BROOKINGS, SD – The South Dakota State volleyball team fell to South Dakota in a gritty five-set contest on Senior Day Tuesday night. SDSU fought to go up 2-0 before the Coyotes came back with a reverse sweep for the win.
Sydni Schetnan had herself a night with a career-best 18 kills with a clip of .643 and five total blocks. Sylvie Zgonc was close behind with 17 kills, 12 digs and three blocks.
Katie Van Egdom added eight kills, Masa Scheierman tallied 13 digs and Raegen Reilly dished out 43 assists. Reilly and Faith Saewert also served two aces apiece.
Before the game, SDSU honored Akeela Jefferson as the lone senior for the Jackrabbits. She tallied three kills and two blocks in her final appearance inside Frost Arena.
As a team SDSU slammed down 53 kills, totaled 11 blocks, grabbed 56 digs and served six service aces.
USD was led by 21 kills and 18 digs from Kylen Sealock. Madison Harms contributed 16 kills and Avery Van Hook added 58 assists.
Set One: The Jackrabbits built up an 11-6 lead with help from Zgonc’s hot hand and solid serving from Joslyn Richardson and Reilly. USD clawed back to tie it up at 16 and eventually again at 20. But Coyote errors and kills from Elyse Winter and Van Egdom helped SDSU build the necessary lead as a block from Schetnan and Reilly sealed the first set with a score of 25-23.
Set Two: SDSU went on a 5-1 run near the beginning of the set to establish an early 7-4 lead. Another 5-1 run featuring kills from Van Egdom pushed it to a 13-8 margin. A trading of service errors and a rocket from Zgonc made it 20-15 before USD came back to make it 23-22. Schetnan slammed down another shot to take the second set 25-23.
Set Three: The Coyotes came out swinging and took an early 8-5 lead before a 7-1 run from the Jacks made it 12-9. SDSU extended their lead further to a 16-12 margin before USD pieced together several runs to take the 22-20 advantage. Despite back-to-back kills from Schetnan to tie it at 23, the Coyotes scored the next two to force a fourth set.
Set Four: USD burst out to a 6-1 lead, but more heat from Schetnan and Zgonc tied it up at 9 points apiece. The back-and-forth continued until hot serving from Scheierman paired with more Schetnan attacks made it 19-15. Despite extending the lead to 23-20 after an ace from Saewert, USD scored the final five points of the set to take it 25-23.
Set Five: The Coyotes opened the final set hot and established an 8-2 lead at the switch. Another run would end the set 15-4.
NOTES
- Sydni Schetnan hit a career-high 18 kills
- Sylvie Zgonc has seven double-doubles this season
- SDSU is 1-5 in five-set matches this season
- SDSU finishes the regular season 9-19 (7-9 in conference play)
UP NEXT
South Dakota State will head south for the Summit League Volleyball Tournament in Vermillion and are locked in as the six seed. Game time and opponent are yet to be announced.