SummitVBFan | Covering Summit League Volleyball

Another busy day around Summit League volleyball! 🏐 On today’s show: 🏆 Peak Performers of the Week — Sylvie Zgonc and Sierra Pokharel earn Summit League honors. 🔥 Sylvie Zgonc is on an incredible run — among the national leaders in kills, kills/set, points and points/set. 👏 Milestone Watch — St. Thomas setter Morgan Kealy reaches 3,000 career assists, while South Dakota’s Avery Van Hook joins the 1,000 career digs club. 👥 Fans are showing up — a look at the Top 5 Summit League home crowds so far, including SDSU’s record-setting 5,113 against Nebraska. ⚔️ Mayor’s Cup Preview — Oral Roberts takes its surprising 5-1 start across Tulsa to face the 6-0 Golden Hurricane. Tulsa has won 17 straight in the series, but this new-look ORU team gets a chance to change that today. Plus, more news and notes from around the Summit as we continue through non-conference play. More Coverage. More Conversations. More Volleyball. #SummitVB #NCAAVB #CollegeVolleyball #SummitLeague #Volleyball Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a Saturday for Summit League volleyball! 🏐 The Summit goes an incredible 7-1, including FOUR Massey upset wins on a monster day for the conference. 🔥 South Dakota takes down Northern Iowa in 5 🔥 North Dakota State beats UNLV in 5 🔥 Oral Roberts knocks off Cal State Fullerton, 3-1 🔥 North Dakota flips the script on Mercer, 3-1 🔥 South Dakota State sweeps Bradley 🔥 Omaha dominates Chicago State 🔥 Kansas City beats Evansville, 3-1 I recap all 8 matches, break down the biggest performances and hand out My 3 Match Balls from each match. The Summit improves to 28-17 in non-conference play — already just 3 wins shy of Massey’s projected win total of 31 and only 15 wins away from guaranteeing a winning non-conference record. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A BIG one in Vermillion headlines an eight-match Saturday across Summit League volleyball! 🏐 #76 South Dakota hosts #56 Northern Iowa in a Top-80 showdown. The Coyotes enter at 4-1, while UNI was picked to win the Missouri Valley and has four preseason All-MVC selections. Massey gives the Panthers a 64% chance to win and projects a five-set battle. We preview all 8 Summit matches: 🏐 Kansas City vs. Evansville 🏐 North Dakota State vs. UNLV 🏐 Oral Roberts vs. Cal State Fullerton 🏐 South Dakota State vs. Bradley 🏐 Omaha vs. Chicago State 🏐 #76 South Dakota vs. #56 Northern Iowa 🏐 St. Thomas vs. Milwaukee 🏐 North Dakota vs. Mercer Can South Dakota grab another statement win? Can NDSU continue its strong start? And can the Summit take advantage of several very winnable matchups? Eight matches. A huge opportunity in Vermillion. Another full Saturday of Summit League volleyball. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A BIG Friday for Summit League volleyball! 🏐 The league finishes 7-3, with several impressive wins and some monster individual performances.🔥 Sylvie Zgonc puts together an incredible two-match day for SDSU🔥 Oral Roberts takes down Gonzaga in 5🔥 NDSU sweeps Idaho State🔥 South Dakota State goes 2-0🔥 South Dakota beats Air Force🔥 Omaha sweeps Louisiana Tech🔥 Kansas City splits its two matchesI recap all 10 matches, break down the biggest performances, and hand out My 3 Match Balls from each match.The Summit entered Friday projected by Massey to go 7-3 — and finished exactly 7-3. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A HUGE Friday is coming in Summit League volleyball! 🏐 I recap all 6 matches from Thursday and then preview all 10 matches on Friday’s schedule, including Massey projections, players to watch, and what each matchup could mean for the Summit. Friday’s slate includes: South Dakota State vs. Western Illinois Kansas City vs. Purdue Fort Wayne St. Thomas vs. UIC North Dakota State vs. Idaho State Omaha vs. Louisiana Tech North Dakota vs. Mercer South Dakota State vs. Northern Arizona South Dakota vs. Air Force Kansas City vs. Miami (OH) Oral Roberts vs. Gonzaga Can the Summit stack some wins on a loaded Friday? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re previewing the Wednesday and Thursday Summit League volleyball slate, headlined by South Dakota State hosting #1 Nebraska in a historic night at First Bank & Trust Arena. But there’s plenty more to watch over the next two days: 🏐 SDSU vs. #1 Nebraska — The Huskers just swept #2 Texas and now head to Brookings. 🏐 St. Thomas vs. Montana State — The Tommies return home looking for win No. 1. 🏐 Oral Roberts vs. Eastern Washington — A battle of 3-0 teams in Spokane. 🏐 Omaha vs. Western Michigan — A Top-100 opportunity for the Mavericks at home. 🏐 South Dakota vs. Utah Valley — The Coyotes return to Vermillion looking to get back in the win column. 🏐 North Dakota State vs. Boise State — The 2-0 Bison head west looking to stay perfect. We break down the Massey rankings, projections, opponents and players to know before first serve. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Opening weekend is officially in the books, and we have plenty to talk about across Summit League volleyball! We’re recapping all non-conference matches from Sunday, handing out our Match Balls for the top performances, and taking our first look at the Summit League individual leaders after Week 1. Who impressed? Who surprised? And what did we learn about the league after the first weekend? 🏐 Match-by-match results and takeaways 🏐 Our top Match Ball performances 🏐 Early league leaders in points, hitting %, assists, blocks & digs 🏐 Updated non-conference tracker 🏐 What it all means heading into Week 2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We preview four more matches on the Sunday schedule: 🏐 #69 South Dakota vs. #94 DePaul — The Coyotes are 2-0 and Massey gives them a 61% chance to make it 3-0. 🏐 #64 South Dakota State vs. #100 Villanova — Another résumé opportunity for the Jacks against one of the preseason favorites in the Big East. 🏐 #293 North Dakota vs. #317 Chicago State — Something has to give between two teams looking for their first win of 2026. 🏐 #131 St. Thomas at #74 Wyoming — A difficult road test for the Tommies against a Wyoming team coming off a 3-1 win over Texas Tech. We break down the Massey rankings and projections, opponent rosters, preseason awards and players to know for all four matches. The non-conference résumé continues to take shape as the Summit chases a third consecutive season with an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Summit League finished 4-4 on Saturday, but the record doesn't tell the entire story. 🏐 Oral Roberts moves to 3-0 after surviving another five-set battle. 🏐 North Dakota State improves to 2-0 with an impressive sweep. 🏐 South Dakota moves to 2-0 behind a balanced offensive attack. 🏐 Omaha bounces back with a dominant .380 hitting performance and a sweep. 🏐 St. Thomas and North Dakota suffer five-set heartbreakers after battling back. 🏐 Plus, we hand out the Impact 3 from each match and highlight the biggest individual performances of the day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After an exciting opening Friday, we’re back to preview all eight Summit League matches on Saturday. We break down every matchup, the latest Massey rankings, win probabilities, projected results and the opponent you need to know. Saturday’s slate: Kansas City vs. Austin Peay St. Thomas vs. Texas Tech North Dakota State vs. Tennessee Tech South Dakota vs. Milwaukee Omaha vs. Central Michigan Oral Roberts at New Orleans North Dakota at Seattle U South Dakota State at Pepperdine The headliner comes in Malibu, where #78 South Dakota State gets an early Top-50 opportunity against #49 Pepperdine. The Jacks opened their season with a five-set win over Sacramento State. But there are opportunities throughout the board as the Summit continues building its non-conference résumé and begins the chase for a third consecutive NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a start for Summit League volleyball. Nine matches. Seven wins. Two Massey upsets. And some huge individual performances to open the 2026 season. South Dakota went on the road and knocked off Drake. North Dakota State won a five-set thriller at Tulane. SDSU and Kansas City survived five-set battles, Oral Roberts went 2-0, and we handed out three match balls from every match. Let’s recap all nine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

College volleyball is officially back! 🏐 The Summit League opens the 2026 season on Friday with seven programs in action and nine non-conference matches. On this Opening Day preview show, we break down every matchup, including: 🏐 Kansas City vs. Jackson State🏐 Oral Roberts vs. Stonehill🏐 Kansas City vs. UT Martin🏐 Oral Roberts vs. Nicholls🏐 North Dakota vs. Eastern Washington🏐 South Dakota State vs. Sacramento State🏐 South Dakota at Drake🏐 North Dakota State at Tulane🏐 Omaha at Washington State We’ll look at the Massey projections, win probabilities, projected scores and what you need to know about every opponent before first serve. The bigger picture starts today, too. The Summit League is chasing a third consecutive NCAA Tournament at-large bid, and every non-conference result matters. All friends until September 24th. Happy First Serve Day! 🏐 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What a story it was in 2025. In its first season eligible for the Division I postseason, St. Thomas reached the NCAA Tournament. Now the challenge is doing it again. Head coach Thanh Pham enters his 24th season leading the Tommies and joins SummitVBFan to talk about reloading after losing nine seniors. There’s plenty coming back, led by two-time Summit League Setter of the Year Morgan Kealy, All-Freshman selection Anya Schmidt, and do-it-all Ellie Gustafson. St. Thomas has also added a large group of transfers and freshmen as the Tommies look to build on their breakthrough season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The momentum is building in Fargo. NDSU went 11-2 at home last season, won all five of its five-set matches and finished 10-6 in the Summit League. Now the Bison return three All-Summit honorees, bring back one of the league's most experienced rosters and add an intriguing group of newcomers. Head Coach Jennifer Lopez joins SummitVBFan to talk about the 2026 Bison, what she learned from last season, the newcomers and what it will take for NDSU to take another step in a Summit League that has earned two NCAA Tournament bids in each of the last two seasons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new era of North Dakota volleyball is underway. New Fighting Hawks head coach David Nguyen joins SummitVBFan to discuss his young roster, building a winning culture in Grand Forks, and the challenge of competing in a really good Summit League. Plus, An den Hamer led UND with 20 kills in today’s exhibition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Matt Buttermore, it starts with maximizing the potential of every player. After averaging 12+ Summit wins over seven years, that philosophy continues with a talented 2026 group led by Faith Venable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

South Dakota enters 2026 with high expectations and an experienced roster returning 98% of its points from last season. Head coach Leanne Williamson, the Summit League’s all-time wins leader, joins SummitVBFan to discuss the expectations in Vermillion, her veteran roster, key returners, newcomers, and what it will take for the Coyotes to make another run at the top of the Summit League. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oral Roberts head coach Nolan Albrecht joins SummitVBFan to preview the 2026 Golden Eagles. We discuss the growth of the program this offseason, what Coach Albrecht learned during his first season at ORU, the development of Cortnee Smith, and what he expects from the Golden Eagles in 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Golden Eagles return just 25% of last season’s points and 21% of sets played after finishing 3-25 overall and 1-15 in Summit League play. The biggest returning piece is Cortnee Smith, a Summit League Second Team selection who averaged 3.03 kills per set last season. Beyond Smith, however, there are new faces everywhere. ORU rebuilt through both the transfer portal and freshman recruiting, adding Olivia Burns and Quincey McCoy from Eastern Washington, Tarcy Mayah from Chicago State, Sienna Wnetrzak from UT Martin, and several intriguing freshmen. In this preview, I break down: Just how extensive the roster turnover is Every position group The importance of Cortnee Smith A completely new-look setter room ORU's newcomers and transfers The Golden Eagles' non-conference schedule What realistic progress could look like in Year 2 under Nolan Albrecht There are a lot more questions than answers in Tulsa, but with an almost entirely new roster, this should be a fascinating team to watch develop in 2026. #SummitLeague #ORUVolleyball #OralRoberts #CollegeVolleyball #SummitVBFan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

College volleyball will look a little different in 2026. On this episode of SummitVBFan, I break down the new NCAA women’s volleyball rules and what fans should watch for this season. We’ll cover the changes you’re most likely to notice, including fewer bench switches, the new center-line rule, video review changes, serving-team screening, the new pursuit rule and more. No rulebook required — just a quick look at what’s changing before the first serve of the 2026 season. 🏐 Summit League volleyball coverage all season long. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices