NDSU Hosts South Dakota on Sunday in Pivotal Summit League Match

Sunday, October 22

Fargo, N.D.

1 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

South Dakota

Photo by: Guo Chen

NDSU Hosts South Dakota on Sunday in Pivotal Summit League Match

10/19/2017 6:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

NDSU Volleyball Release (10-19-17).pdf

North Dakota State (15-5, 6-2 SL) will concludes its Summit League home stand against South Dakota (11-8, 5-2 SL) in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse ... entering the weekend, the Bison are a half-game behind first-place Oral Roberts ... USD plays at Western Illinois on Friday ... NDSU is 9-1 at home this season ... The Coyotes are 3-4 in away matches.

THE SERIES: This will be the 63rd meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota ... NDSU leads the series 50-12 ... The Bison won 3-1 in Vermillion on Sept. 23.

COMING SOON TO THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: North Dakota State is back for its final regular season match within the Friendly Confines of the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse on Nov. 3 ... The Bison close out the regular season home schedule against Fort Wayne for Senior Night at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3 ... NDSU is 9-1 at home in 2017 ... The Bison have compiled a 379-83 record good for a .820 winning percentage since 1978.

PURNELL PEGGED SUMMIT LEAGUE DEFENSIVE POTW: North Dakota State libero Mikaela Purnell was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 16 ... She earned the honor for the fourth time this season and is an eight-time winner overall ... Purnell averaged 8.67 digs/set over two matches, and added five assists and two 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.

BISON AND THE NCAA STATISTICS: In the NCAA statistics (10-16-17), North Dakota State was ranked 6th in digs/set (18.72), 7th in opponent hitting percentage (.146), 12th in attacks/set (39.12) and 13th in aces/set (1.70) ... Libero Mikaela Purnell is 7th in digs/set (5.88).

BISON IN THE RPI: North Dakota State was 139th (334 schools) in the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) released by the NCAA on Oct. 16 ... The Bison were the third-ranked Summit League team behind Denver (68) and Oral Roberts (133) ... Following NDSU were South Dakota (145), Fort Wayne (184), Omaha (236), Western Illinois (297) and South Dakota State (315) ... The Summit League is 20th 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 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, vs. South Dakota State ... Corey Brooks is in his second season describing the action and will handle the call against South Dakota on Oct. 22 ... More information can be found at https://www.bektel.com/bbn/.

VOLLEYBALL ON BISON 1660 AM & 92.7 FM: Five North Dakota State University women's volleyball matches will be broadcast on Bison 1660 AM and 92.7 FM ... Next broadcast will be 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22, when NDSU takes on South Dakota ... Keith Brake @The_Brakedown is in his second season handling the play-by-play.

BISON CUT SHOTS: A pair of North Dakota State players are looking to reach career milestones ... Brianna Rasmusson is looking to become the seventh Bison setter to reach 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career ... Rasmusson has 2,976 assists and 1,031 digs entering this weekend ...
Bison 3,000 Assists / 1,000 Digs
1. Pam Stencel (93-96), 5408 / 1214
2. Teresa Hegg (89-92), 4870 / 1182
3. Janna Ruebke (96-99), 4220 / 1002
4. Kari Holmgren (00-03), 4215 / 1116
5. Trish Reichl (84-87), 4096 / 1004
6. Jennifer Lopez (08-11), 3223 / 1120
... Outside hitter Erika Gelzinyte, who transferred from Columbus State (Ga.), has collected 998 kills entering this weekend ... Gelzinyte has 306 kills at NDSU, had 692 at Columbus State ... 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 PILING UP DIGS: North Dakota State's Mikaela Purnell has 1,498 digs to rank 5th all-time at NDSU ... She has 73 matches with double-figure digs, including 18 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 (2976), assists/set (6.92), 20th in digs/set (2.40) and 22nd in digs (1,031) ... Purnell is 1st in digs/set (4.64), 5th in digs (1498) and 18th in assists/set (0.54) ... She ranks 16th among NCAA active leaders in digs/set and 31st in digs ... Rasmusson is 44th in sets played (427).

BISON KILL TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2017/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+
Erika Gelzinyte (13/15)*       13   5   --   --
McKenzie Burke (10/10)       10   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 (18/73)       18   17   13 (33)   6 (17)   1 (8)
Brianna Rasmusson (9/44)       9   3   2 (4)   1 (2)   --
Abbi Klos (11/11)       11   2   --   --   --
McKenzie Burke (7/7)       7   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 15-5 record including 6-2 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.