NDSU Volleyball Opens With Omaha at Summit League Tournament on Friday

Friday, November 17

Denver, Colo.

4 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Omaha

Photo by: Mark Kuhlmann

NDSU Volleyball Opens With Omaha at Summit League Tournament on Friday

11/14/2017 12:27:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

NDSU Volleyball Release (11-14-17).pdf

THIS WEEK: No. 4-seed North Dakota State (18-8, 9-5 Summit League) is scheduled to open Summit League tournament play against No. 5-seed Omaha (10-17, 7-7 SL) at 4 p.m. CT Friday, Nov. 17, in Hamilton Gymnasium in Denver, Colo. ... The Bison are 3-1 at neutral sites, Omaha is 3-4 ... The NDSU-Omaha winner plays league champion and No. 1-seed Denver (21-5, 12-2 SL) at 4 p.m. CT Saturday, Nov. 18 ... The championship match is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT Sunday, Nov. 19 and will be televised on Altitude Sports and ESPN3 ... Matches Friday and Saturday will be streamed live at TheSummitLeague.org.

Summit League Tournament
Hamilton Gymnasium, Denver, Colo.
Friday, Nov. 17
4 p.m. - (4) North Dakota State vs. (5) Omaha
7 p.m. - (3) South Dakota vs. (6) Fort Wayne

Saturday, Nov. 18
4 p.m. – Winner Match 1 vs. (1) Denver
7 p.m. – Winner Match 2 vs. (2) Oral Roberts

Sunday, Nov. 19
3 p.m. – Championship Match
All times converted to Central

THE SERIES: This will be the 84th meeting between North Dakota State and Omaha ... The Mavericks lead the series 42-41 ... NDSU won both meetings during the regular season including 3-0 in Fargo on Oct. 13 and 3-1 at Omaha on Nov. 12.

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 9-6 all-time in tournament play ... NDSU has won The Summit League tournament three times -- 2008, 2010 and 2011 -- to advance to the NCAA tournament ... The Bison also reached the championship match in 2009 ... NDSU has played in eight semifinals ... Libero Mikaela Purnell earned all-tournament honors in 2015.

PURNELL NAMED SUMMIT LEAGUE DEFENSIVE POTW: North Dakota State libero Mikaela Purnell was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 13 highlighted by her career-high 36 digs at Omaha (11-12-17) ... She earned the honor for the fifth time this season and is a nine-time winner overall ... Defensive specialist Abbi Klos was named SL Defensive POTW on Nov. 6 ... It was the first career honor for Klos ... Setter Brianna Rasmusson was selected SL Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate middle hitter Bella Lien earned Defensive POTW honors on Sept. 5 ... It was 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.

FINAL STOP IN THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: North Dakota State finished the regular season with a 10-2 in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, averaging 762 spectators per match including three crowds over 1,000 ... The Bison have compiled a 380-84 record good for a .819 winning percentage since 1978.

BISON AND THE NCAA STATISTICS: In the NCAA statistics (11-13-17), North Dakota State was 6th in digs/set (19.04), 12th in opponent hitting percentage (.152), and 12th in aces/set (1.67) and team attacks/set (39.24) ... Senior libero Mikaela Purnell is 4th in digs/set (6.10) and digs (567).

BISON IN THE RPI: North Dakota State was 148th (334 schools) in the RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) released by the NCAA on Nov. 13 ... The Bison were the fourth-ranked Summit League team behind Denver (60), Oral Roberts (119) and South Dakota (144) ... Following NDSU were Omaha (223), Fort Wayne (238), Western Illinois (289) and SDSU (318) ... The Summit League is 22nd out of 32 conferences/leagues.

PURNELL PILING UP DIGS: North Dakota State's Mikaela Purnell has 1,655 digs to rank 2nd all-time at NDSU ... She has 79 matches with double-figure digs, including 24 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 (3200) and assists/set (7.06), and 17th in digs (1126) and digs/set (2.49) ... Purnell is 1st in digs/set (4.78), 2nd in digs (1655) and 17th in assists/set (0.58) ... She ranks 14th among NCAA active leaders in digs/set and 27th in digs ... Rasmusson is 47th in sets played (453).

BISON CUT SHOTS: A pair of North Dakota State players have reached career milestones ... Brianna Rasmusson become the seventh Bison setter to reach 3,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career ... Rasmusson has 3,200 assists and 1,126 digs ...

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
7. Brianna Rasmusson (14-17), 3200 / 1126

... Outside hitter Erika Gelzinyte, who transferred from Columbus State (Ga.), reached 1,000 career kills against South Dakota (10-22-17) ... Gelzinyte has 381 kills at NDSU and had 692 at Columbus State ... Gelzinyte has 1,073 kills overall ... 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.

BISON KILL TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2017/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+
Erika Gelzinyte (17/19)*       17   8   --   --
McKenzie Burke (13/13)       13   3   --   --
Jessica Jorgensen (5/15)       5   2   --   --
Bella Lien (3/3)       3   --   --   --
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 (24/79)       24   23   18 (38)   9 (20)   3 (10)
Abbi Klos (15/15)       15   4   1   1   1
Brianna Rasmusson (15/50)   15   6   3 (5)   1 (2)   --
McKenzie Burke (8/8)       8   1   --   --   --
Erika Gelzinyte (5/5)*       5   --   --   --   --

BISON DOUBLE-DOUBLE TRACKER
PLAYER (2017/Career)   Kills/Digs   Assists/Digs
Brianna Rasmusson (15/50)   --   15
Erika Gelzinyte (4/4)*   4   --
McKenzie Burke (3/3)   3   --
Mikaela Purnell (0/1)   --   --
*--at North Dakota State

DOUBLE VISION: North Dakota State has recorded 22 'double-doubles' in 2017 ... Brianna Rasmusson has 15 this season and 50 in her career including the 39 assist and 24 dig effort in the 3-2 win over Fort Wayne (11-3-17) ... 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 three overall.

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.

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.

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.

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.

CARRIE (JACOBSON) MOTSCHENBACHER INDUCTED INTO BISON ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME: Former North Dakota State volleyball All-American middle hitter Carrie (Jacobson) Motschenbacher was inducted into the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 29 ... "Jake" was a three-time All-American for the Bison and the program's all-time leader in total blocks, block assists and blocks per set.

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.

NDSU VOLLEYBALL SIGNS THREE: North Dakota State head coach Jennifer Lopez announced Nov. 8, the addition of 6-foot setter Kalli Hegerle (West Fargo, N.D. / West Fargo H.S.); 5-11 outside hitter Ally Murphy (Eagan, Minn. / Eagan H.S.) and 6-1 middle hitter Kirstin Tidd (Verona, Wis. / Verona Area High School), who will be joining the volleyball program in the fall of 2018.

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 18-8 record including 9-5 in the Summit League in her first season as 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 and officially named head coach Oct. 23, 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.