USD Volleyball Goes 3-0 in Home Classic

The Coyote volleyball team hosted the South Dakota Classic at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Sept. 13-15, where they went 3-0 in the tournament.

USD’s first game was on Friday, Sept. 13, against Montana State. The match went to five sets, with Montana State winning the first 28-26 and South Dakota winning 25-19 in the second and 25-21 in the third. 

Then, Montana State won the fourth set 25-23, but South Dakota claimed the match by winning the final set 15-10.

Freshman Lauren Medeck earned her second consecutive double-double with 20 kills and 18 digs. Sophomore Avery Van Hook recorded 54 assists and got a personal record of 20 digs.

Junior Kamryn Farris had a new season-best with 23 digs and graduate student Cheyenne Hlady notched a career-high 13 kills.

Freshman Morgan Bode recorded three of the Coyotes’ five aces in the game. 

The second game of the weekend was against Iowa State on Saturday, Sept. 14. USD won the match in four sets: 25-23, 25-22, 19-25 and 25-20 respectively.

Medeck led the Coyotes in kills with 16, followed by freshman Audrey Nelson with 10 and Bode with eight.

Van Hook had 41 assists in the match and Farris led USD with 12 digs. Senior Alaina Wolff had 10 digs.

This was the first time in program history USD has claimed a win against Iowa State.

In the final game of the weekend, the Coyotes faced UTEP on Sunday, Sept. 15. South Dakota lost the first set 20-25, but battled back to win the next three 25-23, 25-16, and 25-17 respectively.

Medeck, Kylen Sealock and Hlady each recorded double digits in kills with 13, 12 and 10 respectively. 

Van Hook obtained 38 assists, and Farris dug 15 balls in the game. 

Medeck was named the Classic Most Valuable Player, along with Hlady and Van Hook who were named to the All-Tournament Team.

USD is now 17-1 all-time in the Classic. The women will be back on the court in Denver on Thursday, Sept. 26 against the University of Denver beginning at 7 p.m.

Photo Credit: Nathan Delaney