THIS WEEK
The North Dakota State volleyball team (9-12, 3-6 Summit) treks south this week to take on Oral Roberts (12-5, 6-2 Summit) on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. The Bison will close the weekend at Kansas City (15-6, 6-3 Summit) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
LOOKING BACK
NDSU enters the week after rolling past North Dakota, 3-0, at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse last Saturday. The Bison have now won their last seven meetings with the Fighting Hawks. Ali Hinze (17 digs, 10 kills) and Raegen Reilly (36 assists, 13 digs) each contributed a double-double to pace NDSU.
90 MATCHES AND COUNTING
Kaylee Hanger continues to leave her mark in Bison history. After becoming the 26th player in program history to reach 1,000 career digs, she is now closing in on her 100th career match. She’s appeared in 97 career matches over her four year career.
SERVIN’ UP SOME ACES
NDSU leads the Summit League in total aces and ranks 16th in the nation with 136 this season. Ava Schmoll and Ali Hinze have each contributed a team-high 22 aces.
A DYNAMIC DUO
Ali Hinze and Syra Tanchin have emerged as two of the top offensive players in the Summit League this season. Hinze ranks fourth in the Summit League in total kills with 264, while Tanchin is positioned fifth with 262. NDSU is the only team to have two different players ranked inside the top five in total kills.
WHAT CAN’T HINZE DO?
Ali Hinze has already connected on a career-high and team-best 264 kills this season. She has also made an impact on the defensive end of the floor totaling a career-best 202 digs, which ranks second on the team. Hinze has registered a double-double in each of her last three matches.
OFFENSIVE POWER
The Bison have tallied 970 total kills this season, which ranks second in the Summit League. NDSU connected on a season-high 70 kills in the win over Western Illinois.
DIRECTING TRAFFIC
The Bison are positioned second in the Summit League in total assists this season with 896 and are averaging 11.49 per set. Raegen Reilly paces NDSU passing out a team-best 488 assists, while Kelley Johnson has added in 288.
DENIED AT THE NET
Michelle Glover is slotted second in the Summit League with 81.0 total blocks. She’s contributed three or more blocks in each of her last six matches, including matching a season-best eight blocks at South Dakota State.
BATTLING ON DEFENSE
The Bison have battled on the defensive side of the court logging 12 matches with 50 or more digs, including a season-high 89 in the win over Western Illinois. NDSU ranks third in Summit League with 1,167 digs.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB, KAYLEE
Kaylee Hanger has reached double digits in digs in 12 matches this season and pushed her career total to 1,025 over four seasons, which ranks 23rd all-time in Bison history.
Hanger is the 26th player in program history to reach the 1,000 career digs mark.
THE SERIES VS. ORAL ROBERTS
This will mark the 33rd all-time meeting between NDSU and Oral Roberts dating back to 1982 with the Bison leading the all-time series, 21-11. Earlier this season on Sept. 25, NDSU fell short against Oral Roberts, 3-0, at Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. Syra Tanchin paced the Bison with a match-high 11 kills to go along with a .476 hitting percentage.
THE SERIES VS. KANSAS CITY
This will be the 22nd all-time meeting between NDSU and Kansas City in a series that dates back to 1982. The Bison lead the all-time series, 17-4. Earlier this season on Sept. 23, NDSU dropped a 3-1 decision to Kansas City in the home opener. Ali Hinze led the way for the Bison registering a double-double with a team-high 17 kills and 10 digs.
*Myles Johnson, NDSU Athletics