Coyotes sweep competition at IUPUI Invitational

Head Coach Leanne Williamson earned her 100^th career victory as USD swept the competition at the IUPUI Invitational in Indianapolis over the weekend.

USD vs IUPUI

The Coyotes defeated Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in four sets to secure their first win of the season at The Jungle on Friday.

After dropping the first set 20-25, USD battled back by taking the next three sets 25-20, 25-17 and 30-28, which included coming back from a 16-8 deficit in the fourth set.

USD totaled 51 kills during the game to IUPUI’s 42 and to go along with 43 assists and a .179 hitting percentage.

Freshman outside hitter Elizabeth Juhnke took home tournament MVP honors after posting 12 kills and 17 digs in her first collegiate game. Junior outside hitter Sami Slaughter tallied 14 kills in her debut match for the Coyotes.

Senior outside hitter Elizabeth Loschen added seven kills in the game. Sophomore setter Madison Jurgens had 36 assists and three service aces, including the final service ace of the fourth set, while senior defensive specialist Anne Rasmussen contributed 14 digs.  

USD vs Valparaiso

To open the second day of competition, USD took down Valparaiso in four sets (25-20, 25-18, 24-26, 25-23).

USD bested Valpo in kills (52-44), blocks (15-6), assists (50-41), digs (54-51), and hitting percentage (.233-.087) for the match.

Juhnke had a breakout performance as she tallied 23 kills, nine digs, three service aces and a .426 kitting percentage. She also committed only three errors throughout the entire match.

Sophomore middle blocker Maddie Wiedenfeld and freshman middle blocker Madison Harms each contributed seven block assists while Wiedenfeld added nine kills. Slaughter pitched in with 11 kills as well.

Jurgens dished out 48 assists in the match to go with 10 digs while Rasmussen tallied 18 digs.  

USD vs Murray State

It was against Murray State, a team coming off an NCAA tournament appearance last season, that Williamson secured her 100^th career win with a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-17, 25-14) on Saturday.

Juhnke secured her third game in a row with double-digit kills, recording 17 to go with a .412 hitting percentage. Again, she only registered three errors for the match.

Senior defensive specialist Mehana Fonseca had 12 digs while Rasmussen delivered 10 more on the defensive end. Offensively, Slaughter managed 11 kills and Jurgens provided 37 assists.

Juhnke, Slaughter and Jurgens were named to the all-tournament team to go along with Juhnke’s MVP honors.

USD’s next match will take place in Ames, Iowa, as the Coyotes travel to face the Iowa State Cyclones on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.