VERMILLION, S.D. (USD) — South Dakota (15-9, 9-4 Summit) swept North Dakota inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Saturday afternoon to pick up its second sweep of the week. Game scores went 25-20, 25-18, 25-23.  

Who Stood Out
Fifth-year senior Madison Harms led the Coyotes with 14 kills on 21 attempts to hit .571 on the match. The middle blocker also added a team-high six blocks, including one solo block. Fellow middle blocker Brynn Paumen followed with nine kills on a .467 hitting clip and four blocks.

North Dakota (6-19, 3-10 Summit) had eight kills apiece from Elizabeth Norris and Paige Barber. Norris, who ranks third in the NCAA with four triple-doubles on the season, was also held to just seven digs. Libero Izzie McCormick had a team-high eight digs.

Turning Point
Though it was just a three-set match, this was another back-and-forth battle between the Yotes and Fighting Hawks. North Dakota would come out strong to start each set, creating decent leads early on in each set, but South Dakota would find ways to shift the momentum back to their side of net and push themselves back into the match. Harms was a key contributor every time the Coyotes took back the momentum, tallying kills and putting up blocks at key moments throughout the match. Set three started with another lead for North Dakota as they rallied to go up 11-6 and force a USD timeout, hoping to extend the match to extra sets. The Yotes would go on a 6-2 run spurred by big blocks from Harms, Sealock, and Loschen to come within one at 13-12 and force a UND timeout. A service ace from Sealock out of the timeout tied the game at 13-13 and shifted the momentum back to the Yotes once again. North Dakota survived three USD match points before a service error from Norris sealed the sweep for the Yotes.

Notable

  • With the win, the Coyotes picked up their 15th win of the season. That is 10 straight seasons of 15 or more wins for South Dakota.
  • Freshman setter Avery Van Hook recorded her 12th double-double on the year with 25 assists and 11 digs.
  • Junior Kylen Sealock had four service aces while Alaina Wolff added three aces. As a team, the Yotes had 10 service aces while holding North Dakota to just two.

Quotable
“Really happy with the three-set sweep,” said head coach Leanne Williamson. “I was really happy with the way we battled through this match. There were times where it wasn’t always pretty or we started in a deficit, but we handled the ebbs and flows of the match well which is important at this point of the season. We served well and the way we were able to score points on our serving was a big key to our success and being able to close the gaps.”

Up Next
South Dakota stays home to host its last full weekend of league play. The Yotes take on Oral Roberts on Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. before facing North Dakota State on Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. Following the match on Nov. 11, the Coyotes will be honoring their seniors. On Nov. 14, South Dakota travels to South Dakota State for the regular season finale in Brookings at 7 p.m.