Holtan: Sold out crowd culminates SDSU volleyball turnaround

South Dakota State volleyball hosted No. 1 ranked Nebraska on Wednesday night at First Bank & Trust Arena. 5,113 fans attended and it was a complete sell out. That’s something that seemed unfathomable 10 years ago.

10 years ago, I was in the beginning of my junior year at South Dakota State. I was the sports editor The Collegian and had spent the two previous years as a reporter. My freshman year in 2014, I was designated the volleyball beat. I knew nothing about the program and frankly, didn’t know much about college volleyball. But I learned quickly that it was a program that was near the bottom of the country.

In 2014, SDSU went 6-27 overall and 0-16 in the Summit League and head coach Phil McDaniel was let go at the end of the season. The Jacks then hired Nicole Cirillo. She had been an assistant coach at IUPUI, who at the time was the top team in the Summit League.

Cirillo never fully got things off the ground for Jacks and they remained at the bottom of the Summit League. In her five seasons, SDSU was 31-118 overall and 10-64 in the Summit League. In 2017, which would have been my senior year of college, the Jacks were 2-25 overall and did not win a match in conference play.

Dan Georgalas would take over the program in 2020 and he came from a successful mid-major program in Wyoming. His tenure got off to a tough start as COVID hit and the volleyball season was pushed back from the fall of 2020 to the spring of 2021. SDSU only played one non-conference match and was swept by Drake. The Jacks then went 6-10 in the Summit League but finished the year strong, winning four of their last five matches.

There was momentum going into next season for the first time in a long time.

My first introduction to Georgalas would be in that next season because the previous one we were not allowed to interview coaches or players at SDSU during the spring of 2021 due to COVID protocols. I don’t remember the exact match that I met him, but I remember thinking that Justin Sell had found another coaching gem and that he would be able to at least get this team to be competitive in the Summit League.

In the fall of 2021, SDSU went 9-4 in the non-conference. It was a roller coaster of a conference season for the Jacks with multiple winning and losing streaks, ultimately ending with a 10-8 record. That 10-8 record put SDSU in the Summit League Tournament for the first time since 2010.

The Jacks would be the No. 6 seed in the tournament and would face No. 3 seeded Denver, who had swept them in both matches in the regular season. SDSU pulled off an ultimate stunner, beating the Pioneers in five sets and advancing to the semifinals. The Jacks would face No. 2 seeded South Dakota next and lost a heartbreaker in five sets as they lost the fifth set 18-16.

I remember I called Georgalas a few days after that tournament and while he was disappointed that SDSU didn’t win the conference tournament, he said that the program was close to breaking through. At that point I still thought winning the conference was a pipe dream. It took another three seasons to get that done, but he has accomplished what he wanted to do here when he took the job back in 2020.

The Jacks have won the Summit League regular season title the past two seasons and have a record of 51-11 since the start of the 2024 season. I remember I ran into Georgalas out and about in Brookings in the summer of 2022 and he told me that he wanted to build Jackrabbit volleyball similar to what Aaron Johnston had done with the women’s basketball program at SDSU. Get people excited about volleyball. Have the Brookings community and university into the sport, and have a consistent fan base.

Last night was the culmination of that as the crowd was mostly filled with blue, despite Nebraska being the most well-known college volleyball brand in the country. There were 255 fans in attendance for SDSU’s home opener back in the fall of 2021. Georgalas reflected on that compared to Wednesday’s match.

“You know, when we first got here, the bleachers on the end line weren’t even being pulled out because we weren’t even drawing that many fans. So to see where our program was six years ago, we had 255 fans in the [fall] of 2021, and our first season was canceled [before that]. Now, here we are hosting the No. 1 team in the country. We just set not only a program attendance record, but a [First Bank & Trust Arena] record and a state of South Dakota record for a volleyball match. I’m just so grateful,” Georgalas said.

Georgalas was also able to take a second to look back and think about his goals when he got to SDSU. He said the success that the Jackrabbits have had since the start of 2024 has exceeded his expectations.

“I knew we’d be successful here,” Georgalas said. “We’ve certainly had our highs and lows over the course of what’s now in year seven. I’d be lying if I said the last three years didn’t exceed my expectations. We were 50-8 the past two seasons, going from you know, the team had a winless [Summit League] season, two [total] wins in 2017. We’ve got so much to be grateful for. I think everyone that got to watch tonight’s match realizes what an amazing place South Dakota State is.”

Senior outside hitter Sylvie Zgonc has been a big part of SDSU’s success over the past two seasons. She is the back-to-back Summit League Player of the Year and was also an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention both years.

Like Georgalas, Zgonc said she thought back to what her freshman year was like when she was playing in front of over 5,000 people on Wednesday night.

“Tonight was awesome. I tell people a lot, I think back to my freshman year when we had 200 people in the gym. So I look back at that now, with 5,000 people there, it was just so fun. I think that’s a real statement and real testament to how far this program has come,” Zgonc said.

The Jacks are off to a 1-3 start to the season, but their losses have come to strong programs in Pepperdine, Villanova and Nebraska. SDSU still has matches against the likes of No. 16 Kansas, No. 11 Minnesota and Washington in the non-conference. That’s before the Jacks will attempt to three-peat as Summit League regular season champs and then try to win their first Summit League Tournament title.

While Georgalas was nothing but smiles on Wednesday night, he said he thinks there is still more room for this program to grow and wants the atmosphere that was in Brookings on Wednesday to be more of a recurring theme.

“We had all of our commits in the next two classes here to enjoy this experience, and now they get to see that this is what’s waiting for them. This is the basement and where the bottom is. This is where the floor is [now]. Where can we take this program next? It’s just really exciting,” Georgalas said.