The Summit finishes non-conference play 45-40, a whopping 14 wins better than preseason projections, with 6 of 8 teams exceeding expectations. 🏐 I’ll be recording a Midterm Review sometime today to break down these numbers and more. League play is going to be fun.

The updated Kiyoat Power Poll is up on Volley Talk! NDSU climbs to #4 after pushing #1 and #2 to five sets in two losses last week. Kiyoat’s picks this week: South Dakota over South Dakota State in 4 NDSU over Omaha in 4 St. Thomas over NDSU in 4

The latest VBracketology projects South Dakota State as the Summit’s automatic qualifier, facing Nebraska in the opening round. Four teams from the Non-Power 4 Top 25 sit among the Last Four In/First Four Out: Pepperdine (#4), LMU (#8), Bowling Green (#21), and Ball State (#17).

Congrats to Morgan Bode (USD) and Taylor Byl (SDSU) on earning Summit League Peak Performer of the Week honors! Even better? These two face off Friday!

Two 2027 recruits posting big numbers: 🏐 Reagan Meyers (Omaha): PrepDig’s No. 70 nationally. Set Nebraska’s C2 record with 48 kills in a single match this year; hitting .380. 🏐 Halle Laincz (USD): Up to 4.0 kills/set. A newspaper called her “worth the price of admission.”

Love UND’s weekly pressers! Great Q&A with Coach Nguyen & Olivia Edlund. The “one more ball” approach helped UND take a set from each Summit top-four team. Buy stock in freshman Sally Marong: top 21 in digs, kills/set, points, hitting % & blocks!

Bumpset has updated its Summit League projections. Current leaders in NCAA tournament probability: South Dakota: 50% South Dakota State: 40% Omaha: 8% St. Thomas: 6% NDSU: 3%

T1 vs. T1. Friday night. Brookings. Round 2. USD vs. SDSU. Zgonc vs. Medeck. A rivalry showdown with first place on the line. It doesn’t get much better than this. Hope to see 3,000+ in the stands.🏐

Halfway through Summit play! 🏐 Five-set thrillers, Tommie sweeps & Omaha road wins. Plus Mid-Season Awards, Top 25 Impact Players & Friday’s USD–SDSU showdown! Summit League Volleyball Recap | Midseason Awards, Top 25 Impact Players... youtu.be/_hCdoq8o9Nk?si=IKqV… via @YouTube

For the second straight week, St. Thomas was the biggest mover in the computer rankings. South Dakota and South Dakota State also made big jumps in the FigStats RPI. The second half of Summit League play is shaping up to be a fun one.

Updated Non-Power 4 Massey Rankings: No. 18 South Dakota No. 25 South Dakota State Two Top 25 Non-Power 4 programs. Elite talent. One massive Summit showdown. USD at SDSU on Friday puts some of the Summit’s best volleyball front and center. Can’t wait to be in Brookings!

A few quick thoughts: Amanda Loschen has a much higher pain tolerance than I do. I lost a nail and missed 3 days. She went on to score 4 critical points midway through the 5th set. NDSU is oh so close. This is a dang good team that will be a tough out in November. My wife says South Dakota’s sideline dancing now ranks #1. Really enjoyed today’s play-by-play announcer. Thank you for the postgame interview with Coach Lopez, too. Greatly appreciated!

Edge of your seat volleyball in Kansas City! Omaha wins in five to improve to 5-2 in the Summit. How about the Maric, Obeid and Corf trio? A combined 52 kills, hitting .455, .482 and .316, respectively. Wow! Stuesser dished out 51 assists. Big road win for the Mavericks without Venable!

The Tommies break out the brooms for a third straight match! 🧹 St. Thomas is clicking, hitting .321 behind Anya Schmidt’s 14 kills on .435 hitting and Morgan Kealy’s 35 assists. At 4-3 halfway through league play, the Tommies are a team to watch in the second half.

Jacks advance to 6-1 in the Summit setting up the showdown on Friday against the 6-1 Coyotes. Zgonc delivered 22 kills to lead SDSU. Fighting Hawks put up a strong fight holding the Jacks to .157 hitting. Nothing is easy in the Summit.

Coyotes faced plenty of adversity today but they responded with a 5-set winner. Hats off to the road fans, loudest I can remember at the BBF.

Amazing couple of sets from NDSU as the Bison take the 2-1 lead. Blohm is bringing it today for the Bison with 12 kills, .385 hitting.

South Dakota hits .304 and takes a trilling 25-23 first set at the BBF, but it was a block to win it.