PITTSBURG, KAN. – Led by senior Averey Yaksich and two double-doubles from sophomore Nicole Jacobson, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (4-2) swept Truman State and earned a 1-1 split on the opening day of the Gorilla Classic. The Cougars also lost a close back-and-forth match with host Pittsburg State, 3-2, earlier in the day.

USF will play a pair of matches on Saturday at the Classic. They played St. Marys (Texas) at 10 am and later face Northwestern Oklahoma State at 5:30 to close out their play at the Pitt State Gorilla Classic..

In six matches this season, Yaksich has recorded double figures in kills and lead USF in points. On Friday, she had 17 kills against PSU and then had 14 against TSU on 32 attacks for a .250 hitting mark. A senior from Omaha, Neb., Yaksich now has 30 matches with double-digit kills with five in six matches in 2021. In addition, she has had 14 kills or more in five of six matches. On the season, she now has exactly 100 kills (4.35 per set) and with 619 in her career ranks eighth all-time just 29 behind Kate Hart, 648, 2013-14.

Sophomore outside hitter Nicole Jacobson also had a big day for USF. She had double-doubles in both matches today. Against Pitt State, she had 10 kills and 10 digs while scoring 14 points Then she had 10 kills and 11 digs for 11 points against TSU. She now has six career matches with double-digit kills.

Senior setter Krista Goerger had seven kills on eight attacks, 15 digs and supplied 71 assists. She now has 2,620 career assists at USF, which is a school record and one that she breaks with each set/match.     

Pitt State 3 Sioux Falls 2 (23-25, 25-21, 13-25, 25-16, 15-12)
Everything about the USF-Pitt State match was close but the Gorillas rallied from two sets down to take a 3-2 decision. USF is now 1-1 this season in five-set matches.

How close was the match – well, PSU had a 52-49 edge in kills, a 7-4 edge in aces, 51-43 margin in assists and held a 68-53 margin in digs. USF had an 8-4 margin in blocks while PSU had a total 63-61 margin in points. USF hit .171 on 49 kills in 152 attacks with 23 errors. PSU hit 137 with 52 kills on 146 attacks and 32 errors. USF was led by Yaksich with 17 kills on 52 attacks for a 231 hitting mark. She added nine digs and scored 19 points. Goerger had three kills, 38 assists and eight digs while TiaRose Nagami supplied a team-high 16 digs and five assists. Also for USF, Jacobson had 10 kills and 10 digs while Albrecht added six kills and Hamm had eight kills on 14 attacks (.357).

In the five-set defeat to Pitt State, USF Head Coach Dan Mathews said the team was disappointed to drop a tough one.
 
"We were very disappointed to lose this match.  We felt that we were in a position to get the win, especially midway through the final set, but Pittsburg State was able to put together a string of scoring towards the end by serving really aggressively.  One of their outside hitters had a superb match and it was very difficult for us to counter her attack efficiency," he said.
 
Midway through the opening set, USF had converted 6-of-22 attacks and took a 14-12 lead over PSU. Jordan Hamm led the way for USF with two early kills. Pitt State answered with a 5-1 run to grab a 17-15 advantage. With a 7-4 run, USF took a 22-21 lead following an attack error by PSU and a kill by Hamm, who had three in the set. With consecutive service aces, Jacobson won the opening set, 25-23. USF had 10 kills on 34 attacks with 3 errors for a .206 hitting mark.   

In set two, Pitt State jumped to a 17-8 lead but two kills by Yaksich cut the deficit to 20-13. Later, Yaksich had another kill and PSU had two hitting errors to draw within, 23-17, but the Cougars fell in the second set, 25-21. Cougars made a 13-8 run to close out the set but was too far back as the Gorillas evened the match at a set each.

In the third set, USF opened up a 6-0 lead as PSU had three hitting errors and Yaksich converted her 10^th kill of the match. With Yaksich' s 12^th kill, USF grabbed a 10-2 lead. With eight kills on 17 attacks and a .375 hitting mark, took a 17-8 lead over Pitt State after Jacobson converted at the net in set three. With 11 kills on 23 attacks and a .375 hitting mark for the set, the Cougars rolled to take set three, 25-13.

In the fourth set, PSU jumped to a quick 8-3 lead before Brooke Albrecht converted two kills and USF closed to 9-5. With PSU hitting over .300 in the opening 32 points, the Gorillas took a 20-12 lead over USF. With an overall .290-to.156 hitting advantage, PSU took the fourth set by a 25-16 score.

USF took a 5-2 lead after Yaksich's 17^th kill of the match and a hitting error by PSU in the fifth set. But the Gorillas used a 7-3 run to take a 9-8 lead over USF.  PSU led 11-9 before kills by Kuper, Goerger and Jacobson gave USF a 12-11 lead. PSU took advantage of a couple hitting errors by the Cougars and prevailed 15-12 by scoring the final four points of the set.

USF 3 Truman State 2 (25-23, 25-15, 25-17)
The Cougars moved to 1-1 on the day as Yaksich led USF to the win with 14 kills while hitting .250 and Jacobson had a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs. Goerger added four kills, 33 assists and seven digs. Also for the Cougars, freshman Jordan Kuper had seven kills on 12 attacks for a .333 mark while sophomore Brooklynne Albrecht and freshman Jordyn Hamm both had five kills. Another significant contributor was freshman defensive specialist Caitlin Kellner with 10 digs, three aces and a kill. The 10 digs was Kellner's second double-digit total this year (13 vs Grand Valley State).

As a team, USF hit .286 with 46 kills on 105 attacks and 16 errors. The Cougars had advantages in blocks (7-5), assists (41-16), kills (46-18) and digs (41-33) as they rolled to their second straight set win of the season.

Mathews was proud how his team rebounded against Truman State with a straight set win.
 
"One sign of a resilient team is the ability to re-focus after disappointment, which we certainly did against Truman State," said Mathews. "We rotated a lot of different defensive specialists through the back row in this match, and it was fun to see each person give it their best.  We were able to find some offensive consistency that was lacking in the morning match, and it helped us secure the 3-0 win."
 
With four kills, Yaksich helped USF rally from down 5-1 to take a 12-10 lead in the first set. With her third kill of the set from Kuper, USF took a 15-11 lead. TSU rebounded with a 9-5 run to tie the match at 20-20 before a third kill from Jacobson gave USF a 21-20 lead. Down a point at 23-22, USF scored three straight including kills from Goerger and Jacobson to seal the set. In the opening set, USF had 18 kills and hit .293.

In the second set, USF utilized its outstanding hitting to grab an early lead at 17-11 and cruised in for a 25-15 win and a 2-0 sets advantage. USF hit .379 as they had 14 kills on 29 attacks and just three errors. TSU had just six kills and committed five errors as they hit .040. USF had four aces to go with its outstanding play at the net.

Early in set three, TSU jumped to a 5-3 edge over the Cougars.  USF battled back to a 6-6 tie as TSU had three straight hitting errors. However, they retook the lead at 8-6 after USF had a hitting miscue. Down one, Jacobson had a trio of kills and Goerger added one as USF took a 12-10 lead. USF continued the run with a 9-1 tally for a 21-11 lead as they cruised for a 25-15 third set victory and won the match.