NDSU Starts Four-Match Home Stand With Omaha at 7 pm Friday, Oct. 13

Friday, October 13

Fargo, N.D.

7 p.m.

North Dakota State

Omaha

Photo by: Carrie Snyder

NDSU Starts Four-Match Home Stand With Omaha at 7 pm Friday, Oct. 13

10/10/2017 11:44:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

NDSU Volleyball Release (10-10-17).pdf

THIS WEEK: North Dakota State (12-5, 3-2 SL) will continue Summit League play with a four-match home stand in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse from Oct. 13 to Oct. 22 ... The Bison are in a three-way tie for third ... NDSU is scheduled to host Omaha (6-12, 3-2 SL) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13 ... It is Pink Night and Faculty/Staff Appreciation ... Wristbands and pink NDSU mini-volleyballs are the giveaways ... The Bison will entertain Western Illinois (6-13, 1-4 SL) at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15 ... 200 portable NDSU phone chargers will be given away ... The Bison then host South Dakota State (2-16, 0-5 SL) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17 ... Buffalo Wild Wings is the match sponsor and will have a taste testing table ... NDSU is 6-1 at home this season ... Omaha is 2-3 in away matches, while Western Illinois and SDSU are both 1-5 entering the weekend.

THE SERIES: This will be the 82nd meeting between North Dakota State and Omaha ... The Mavericks lead the series 42-39 with the two teams splitting the season series in 2016 ... This will be the 22nd meeeting between North Dakota State and Western Illinois ... The Bison swept both meetings last year and lead the series 17-4 ... This will be the 94th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota State ... NDSU leads the series 75-18 ... The Bison won 3-0 in Brookings on Sept. 24 this season.

COMING SOON TO THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: North Dakota State is back within the Friendly Confines of the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse for a four-match homestand Oct. 13 through Oct. 22 ... The Bison close out the homestand against South Dakota at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22 ... NDSU is 6-1 at home in 2017 ... The Bison have compiled a 376-83 record good for a .819 winning percentage since 1978.

BISON AND THE NCAA STATISTICS: In the NCAA statistics (10-9-17), North Dakota State was ranked 6th in digs/set (18.23), 10th in opponent hitting percentage (.149), 11th in aces/set (1.74) and 16th in team attacks/set (38.62) ... Libero Mikaela Purnell is 13th in digs/set (5.61).

BISON IN THE RPI: North Dakota State was 136th (334 schools) in the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) released by the NCAA on Oct. 9 ... The Bison were the third-ranked Summit League team behind Denver (77) and Oral Roberts (133) ... Following NDSU were South Dakota (142), Fort Wayne (182), Omaha (215), Western Illinois (295) and South Dakota State (314) ... The Summit League is 19th out of 32 conferences/leagues.

BISON ON TELEVISION: Nine North Dakota State women's volleyball matches will be televised by the BEK Broadcasting Network @BEKSports ... Next broadcast is 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, vs. Omaha ... Corey Brooks is in his second season describing the action ... More information can be found at https://www.bektel.com/bbn/.

VOLLEYBALL ON BISON 1660 AM: Five North Dakota State University women's volleyball matches will be broadcast on Bison 1660 AM this season ... Next broadcast will be 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15, when NDSU takes on Western Illinois ... Keith Brake @The_Brakedown is in his second season handling the play-by-play.

BISON CUT SHOTS: One North Dakota State player reached a career milestone, while another is closing in ... Brianna Rasmusson became the 24th NDSU player to reach 1,000 career digs ... Rasmusson ranks 22nd with 1,008 digs ... Outside hitter Erika Gelzinyte, who transferred from Columbus State (Ga.), has collected 973 kills ... Libero Mikaela Purnell was named MVP of the Florida Atlantic University Invitational (Sept. 15-16) after averaging 6.27 digs per set with eight assists and four aces ... Joining Purnell on the all-tournament team was setter Brianna Rasmusson and outside hitter McKenzie Burke ... Rasmusson was MVP of the NDSU Classic after averaging 10.20 assists and 3.00 digs per set on Sept. 1-2 ... Rasmusson hit .323, adding eight blocks and five service aces ... Joining Rasmusson on the NDSU Classic all-tournament team were outside hitter Erika Gelzinyte and middle hitter Emily Halverson ... Rasmusson was named to the Arizona State Sun Devil Classic all-tournament team (8-26-17) ... Gelzinyte was selected the AVSR Global Player of the Week on Aug. 28.

BA DE YA, DANCING IN SEPTEMBER: North Dakota State went 11-1 in September including a 6-0 record at home ... The Bison hit .175, averaging 12.23 kills per set over 12 matches and 43 sets ... NDSU had a 104-52 advantage in service aces ... The Bison averaged 18.23 digs per set, 2.37 blocks per set and 1.82 aces per set.

WIN STREAK: North Dakota State won eight straight matches before the 3-1 loss to Oral Roberts on Oct. 1 ... It was the longest streak since 2011 when the Bison won 10 in a row ... School record is 29 straight set in 1981.

PURNELL PEGGED SUMMIT LEAGUE DEFENSIVE POTW: North Dakota State libero Mikaela Purnell was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 18 ... She earned the honor for the third time this season and is a seven-time winner overall ... Purnell averaged 6.27 digs/set over three matches, and added eight assists and four aces ... Setter Brianna Rasmusson was selected Summit League Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate middle hitter Bella Lien earned Defensive POTW honors on Sept. 5 ... It is the second career honor for Rasmusson ... It was the first time in nine seasons that NDSU swept the league weekly awards when Chrissy Knuth and Kelly Lopez were honored on Oct. 19, 2009.

PURNELL PILING UP DIGS: North Dakota State's Mikaela Purnell has 1,430 digs to rank 6th all-time at NDSU ... She has 70 matches with double-figure digs, including 15 in 2017 ... Purnell had 31 straight matches with double-figure digs from Sept. 18, 2016 to Sept. 16, 2017 ... Kari Fagnan (2004-07) is NDSU's all-time leader with 2,083.

CLIMBING THE CAREER LADDER: North Dakota State's Brianna Rasmusson and Mikaela Purnell are climbing the NDSU career ladder ... Rasmusson is 9th in assists (2874), assists/set (6.83), 20th in digs/set (2.39) and 22nd in digs (1,008) ... Purnell is 1st in digs/set (4.55), 6th in digs (1430) and 18th in assists/set (0.53) ... She ranks 20th among NCAA active leaders in digs/set and 34th in digs ... Rasmusson is 38th in sets played (421).

BISON KILL TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2017/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+
Erika Gelzinyte (12/14)*       12   5   --   --
McKenzie Burke (9/9)       9   3   --   --
Bella Lien (3/3)       3   --   --   --
Jessica Jorgensen (2/12)       2   --   --   --
Emily Halverson (2/2)       2   --   --   --
Allie Mauch (1/1)       1   --   --   --
Alex Erickson (0/2)       --   --   --   --
Mikaela Purnell (0/1)       --   --   --   --
Brianna Rasmusson (0/1)       --   --   --   --

BISON DIG TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2017/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+   30+
Mikaela Purnell (15/70)       15   14   11 (31)   4 (15)   1 (8)
Brianna Rasmusson (9/44)       9   3   2 (4)   1 (2)   --
Abbi Klos (9/9)       9   2   --   --   --
McKenzie Burke (6/6)       6   1   --   --   --
Erika Gelzinyte (5/5)*       5   --   --   --   --

BISON DOUBLE-DOUBLE TRACKER
PLAYER (2017/Career)   Kills/Digs   Assists/Digs
Brianna Rasmusson (9/44)   --   9
Erika Gelzinyte (4/4)*   4   --
McKenzie Burke (2/2)   2   --
Mikaela Purnell (0/1)   --   --
*--at North Dakota State

DOUBLE VISION: North Dakota State has recorded 15 'double-doubles' in 2017 ... Brianna Rasmusson has nine this season and 44 in her career including the 39 assist and 21 dig effort in the 3-1 win over Denver (9-29-17) ... Erika Gelzinyte had her first NDSU 'double-double' against Weber State (12 kills, 13 digs / 8-26-17) and has four overall ... McKenzie Burke had her first NDSU 'double-double' against Appalachian State (18 kills, 12 digs / 9-9-17) and has two overall.

PURNELL NAMED TO LEAGUE'S PLAYER TO WATCH LIST: North Dakota State libero Mikaela Purnell was named to the Summit League's 2017 Players to Watch List ... Purnell (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka HS) led the league and ranked third nationally, averaging 5.70 digs/set and collected 479 overall last season ... She had 35 digs in a match twice in 2016.

NDSU PICKED FIFTH IN SUMMIT LEAGUE: North Dakota State was picked North Dakota State was fifth in the Summit League Volleyball Preseason Coach Poll ... NDSU tied for fifth with Omaha with 22 points ... Three-time defending champion Denver was first with 47 points overall and five of a possible eight first place votes ... South Dakota was second with 45 points and received the remaining three first place votes ... Oral Roberts was third with 35 and Fort Wayne was fourth with 33.

PURNELL SUMMIT LEAGUE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: North Dakota State libero Mikaela Purnell was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year as four Bison received all-league honors ... Purnell became the third NDSU player to receive the honor joining Kari Fagnan and two-time winner Kelly Lopez ... Emily Miron and Emily Minnick, along with Purnell were named to the All-Summit League team, while Alex Erickson was selected to the Summit League All-Freshmen Team.

PROUD HISTORY: North Dakota State won four straight Summit League regular-season titles from 2008-11 ... NDSU won outright titles with 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 2016-17 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 G.P.A. on a 4.0 scale ... NDSU received the award for the fifth consecutive year and 17th time overall.

THE COACH: Jennifer Lopez (North Dakota State, 2014) has an 12-5 record including 3-2 in the Summit League in her first season as interim head coach at North Dakota State ... After joining the Bison as an assistant coach in 2015, she was named interim head coach in May 2017 ... Lopez was the Summit League Setter of the Year, Player of the Year and Tournament MVP in 2011 as a senior for North Dakota State.