First-place ‘Yotes square off vs. SDSU
Following a two-game skid, the University of South Dakota volleyball team returns to the DakotaDome Friday night to an all-too-familiar opponent: South Dakota State University.
Friday’s match marks the sixth time the Coyotes have played the Jackrabbits since transitioning to the Summit League in 2011.
Senior Tori Kroll said she is excited to face SDSU during her last weekend playing in the DakotaDome.
“It’s going to be really exciting. There’s going to be a lot of energy, and I can’t wait to see the results,” Kroll said.
Following USD’s matches with SDSU and North Dakota State Saturday, the Coyotes will end the 2013 regular season with a string of four road games.
In the team’s most recent match Oct. 5 in Brookings, USD took down the Jackrabbits in a close match, winning 3-1.
Kroll also said they have seen them before and know what to expect.
“We know them now and they have some pretty good middles. They set the tempo in the middle so we’re going to try and keep our pace on our serving to get the out of their system,” Kroll said.
The Coyotes are currently tied for the lead in the Summit League with a 7-2 conference record, 16-8 overall and the Jackrabbits are in last place holding a 1-7 conference record and 3-18 overall.
Last season, both teams finished at 8-8 in Summit League play. USD finished with an overall record of 14-14 and SDSU finished 16-13 overall.
Head coach Matt Houk said while the rivalry is a fun aspect to the game, his team needs to keep an up-tempo this weekend.
“It’s just fun to have a rivalry, and it’s fun to live in a state with only two Division-I programs,” Houk said. “Regardless where you’re from, you either bleed blue or bleed red, and people get jacked up no matter what sport it is. I just think that it is a neat thing to be a part of.”
Houk also said the rivalry was lost when he first got here, but since joining the Summit League, the teams have it back, and he hopes it stays that way.
But he won’t allow the team to get too concerned about it, and said they can’t let one match get bigger than their season.
“We want the fans to get really excited about the rivalry, but we want our players to understand that it’s the same match as any other match, and it’s just as important, not more important than any other match,” Houk said.
Kroll said this weekend is important to her, especially with it being parent’s night on Friday and senior night Sunday.
“Basically, this is going to be my last week playing in the (DakotaDome) so it’s going to be really exciting. There’s going to be a lot of energy and I can’t wait to see the results,” Kroll said.
The Coyotes will take on the Jackrabbits at 7 p.m. Friday night in front of an already sold out crowd.
Regaining momentum
Aside from the rivalry weekend, the Coyotes will be trying to regain the standing the team lost following back-to-back losses in Indiana Friday and Saturday. The team first fell to Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis Friday volleyball team Friday, ending their undefeated reign in the Summit League in 2013.
Following the loss, they faced Indiana University-Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday night where they also lost a close match.
Junior Kendall Kritenbrink led the Coyotes with 25 kills and 19 digs, sophomore Sydney Dimke added 14 kills and Sophomore Kaitlyn Hastings and freshmen Audrey Reeg each recorded 11 digs for the team. Kritenbrink says the team needs to stick to its basis and get back to where they were before.
“We got a little thrown out of our element this weekend and our passing was a little off so get back to being aggressive in our serves and getting all our hitters in,” Kritenbrink said.
