KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the fifth time in seven years, the South Dakota volleyball team was crowned the Summit League Tournament Champions Tuesday night. The Coyotes became the first team in Summit League Tournament history to win three games in three days to earn the title.
It’s hard to beat a team three times in a year and for the second time in as many nights, the Coyotes avenged a regular season series sweep after winning straight sets over Omaha last night and downing South Dakota State 3-2 tonight at the Swinney Center.
Senior Kylen Sealock put together one of her best performances as a Coyote by putting down a career-high 23 kills to go with six digs and a .286 swing rate. Cheyenne Hlady also had a career day for the Yotes, terminating a new personal best 18 kills on a .350 clip.
Lauren Medeck tallied a double-double with 13 kills and 19 digs, while Amanda Loschen continued to be a force on both sides of the net with 10 kills and six blocks (three solo).
Avery Van Hook piloted the Yotes attack and handed out 54 assists and had 13 digs for her 19th double-double of the season. The Coyotes’ libero Kamryn Farris notched her first career-double-double with 30 digs and 13 assists. It was Farris’ third match of the season with 30 or more digs.
The Jackrabbits took a back-and-forth first set, 25-20, with a late 6-2 run. There was defense a plenty in the opener as the Yotes swung at a .102 clip and the Jacks had a .154 hitting percentage. Hlady started hot for the Yotes with five kills on eight swings, while Medeck hit double-digit digs in the opener with 10.
With the Jacks leading 6-5 early in set two, a Medeck kill began to sway the momentum in USD’s favor as they built separation with a 6-1 run to go up 11-7. Hlady and Selaock also put away kills during the run. The end of set two can be summed up in two words: Amanda Loschen. With the Yotes leading 15-13, Loschen was responsible for 5 of the next six Coyote points with three kills and two solo rejections, as the Yotes outscored SDSU 10-5 to close out a 25-18 set two win.
The Yotes attack was nearly perfect in the second with 16 kills, just one error, and a .484 swing rate. Hlady (5), Loschen (4), Sealock (4) and Medeck (3) led the Yotes in kills in the frame.
The middle of the frame proved to be the difference in the third set. The Yotes held a narrow one-point lead, 11-10, before USD pulled ahead with a 6-0 run. Bode and Sealock fueled the Yotes run with three and two kills, respectively. While the Jacks were able to pull within two late, 21-19, the Yotes moved to match point with four straight points. Hlady and Loschen teamed up for a block, Medeck served up two straight aces and Hlady slammed home set point. Sealock put away seven kills in the third and Loschen tallied two more blocks.
SDSU took a 12-3 lead in the fourth set and cruised on its way to forcing a fifth set. The Jacks hit .412 in the fourth while holding the Yotes attack to .143.
After the Jacks went up 3-1 in the final set, Bode got the Coyote offense back in its rhythm as they scored seven of the next eight to lead 8-4 at the side change. Bode tallied a pair of kills and a block, while Sealock put away two during the run. Hlady put USD on match point, 14-8, and following two points from the Jacks, who else but Sealock would close out the championship with her career-high 23rd kill.
South Dakota will now wait to find out who its next opponent during Sunday’s Selection Show when the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship bracket will be announced.
Sealock was the named the Summit League Tournament’s MVP. Joining Sealock was Van Hook and Farris who were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Notes
- South Dakota won its fifth Summit League Championship in the last seven years
- The Coyotes became the first quarterfinalist in league history to win three straight matches to claim the title since the field expanded to six in 2013
- Kamryn Farris moved into the USD top 10 for single-season digs and has 554 on the season
- Kylen Sealock put away a career-high 23 kills in her 15th straight match with double-digit kills
- Farris notched her first career double-double in the win with 30 digs and 13 assists
- Avery Van Hook matched a season-high with 54 assists and had a double-double with 13 digs
- Cheyenne Hlady put away a career-best 18 kills with a .350 swing rate
- The Yotes hit .484 in the second set and .321 in the fifth
- USD held the Jacks to a sub-.200 hitting percentage in four of the five sets
- Loschen’s three solo blocks matched a career-high that she set earlier this season also against SDSU