Bison Volleyball Travels to UND on Wednesday, Host NDSU Invitational on Saturday

Wednesday, September 6

Grand Forks, N.D.

7 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

North Dakota

Photo by: Daniel Kwon

Bison Volleyball Travels to UND on Wednesday, Host NDSU Invitational on Saturday

9/5/2017 3:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

NDSU Volleyball Release (9-5-17).pdf

North Dakota State (4-2) is scheduled to play at North Dakota (9-1) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, in the Betty Engelstad Arena ... The match will be televised by Midco Sports Network, broadcast on 1440 KKXL-AM and available on WatchBigSky.com ... The NDSU Invitational is next ... The Bison host George Washington (1-5) at 10 a.m. and then Appalachian State (0-4) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9 ... The Appalachian State match will be Junior Bison Night ... The first 250 fans will receive NDSU Volleyball Drawstring Bags courtesy of match sponsor S&S Promotional Group ... Saturday's matches will be televised on BEK Sports with Corey Brooks on the call and broadcast on KNDS 96.3 FM ... More information can be found at https://www.bektel.com/bbn/ ... All matches will be available on GoBison.com/AllAccess.

NDSU Invitational
Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, Fargo, N.D.
Saturday, Sept. 9
BISON vs. George Washington (1-5), 10 a.m. Live Stats / PPV Live Video
George Washington vs. Appalachian State, 2:30 p.m. Live Stats / PPV Live Video
BISON vs. Appalachian State (2-5), 7 p.m. Live Stats / PPV Live Video

TICKET INFORMATION: General admission tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth ages 3-17, and reserved tickets are $10-12 ... Match day tickets are sold at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse ... Doors open one (1) hour prior to the match.

PARKING: For weekday volleyball matches before 4:30 p.m., paid parking is available in Visitors Lot E one block west of the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse ... After 4:30 p..m. weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday, parking is available in lots CF, CFS and SF to the west and north of the fieldhouse.

THE SERIES: This wil be the 95th meeting between North Dakota State and North Dakota ... NDSU leads the all-time series 78-16, but the Fighting Hawks have won five of the last seven meetings since 2010 including the last two in a row ... This will be the first meeting between the Bison and George Washington and Appalachian State.

BISON RETURN TO THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: North Dakota State returns to the Friendly Confines of the air-conditioned Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse on Saturday, Sept. 9 with the NDSU Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 9 against George Washington and Appalachian State ... NDSU is 3-0 at home in 2017 ... The Bison have compiled a 373-82 record good for a .820 winning percentage since 1978.

RASMUSSON, LIEN EARN SUMMIT LEAGUE WEEKLY HONORS: North Dakota State setter Brianna Rasmusson was selected Summit League Offensive Player of the Week, while teammate middle hitter Bella Lien earned Defensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 5 ... It is the second career honor for Rasmusson ... She was MVP of the NDSU Classic after averaging 10.20 assists and 3.00 digs per set ... Rasmusson hit .323, adding eight blocks and five service aces ... She is 24th nationally in aces per set (0.60) ... Lien led the Bison blockade, averaging 1.40 blocks per set, as opponents hit just .140 in three matches .. She had a season-high seven blocks and seven kills in the 3-1 win over Florida A&M (9-2-17) ... Lien hit .156 with 12 kills and six digs ... Mikaela Purnell was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 28 ... Purnell has earned the honor three times in 2016 and is a five-time winner overall.

BISON AND THE NCAA STATISTICS: In the NCAA statistics (9-5-17), North Dakota State was collectively 2nd in digs per set (20.05), 8th in attacks per set (40.40) and 11th in services aces per set (2.00) ... Individually, Mikaela Purnell is 13th in digs per set (5.95), McKenzie Burke is 21st (12.20) and Erika Gelzinyte is 29th (11.95) in attacks per set, and Brianna Rasmusson is 24th in aces per set (0.60).

BISON CUT SHOTS: Joining Brianna Rasmusson on the NDSU Classic all-tournament team were by outside hitter Erika Gelzinyte and middle hitter Emily Halverson ... Gelzinyte hit .161, averaging 3.50 kills and .3.10 digs per set ... She added five service aces, two assists and one block ... Halverson hit .410, averaging 1.90 kills and 0.50 blocks per set, and added three digs ... She cracked a season-high 12 kills in the 3-0 win over San Francisco (9-2-17) .... 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 ON TELEVISION: Nine North Dakota State University women's volleyball matches will be televised by the BEK Broadcasting Network @BEKSports beginning with the George Washington and Appalachian State matches on Saturday, Sept. 9 ... Corey Brooks will begin his second season describing the action on the court ... 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. 1, when NDSU takes on Oral Roberts ... Keith Brake @The_Brakedown will begin his second season handling the play-by-play.

PURNELL PILING UP DIGS: North Dakota State's Mikaela Purnell, a 5-9 senior from Excelsior, Minn., became the 23rd NDSU player to reach 1,000 digs at IUPUI (11-5-16) ... Purnell has 1,207 digs to rank 13th all-time ... She has 60 matches with double-figure digs, including six in 2017 ... Purnell has 26 straight matches with double-figure digs dating back to Sept. 18, 2016 ... Kari Fagnan (2004-07) is NDSU's all-time leader with 2,083 digs.

CLIMBING THE CAREER LADDER: North Dakota State's Brianna Rasmusson and Mikaela Purnell are climbing the NDSU career ladder ... Rasmusson is 9th in assists (2490) and 10th in assists per set (6.55) ... Purnell is 2nd in digs per set (4.42), 13th in digs (1207) and 18th in assists per game (0.48) ... She ranks 21st among NCAA active leaders in digs per set.

BISON KILL TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2017/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+
Erika Gelzinyte (4/6)*       4   --   --   --
McKenzie Burke (3/3)       3   --   --   --
Allie Mauch (1/1)       1   --   --   --
Emily Halverson (1/1)       1   --   --   --
Jessica Jorgensen (0/12)       --   --   --   --
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 (6/60)       6   5   4 (24)   1 (12)   -- (7)
Brianna Rasmusson (2/37)       2   --   -- (2)   -- (1)   --
Abbi Klos (4/4)       4   --   --   --   --
Erika Gelzinyte (3/3)*       3   --   --   --   --
McKenzie Burke (3/3)       3   --   --   --   --

BISON DOUBLE-DOUBLE TRACKER
PLAYER (2017/Career)   Kills/Digs   Assists/Digs
Brianna Rasmusson (2/37)   --   2
Erika Gelzinyte (2/2)*   2   --
Mikaela Purnell (0/1)   --   --
*--at North Dakota State

DOUBLE VISION: North Dakota State has recorded four of 'double-doubles' in 2017 ... Brianna Rasmusson led the Bison with 13 'double-doubles' last season ... Rasmusson has two this season and 37 in her career including the 37 assist and 12 dig effort in the 3-0 win over San Francisco (9-2-17) ... Erika Gelzinyte had her first NDSU 'double-double' against Weber State (12 k, 13 d / 8-26-17) and has three overall.

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 NAMED TO LEAGUE'S PLAYER TO WATCH LIST: North Dakota State libero/defensive specialist Mikaela Purnell was named to the Summit League's Player to Watch List ... Purnell, a 5-foot-9 junior from Excelsior, Minn. (Minnetonka HS) ranked third nationally, averaging 5.70 digs per set and collected 479 overall last season.

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 ... Middle blockers Emily Miron and Emily Minnick, along with Purnell were named to the All-Summit League team, while outside hitter 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 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 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 a 4-2 record 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.