NDSU Hosts Western Illinois, Purdue Fort Wayne This Weekend in the BBF

Friday, November 2

Fargo, N.D.

7 p.m.

North Dakota State Athletics

Western Illinois

Photo by: Carrie Snyder

NDSU Hosts Western Illinois, Purdue Fort Wayne This Weekend in the BBF

10/30/2018 9:39:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

NDSU Volleyball Release.pdf

North Dakota State (7-16, 5-7 SL) is scheduled to host Western Illinois (1-23, 0-11 SL) at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, and Purdue Fort Wayne (14-12, 5-7 SL) at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, for a pair of Summit League matches in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse ... Sunday is "Senior Day", when lone senior McKenzie Burke will be recognized ... Sunday's match will be broadcast by Bison 1660 AM/92.7 FM and televised by BEK Sports Network ... Live stats at BisonStats.com.

BURKE SUMMIT LEAGUE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Outside hitter McKenzie Burke was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 28 ... It was the first career weekly honor for Burke ... Notched 'double-doubles', with 19 kills and 22 digs against Oral Roberts, and 15 kills alongside 18 digs at SDSU ... Finished week with 34 kills (3.78 kills/set), 40 digs (4.44 digs/set) and three blocks.

COMING SOON: North Dakota State is scheduled to close out the regular season on the road at Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9, and at South Dakota at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11.

VOLLEYBALL ON BISON 1660 AM: Five North Dakota State women's volleyball matches will be broadcast on Bison 1660 AM/92.7 FM this season ... Final broadcast is 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, when NDSU takes on Purdue Fort Wayne ... Keith Brake @The_Brakedown is in his third year handling the play-by-play ... Fans can hear updates from coach Jennifer Lopez weekly on "The BrakeDown" on Bison 1660 AM this season.

BISON ON TELEVISION: Four North Dakota State women's volleyball matches will be televised by the BEK Broadcasting Network @BEKSports ... Final broadcast is 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, vs. Purdue Fort Wayne ... Corey Brooks and Noah Reed will describe the action ... More information can be found at https://www.bektel.com/bbn/.

NDSU SAAC COLLECTING FOOD, MONEY: NDSU's Student-Athlete Advisory Council will be accepting non-perishable food items and monetary donations this Saturday for the Summit League Food Fight, an annual competition among league schools. All donations benefit the Fargo-Moorhead Emergency Food Pantry. Last year, NDSU collected nearly 7,000 pounds of food. Donations will be accepted in the football tailgating lots and throughout the following week in the main lobby at NDSU volleyball Nov. 4, wrestling Nov. 4 and Nov. 8, and women's basketball Nov. 6 and 9. Fans unable to attend these events may donate funds online to @NDSU-SAAC using the Venmo mobile app.

THE SERIES: This will be the 25th meeting between North Dakota State and Western Illinois ... The Bison lead the series 20-4 ... This will be 38th meeting between North Dakota State and Purdue Fort Wayne ... The Bison lead the series 19-18.

BISON NOTEBOOK: North Dakota State outside hitter Alexis Bachmeier had a career-high 17 kills and matched a career best 20 digs in the 3-1 win at South Dakota State (10-28-18) ... Middle hitter Bella Lien matched a career-high with eight blocks including three solos in the 3-1 loss at Omaha (10-21-18) ... Middle hitter Emily Halverson had a career-high 10 blocks in the 3-1 win at Purdue Fort Wayne (10-7-18), including a career best nine block assists ... It is the first double-figure block effort for a Bison player since Megan Lambertson had 10 blocks vs. Fort Wayne on Oct. 26, 2012 ... All-tournament selections in September for NDSU included freshman Kaylee Hanger (Ball State Active Ankle Classic), junior Abbi Klos (Minnesota Diet Coke Classic) and Bachmeier (Buffalo Blue & White Classic).

DOUBLE VISION: North Dakota State has recorded 22 'double-doubles' in 2018 ... Freshman setter Kalli Hegerle leads with nine 'double-doubles' including a season-high 54 assists and 16 digs at South Dakota State (10-28-18) ... Senior outside hitter McKenzie Burke has collected seven including 15 kills and career-high 18 digs at SDSU (10-28-18) and has 10 overall ... Sophomore outside hitter Alexis Bachmeier has six 'double-doubles' including career-high 17 kills and 20 digs vs. SDSU (10-28-18).

BISON KILL TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2018/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+
Allie Mauch (12/13)       12   3   --   --
McKenzie Burke (11/24)       11   5   1   --
Alexis Bachmeier (7/7)       7   2   --   --
Emily Halverson (2/3)       2   --   --   --
Bella Lien (--/3)       --   --   --   --
Alex Erickson (--/2)       --   --   --   --

BISON DIG TRACKER
PLAYER (DF 2018/Career)   10+   15+   20+   25+   30+
Abbi Klos (18/33)       18   10   4 (5)   1 (2)   -- (1)
Kaylee Hanger (15/15)       15   7   --   --   --
Alexis Bachmeier (13/13)       13   5   2 (2)   --   --
Kalli Hegerle (9/9)       9   5   --   --   --
McKenzie Burke (8/16)       8   4   1 (1)   --   --
Alex Erickson (1/1)       1   --   --   --   --
Maggie Steffen (1/1)       1   --   --   --   --

BISON DOUBLE-DOUBLE TRACKER
PLAYER (2018/Career)   Kills/Digs   Assists/Digs
Kalli Hegerle (9/9)   --   9
McKenzie Burke (7/10)   7   --
Alexis Bachmeier (6/6)   6   --

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES: North Dakota State is 3-4 in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse this season, averaging 965 spectators per match ... NDSU had a season-high 1,449 in attendance against North Dakota (10-12-18) ... The 1,449 vs. UND is 10th best all-time ... Three 1,000-plus crowds this season, 57 overall ... The Bison have compiled a 383-88 record good for an .813 winning percentage since 1978.

BINA INDUCTED INTO BISON ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME: Former North Dakota State head coach Zaundra Bina was inducted into the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 21 ... She brought "Bina Ball" to the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse in 1995 and changed the fortunes of Bison volleyball with an exuberant personality ... She was named the 1998 Tachikara/AVCA Division II Coach of the Year after leading NDSU to a national runner-up finish ... With 257 wins in 11 seasons in Fargo, she led the Bison to nine straight NCAA tournament appearances and won four conference championships ... She coached seven players who earned ten All-America awards, along with two Academic All-Americans ... She played for Bison Athletic Hall of Famer Donna Palivec from 1982 to 1985 ... Those teams won the program's first NCC championship and made NDSU's first three NCAA tournament appearances.

BURKE, LIEN TABBED AS SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON WATCH LIST: North Dakota State outside hitter McKenzie Burke and middle hitter Bella Lien were named to the Summit League's preseason "Players to Watch List" released Aug. 16 ... Burke, a 5-foot-11 senior from Osceola, Wis., averaged 2.72 kills and 2.36 digs per set last season, while adding 26 aces and 23 blocks ... Burke was named to the 2017 Summit League all-tournament team ... Lien, a 6-2 sophomore from Rogers, Minn., finished third in the league in blocks per set (1.01 bps) ... Lien finished with 149 kills, 101 blocks and 29 digs.

NDSU TIES FOR SIXTH IN SUMMIT LEAGUE PRESEASON COACHES POLL: North Dakota State was tied for sixth in the Summit League volleyball preseason coaches' poll released Aug. 16 ... The Bison were tied with Purdue Fort Wayne with 31 points ... Defending champion Denver (23-6, 12-2 SL) was picked to repeat ... The Pioneers received 7 of 9 first place votes and 63 points overall ... Newcomer North Dakota (30-8, 12-4 Big Sky) was second, receiving the remaining two first place votes and 55 points ... Omaha was third, South Dakota ranked fourth and Oral Roberts came in fifth ... NDSU, Purdue Fort Wayne, South Dakota State and Western Illinois round out the poll.

NDSU HEAD COACH JENNIFER LOPEZ ONE OF AVCA's "Top Thirty under 30": North Dakota State head volleyball coach Jennifer Lopez was one of the American Volleyball Coaches Association's 2018 "Thirty Under 30" award recipients ... "I feel honored to be receiving this award and to be given the opportunity every day to do what I love," said Lopez, 27, who is in her second season as head coach at her alma mater.

MAKING THE GRADE: The North Dakota State University volleyball team was honored with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Team Academic Award for the 2017-18 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 sixth consecutive year and 18th time overall.

THE COACH: Jennifer Lopez (North Dakota State, 2014) has a 26-25 record including 14-12 in the Summit League in her second season as head coach at North Dakota State ... Recipient of 2018 AVCA's "Top Thirty under 30" award ... 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.