South Dakota State fell into an early hole on Friday afternoon against UMKC, dropping the first set 25-19, and then never fully recovered in a 3-1 loss to the Kangaroos, falling in the final three sets by the scores of 25-22, 17-25 and 25-23.
"Our energy was not good to start the match. It took us too long to get the tempo of the game in our favor," head coach Phil McDaniel said. "Our energy in sets three and four was better, but not good enough to get the win."
The loss drops the Jackrabbits to 13-19 overall and 5-12 in The Summit League heading into Saturday's final match of the season. UMKC improves to 12-16 overall and jumps in the Jacks in the league standings with a 6-11 mark.
Kelli Fiegen led the Jackrabbits with 19 kills and with six block assists. Kelly Herrmann and Ellyce Youngren both added 10 digs. Herrmann added a match and career-high 23 digs for her sixth double-double of the season and ninth of her career.
Shay Birath added 18 digs for the Jacks, which puts her at 1,332 for her career, good for sixth all-time at SDSU and just six shy of moving into the top five.
Kelsey Knoche led all players with 26 kills and added 14 digs to complete the double-double. Elizabeth Beck added 14 kills and a trio of block assists in the win.
The Jackrabbits return to action Saturday on Senior Night, when they close the season against South Dakota at 7 p.m.
