DENVER -- The University of Denver volleyball team continues its homestand with matches against South Dakota State and South Dakota this week in Hamilton Gymnasium.
The Pioneers take on the SDSU Jackrabbits on Thursday at 6 p.m. MT. DU is 24-4 all time against the Jacks, but fell 3 sets to 2 on November 25, 2024 in the Summit League Semifinal match.
Denver will then face the South Dakota Coyotes on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. MT. The Pioneers are 14-15 all time against the Coyotes, and fell 1-3 in their most recent meeting on October 24, 2024.
THE LAST TIME OUT
• The Pioneers opened Summit League play 2-0 with wins over Oral Roberts and Kansas City
•
Jamia Johnson earned a career-high 17 kills in the 3-1 win over Kansas City.
SCOUTING REPORT: SDSU
• The Jacks open the season 7-3 with notable wins over Ole Miss, South Florida and Dayton.
•SDSU was picked to finish fi rst in the 2025 Preseason Coaches' Poll and Sydni Schetnan and Sylvie Zgonc were named as players to watch.
• Both Zgonc and Schetnan were All-Summit League and All-Region honorees a season ago and Zgonc collected honorable mention All-America honors.
SCOUTING REPORT: SOUTH DAKOTA
•South Dakota was picked to fi nish second in the 2025 Preseason Coaches' Poll after earning the Summit League tournament title a year ago.
•Reigning Summit League Defensive Player of the Year Kamryn Farris and Avery Van Hook were named players to watch. •Farris ranked 18th in the NCAA last season with 565 digs and appeared in all 31 matches at libero.
•Van Hook led the conference with 1208 assists and 10.24 assists/set. She was the only setter in the Summit League to average 10 assists/set and was 37th in the NCAA
STARTING STRONG
• The Pioneers' 8-3 nonconference record is the best start to a season under third year head coach Megan Pendergast.
• Denver earned their first SEC win in 17 years and first P4 win under Pendergast on 9/13/25 with a 3-2 win over Arkansas.
• DU closed out its nonconference season with a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Into the Blue Invitational with wins over Air Force, Utah Tech and Northern Colorado.
THE PENDERGAST ERA
•The Pioneers earned their first SEC win in 17 years and first P4 win under Pendergast on 9/13/25 with a 3-2 win over Arkansas.
•Three Pios earned All-Summit League honors in 2024:
Cassie Davis,
Molly Mirabelli and All-Freshman selection
Jamia Johnson.
• In her first season at the helm, Pendergast led the Pioneers to a 12-4 record in conference play, earning a share of the Summit League regular season title, the first since 2020.
•DU was a perfect 9-0 in Hamilton Gymnasium, Denver's first perfect record at home since the 2015 season (18-0).
• Megan Pendergast was named the eighth head coach of the DU Volleyball program on June 12, 2023.
• Spent eight seasons as an assistant coach with UCLA (3), Oklahoma (1) and Tulsa (4).
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