DENVER, Colo. — South Dakota volleyball kicked off its Summit League season with a 3-0 sweep over Denver Thursday night at Hamilton Gymnasium.
The Coyotes earned a sweep in their Summit League opener for the first time since the 2020-21 season when they began conference play with a 3-0 sweep of North Dakota. USD won its first nine sets to start League play that season with two sweeps of UND and sweep over Omaha at home.
“Really proud of this team for finding a way to earn a sweep on the road! Denver is a tough place to play, but we were really good in the 20s today,” said head coach Leanne Williamson. “Our defense really carried us through and made it really difficult for Denver to score. We scored the ball at a high rate but made too many errors on that end. Road wins are really important, and this is something that we can really build off of!”
Kylen Sealock and Cheyenne Hlady paced the hitters for USD with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, while Morgan Bode put away a career-high 12 kills on a .391 clip. Hlady has now registered double-digits kills in three straight matches, and four of her last five, while hitting at a .300 clip or better in three of those matches.
Kamryn Farris had a team-high 13 digs and was followed by Alaina Wolff’s 11. Farris also tallied six assists, and the two of them each recorded a service ace. Avery Van Hook recorded 42 assists to go with three kills and five digs.
A trio of Coyotes got the offense rolling early in set one, as Sealock tallied two straight kills, Bode registered a kill, followed by a service ace, and Hlady put away two straight points as South Dakota took an 11-9 lead. Hlady ended a three-point Denver swing with her third kill of set one and would start a 4-0 USD run to pull ahead by three, 15-12. While the Yotes held the lead through the rest of the set, the Pioneers would stay within striking range. The Coyotes moved to set point following a service error, and Sealock would move the match to the second set with her sixth kill of the frame.
After a Denver error to begin the second, Farris notched an ace followed by kills from Bode and Hlady as the Yotes scored the first four points. Set two was a game of runs, with South Dakota recording four 4-0 runs, while Denver had three 4-0 runs and a 5-1 spurt. Trailing 22-21 late in the set, USD put together its final four-point swing to take the second set 25-22. The Yotes closed the frame with four straight kills, starting and ending with points from Hlady, and included kills from Nelson and Samantha Laird.
The Coyotes again flexed their muscles late in the third set. With the score tied at 19-19, USD would score six of the next eight points to earn the conference opening opening sweep. For the second straight set, Hlady got the ball rolling for the Yotes as she tallied two straight kills, and a third later in the run to go up 22-19. Laird put away her third and fourth kills in succession to move the Yotes to match point, 24-21. In her first Summit League action, the freshman Bode put away the match winner with her 12th kill of the night as USD swept Denver.
South Dakota continues its road trip Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma when they face Oral Roberts at 1:00 p.m.
Notes
- The Coyotes earned a sweep in their Summit League opener for the first time since the 2020-21 COVID season
- USD is 6-0 when winning the first two sets, and 9-0 when winning the second frame
- South Dakota has won three straight matches away from the SCSC
- It was the third match this season where the Yotes when in three sets
- Kylen Sealock has now recorded double-digit kills in four of her last five matches
- Cheyenne Hlady recorded her sixth match of the season with an attack rate greater than .300 (min. 10 attacks)
- Hlady’s put away 10+ kills in four of her last five matches for a 10.0 kills/match average
- Morgan Bode is averaging 10.5 kills per match over her last four, and has hit .300 or better in three of those matches
- In each of the last four matches, Bode has been involved in four or more blocks
- Avery Van Hook, the co-offensive peak performer of the week, recorded her fourth straight match with 40+ assists
- USD put away 55 kills to Denver’s 31 and hit at a higher clip .256 to .175
- The Coyotes had more aces (3-1), blocks (9-8) and digs (47-36) but committed more hitting errors (23-14)