec. 1-3

THE SERIES: This is the 23rd meeting between North Dakota State and IUPUI ... The Bison lead the series 15-7 ... NDSU won 3-0 in Fargo on Sept. 24 and the Bison won 3-0 in Indianapolis on Nov. 5.

BISON IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT: North Dakota State is making its ninth Summit League tournament appearance in 10 years since joining the league ... The Bison are 8-5 all-time in tournament play ... NDSU reached the semifinals in 2014 ... The Bison have won The Summit League's postseason tournament three times -- 2008, 2010 and 2011 ... Middle blocker Emily Minnick (2013), middle blocker Emily Miron (2014) and libero Mikaela Purnell (2015) have earned all-tournament honors.
PROUD HISTORY: North Dakota State won four straight Summit League regular-season titles from 2008-11 ... NDSU won outright titles with a 16-0 record in 2008 and an 18-0 mark in 2009 ... The Bison have appeared in three of the last eight NCAA Tournaments.

BISON IN THE NCAA STATISTICS: In the NCAA statistics released Nov. 14, North Dakota State collectively ranks 9th in total digs (1,996), 11th in digs per set (17.51), 31st in total attacks (4,230) and 32nd in attacks per set (37.11)... Individually, libero/defensive specialist Mikaela Purnell ranks 3rd in digs per set (5.61) and Hadley Steffen is 49th in total attacks (1,155).

BISON IN THE RPI: North Dakota State University was 204th (334 schools) in the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) released by the NCAA on Nov. 14, 2016 ... The Bison were the fourth-ranked team in the Summit League behind South Dakota (91), Denver (124) and IUPUI (185) ... Following NDSU were Oral Roberts (226), Fort Wayne (228), Omaha (268), South Dakota State (296) and Western Illinois (304).

BISON CUT SHOTS: North Dakota State head coach Kari Thompson collected career win No. 100 on the road at IUPUI (11-5-16) ... Morgan Morgan recorded a career-high five service aces in the 3-1 vs. South Dakota State (11-10-16) ... NDSU came up with 121 digs in the 3-2 win at Fort Wayne (11-4-16), the highest total in the Division I era and tied for fifth overall ... Hadley Steffen dropped the hammer for a career-high 22 kills in the 3-1 win at South Dakota State (10-11-16) ... Steffen has reached double-figure kills in 23 of 30 matches ... The Bison have played in eight five-set matches overall this season, the school record is nine in 1994 and 1997 ... Hannah Jessen came up with a career-high 22 digs in the 3-2 loss at Denver (10-14-16) ... NDSU middle blocker Emily Minnick was named all-tournament at the UNI Tournament on Sept. 16-18 ... Minnick tied a career-high with seven blocks (seven block assists) at South Dakota State (10-11-16) ... NDSU middle blocker Jessica Jorgensen was named to the all-tournament team at the Cyclone Invitational on Sept. 9-10 ... Jorgensen hit .300 with five digs and a pair of blocks ... NDSU middle blocker Emily Miron was named to the all-tournament team at the NDSU Classic presented by Cambria Hotel & Hampton Inn on Sept. 2-3.

PURNELL EARNS THIRD SUMMIT LEAGUE WEEKLY DEFENSIVE HONOR: North Dakota State's Mikaela Purnell was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week for the third time this season and fourth time in her career on Nov. 7 ... Purnell, a 5-foot-9 defensive specialist from Excelsior, Minn., averaged 6.50 digs per set in three matches 31-dig at Fort Wayne (11-4-16) ... She became the 23rd NDSU player to reach 1,000 career digs at IUPUI (11-5-16) ... Purnell is averaging 5.76 digs per set overall with double-figure digs in 17 of 18 matches played including five 30-plus dig efforts.

RASMUSSON NAMED SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State junior setter Brianna Rasmusson was selected Summit League Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 26) ... First league honor for Rasmusson ... Recorded two 40-plus matches in leading NDSU to home wins over Oral Roberts and IUPUI ... Had a career-high 54 assists in her fourth double-double (54 assists, 18 digs) of the season in a four-set win over ORU.

MIRON, MINNICK REACH 1,000 KILLS: North Dakota State's Emily Minnick, a 6-foot-1 senior middle blocker from Willmar, Minn., became the 24th player to reach 1,000 kills in a career during the fourth set at Omaha (10-16-16) ... Minnick has 1,111 kills and ranks 20th all-time ... Emily Miron, a 6-foot-2 senior middle blocker from Wadena, Minn., became the 23rd player to reach 1,000 kills during the first set at Western Illinois (10-2-16) ... Miron currently is 19th all-time in kills with 1,163 kills ... Former Olympian Janet Cobbs (1985-88) is the all-time leader with 2,091.

PURNELL, MILLIGAN REACH 1,000 DIGS: North Dakota State's Emily Milligan, a 5-foot-5 senior from La Grange, Ill., became the 22nd NDSU player to reach 1,000 digs in a career at Denver (9-29-15) ... Milligan has 1,371 digs to rank 8th all-time ... She has 74 matches with double-figure digs in her career, 31 this season ... Mikaela Purnell, a 5-9 junior from Excelsior, Minn., became the 23rd NDSU player to reach the 1,000 digs milestone at IUPUI (11-5-16) ... Purnell has 1,041 digs to rank 21st all-time ... She has 52 matches with double-figure digs, 19 this season ... Kari Fagnan (2004-07) is NDSU's all-time leader with 2,083 digs.

CLIMBING THE CAREER LADDER: North Dakota State's Emily Milligan, Monica Claxton, Emily Miron, Emily Minnick and Brianna Rasmusson are climbing the NDSU career ladder ... Milligan is 5th in digs per set (3.25), 8th in digs (1371), 17th in assists per set (0.54) and 20th in assists (226) ... Claxton is 9th in assists per set (6.64) and assists (2351) ... Miron is 7th with 89 solo blocks; 19th in kills (1163) and total blocks (310), 20th in attack .pct (.279, 1163-409-2706) and 20th in points (1365.5) ... Minnick is 11th in solo blocks (74), 14th in attack pct. (.297, 1111-337-2603), and 20th in kills (1111) ... Rasmusson is 10th in assists per set (6.31) and assists (2228).

BISON KILL TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2016/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+
Emily Miron (14/57)       14   3 (12)   --   --
Emily Minnick (15/50)       15   6 (15)   -- (2)   --
Hadley Steffen (23/28)       23   5 (6)   2 (2)   --
Jessica Jorgensen (5/12)       5   --   --   --
Alex Erickson (2/2)       2   --   --   --
Erika Gelzinyte (2/2)       2   --   --   --
Mikaela Purnell (0/1)       --   --   --   --
Brianna Rasmusson (0/1)       --   --   --   --

BISON DIG TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2016/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+   30+
Emily Milligan (13/74)       12   3   2 (13)   -- (2)   --
Mikaela Purnell (19/52)       19   17   9 (19)   8 (10)   5 (6)
Brianna Rasmusson (12/34)   12   3   1 (2)   1 (1)   --
Monica Claxton (1/22)       1   --   --   --   --
Hadley Steffen (11/20)       11   2   -- (1)   --   --
Morgan Morgan (10/12)       10   1   --   --   --
Ali Moody (3/3)       3   --   --   --   --
Hannah Jessen (1/4)       1   1   1   --   --

BISON DOUBLE-DOUBLE TRACKER
PLAYER (2016/Career)   Kills/Digs   Assists/Digs
Brianna Rasmusson (12/34)   --   12
Monica Claxton (1/21)   --   1
Hadley Steffen (11/12)   11   --
Mikaela Purnell (0/1)   --   --

DOUBLE VISION: North Dakota State has recorded 24 'double-doubles' this season ... Junior Brianna Rasmusson has 12 'double-doubles' this season and has 34 in her career following the career-high 56-assist, 25-dig performance at Fort Wayne (11-4-16) ... Senior Hadley Steffen has 11 'double-doubles' this season and 12 in her career ... Senior Monica Claxton had 18 assists and 12 digs vs. Saint Mary's (8-28-16) for her 'daily double' and improved to 21 in her career.

NDSU PICKED SECOND IN SUMMIT LEAGUE: North Dakota State was picked second in The Summit League Volleyball Preseason Poll voted on by the league's head coaches ... The Bison had 52 points ... NDSU 6-foot-1 middle blocker Emily Minnick was selected as a Player to Watch this season ... Defending champion Denver was selected as the favorite to win the 2016 volleyball crown as the Pioneers collected eight of nine first-place votes and 64 total points overall.

MAKING THE GRADE: The North Dakota State University volleyball team was honored with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2015-16 season ... The award, which was initiated in the 1992-93 academic year, honors collegiate and high school volleyball teams that displayed excellence in the classroom by maintaining at least a 3.30 cumulative team grade-point average on a 4.0 scale ... The Bison received the award for the fourth consecutive year and the 16th time overall.

ANGIE CONVERSE GROVE INDUCTED INTO BISON ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME: Two-time All-American middle blocker Angie Converse Grove (1990-93) is scheduled to be inducted into the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 30 ... The native of Alexandria, Minn., ranks No. 4 all-time with 1,775 kills and played on three NCAA national tournament teams including the 1990 runner-up.

COBBS NAMED TOP DIVISION II PLAYER IN NCAA VOLLEYBALL HISTORY BOOK: North Dakota State three-time All-American and 1988 NCAA Division II Player of the Year Janet Cobbs was selected as the Division II All-Time Top Player by the book, 'NCAA Volleyball History—Coaches, Players, Personalities & Teams' in the panel vote ... Cobbs, who was a rare Division II USA Olympic Player in 1992 in Barcelona, was one of the most dominant hitters of her era ... The NCAA Volleyball History book by Michael J. Sondheimer has background about every men's and women's NCAA Division I championship from 1970-2016, plus information on NCAA Division II and III championships and the start of the NCAA Women's Beach championships in 2016 ... It's available on Amazon/Kindle.

THE COACH: Kari Thompson (Green Bay, 2003) has an 101-97 record in her sixth full season as head coach at North Dakota State ... Thompson recorded career win No. 100 at IUPUI on Nov. 5, 2016 ... After joining the Bison as an assistant coach in 2006, she was named interim head coach October 2010 and became the 11th head coach in program history in January 2011 ... She guided the Bison to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2010 and 2011 ... Thompson was a 2010 recipient of the American Volleyball Coaches Association's "Thirty Under 30" award recognizing the top young coaches in the country ... She was a three-year letterwinner at Green Bay, stayed one year as a volunteer assistant with the Phoenix, and spent two years as a graduate assistant for volleyball operations at Alabama before coming to NDSU in 2006.