NDSU Hits The Summit League Road to South Dakota & Western Illinois

Friday, September 30

Vermillion, S.D.

7 p.m.

North Dakota State

South Dakota

Photo by: Kim Hill

NDSU Hits The Summit League Road to South Dakota & Western Illinois

9/28/2016 2:50:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

NDSU Volleyball Release.pdf

Friday, Sept. 30 at South Dakota, 7 p.m. Live Stats I Live Video
Sunday, Oct. 2 at Western Illinois, 1 p.m. Live Stats I Live Video I Live Audio

The next five of six matches are on the road for North Dakota State (2-0 Summit League, 4-11) ... NDSU plays at South Dakota (2-0 SL, 13-2) at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, in Vermillion ... USD, Fort Wayne and the Bison have 2-0 records in league play, while Denver is 1-0 ... The Bison are 0-5 on the road, the Coyotes are 3-0 at home ... North Dakota State is scheduled to play at Western Illinois (1-2 SL, 4-14) at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2, in Macomb ... The Leathernecks play at IUPUI on Friday, Sept. 30 ... WIU is 3-5 at home this season.

UP NEXT: North Dakota State is scheduled to continue Summit League play at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse against Fort Wayne (2-0 SL, 6-9) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7.

THE SERIES: This is the 59th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota ... NDSU leads the series 48-10 ... USD won two of three meetings last season including a 3-2 setback at the Summit League tournament in Denver on November 20, 2015 ... This will be the 20th meeting between North Dakota State and Western Illinois ... The Bison lead the series 15-4 ... NDSU won both meetings last season.

RASMUSSON NAMED SUMMIT LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State junior setter Brianna Rasmusson was selected Summit League Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 26 ... It was the 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.

CONVERSE TO BE 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 ... The 45th class includes NFL and All-American running back Lamar D. Gordon (1998-01); assistant women's basketball coach (1986-2008) and current associate director of athletic academics Kelli Layman; All-American football linebacker Jared Maher (1996-00); NDSU radio play-by-play and Bison Athletic Hall of Fame script reader Scott Miller (1996-2016); softball All-American catcher/outfielder Shelly (Rhein) Rowedder (1998-01), and wrestling national champion Ryan Wolters (1994-98) ... Members of the 1972 NCAA College Division National Championship Men's Cross Country Team will enter the Bison Athletic Hall of Champions.

BISON CUT SHOTS: North Dakota State middle blocker Emily Miron has 987 kills entering this weekend's action and is looking to become the 23rd player in NDSU history to reach 1,000 kills ... Miron was named to the all-tournament team at the NDSU Classic presented by Cambria Hotel & Hampton Inn on Sept. 2-3 ... NDSU middle blocker Emily Minnick was named all-tournament at the UNI Tournament on Sept. 16-18 ... Minnick hit .351 with 31 kills and seven blocks ... Minnick has 923 career kills ... Minnick connected for a season-high .500 (13-2-22) hitting percentage vs. Oral Roberts (9-23-16) ... 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 ... Bison setter Brianna Rasmusson had one of the top four plays of the week (Sept. 5-9) at @NCAAVolleyball #NCAAVB ... Her kill on a pass from Ali Moody in NDSU's 3-0 win vs. Bradley (9-3-16) made the play list ... Rasmusson had a career-high 54 assists against Oral Roberts (9-23-16) ... The win over Bradley snapped a seven-match losing streak dating back to last season ... Through the 15 matches, Hadley Steffen and Rasmusson top NDSU with four 'double-doubles' ... Freshman Alex Erickson was credited with a career-high 12 kills, hitting .379 against Texas Tech (9-2-16) ... Steffen dropped the hammer for a career-high 16 kills in the 3-0 win over IUPUI (9-24-16).

BISON AGAINST TOP 25 TEAMS: North Dakota State is 0-15 against Top 25 teams since beginning Division I play in 2004 ... The Bison faced a top 25 team in No. 25 Colorado State for the first time since the 2013 season ... NDSU lost 3-0 to the Rams in Fort Collins on Aug. 26.

BISON IN THE RPI: North Dakota State University was 124th (334 schools) in the final RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) released by the NCAA on Dec. 21, 2015 ... The Bison were the third-ranked team in the Summit League behind Denver (85) and IUPUI (113) ... Following NDSU were Omaha (162), Oral Roberts (181), South Dakota (187), South Dakota State (276), Fort Wayne (281) and Western Illinois (313).

MILLIGAN REACHES 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 in set two of the match at Denver (9-29-15) ... Milligan has 1,223 digs to rank 10th all-time ... She has 65 matches with double-figure digs in her career, four this season ... Milligan is also 5th all-time in digs per set (3.31) ... 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 statistical ladder ... Milligan is also 17th in assists per set (0.57) and 20th in assists (209) ... Claxton is 9th in assists per set (6.73) and assists (2,249) ... Miron is 9th with 77 solo blocks ... Minnick is 14th in attack percentage (.293, 923-287-2173) and 19th in solo blocks (57) ... Rasmusson is 10th in assists per set (5.69) and assists (1,674).

DOUBLE VISION: North Dakota State has recorded nine (9) 'double-doubles' ... Senior Hadley Steffen has four 'double-doubles' this season and five in her career ... Junior Brianna Rasmusson has four 'double-doubles' this season and now has 26 in her career following the 54-assist, 18-dig performance vs. Oral Roberts (9-23-16) ... 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.

BISON KILL TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2016/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+
Emily Miron (3/47)       3   --   --   --
Emily Minnick (6/41)       6   --   -- (2)   --
Hadley Steffen (9/14)       9   1 (2)   --   --
Jessica Jorgensen (4/11)       4   --   --   --
Alex Erickson (2/2)       2   --   --   --
Mikaela Purnell (0/1)       --   --   --   --
Brianna Rasmusson (0/1)       --   --   --   --

BISON DIG TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2016/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+
Emily Milligan (4/65)       4   1   -- (11)   -- (2)
Mikaela Purnell (4/38)       4   4   1 (11)   1 (3)
Brianna Rasmusson (4/26)       4   1   -- (1)   --
Monica Claxton (1/22)       1   --   --   --
Hadley Steffen (4/13)       4   --   -- (1)   --
Morgan Morgan (4/6)       4   1   --   --
Ali Moody (3/3)       3   --   --   --

BISON DOUBLE-DOUBLE TRACKER
PLAYER (2016/Career)   Kills/Digs   Assists/Digs
Brianna Rasmusson (4/26)   --   4
Monica Claxton (1/21)   --   1
Hadley Steffen (4/5)   4   --
Mikaela Purnell (0/1)   --   --

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 ... The top six regular-season finishers will qualify for The Summit League Volleyball Championship, held in Denver, Colo., Nov. 18-20.

   2016 Summit League Coaches Preseason Poll
   Rk Team   Pts (1st)   2015 Record
   1. Denver   64 (8)   27-8 (13-3)
   2. North Dakota State   52   19-12 (10-6)
   3. IUPUI   48 (1)   21-10 (12-4)
   4. Oral Roberts   44   14-16 (8-8)
   5. South Dakota   39   15-16 (8-8)
   6. Omaha   27   19-13 (12-4)
   7. Fort Wayne   24   7-25 (4-12)
   8. South Dakota State   17   5-27 (4-12)
   9. Western Illinois   9   3-28 (1-15)

PURNELL EARNS SUMMIT LEAGUE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK & ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: North Dakota State outside hitter/defensive specialist Mikaela Purnell earned her first career Summit League Defensive Player of the Week honor Oct. 12, 2015 ... The 5-foot-9 from Excelsior, Minn., averaged 5.86 digs per set for the week ... Posted 23 digs in win over IPFW and tallied 18 digs vs. IUPUI ... Purnell also was named to the Summit League all-tournament team after coming up with a career-high 32 digs in the 3-2 loss to South Dakota (11-20-15).

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.

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.

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 a 92-91 record in her sixth full season as head coach at North Dakota State ... 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.