VERMILLION, S.D. -- The University of South Dakota volleyball team is set to play its first home game on Wednesday, Sept. 10 against Back Hills State University at 7 p.m. USD will continue to have home court advantage taking on Minnesota-Crookston and St. Cloud State on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

OPPONENT INFORMATION: Black Hills State- The Yellow Jackets have a 5-3 overall record...BHSU went undefeated last weekend at the University of Sioux Falls Tournament...defeated Waldorf College 3-0, Briar Cliff College 3-2, Mt. Marty College 3-0 and University of Sioux Falls 3-0...Black Hills State's three losses have come against Dordt College, Northwestern College, and Doane College...led by Kritin Engle with 79 kills and a .299 hitting percentage, while Mandy Brumfield leads the team with 220 set assists...on defense, Annie Grim has a team high 124 digs while Maggie O'Neill has recorded 102 digs....coached by Jhett Albers...located in Spearfish, S.D.

Minnesota Crookston- The Golden Eagles are 0-7 in 2008...USD faced UMC last weekend and won 3-0...UMC will face the University of North Dakota on Sept. 11 before playing USD...Amber Meyer leads the team with 63 kills and a .317 hitting percentage...coached by Lee Anderson...located in Crookston, Minn.

St. Cloud State- The Huskies are 2-5 overall...SCSU is led by Ashley Schield with 82 kills while Erica Beacom leads the team with a .322 hitting percentage...setter Jennifer Waterman has 206 set assists while Andreana Piper had a team high 121 digs...St Cloud's two wins have come against Southwestern Oklahoma State 3-0 and Catawba 3-0...coached by Patricia Mickow...located in St. Cloud, Minn.

BROKEN RECORD/RECORD TO WATCH: Amber Kobus broke the all-time school record in digs in the 3-0 victory over Minnesota, Crookston on Sept. 6. Kobus led the defense with 14 digs in the match and now has 1,636 career digs while the record was held by Lindsey Soukup (2001-04) with 1,631. Gina Baldwin has 2,094 career set assists. She is 1,670 away from tying the all-time record.

GREAT WEST CONFRENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: USD's tandem of Heather Hult and Amber Kobus earned the first Great West Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week on Sept. 2. For the week, Hult averaged 2.67 kills, .341 hitting percentage and posted seven aces. On the defensive side of the net, Kobus, tallied at least 17 digs in each match and finished the week averaging 20 digs a match and 5.33 digs a game. Both seniors were key in South Dakota's perfect 4-0 start in their first weekend as a Division I program.

2008 USD NOTES: -Heather Hult leads the team with a .377 hitting percentage and is fourth on the team with 75 kills. -Laura Slagter leads the team with 90 kills. -Gina Baldwin has a team high 262 set assists. -Kathleen Hruska has 24 total blocks, first on the team -Amber Kobus leads the team with 137 digs. -Gabi Jarchow and Hruska have 12 service aces.

GOLDEN EAGLE CLASSIC RECAP: VS. MSU-MOORHEAD- USD earned a 3-1 win over MSU Moorhead...game scores were, 25-22, 24-26, 25-21 and 25-2...USD had four players record double digits...Laura Slagter had16 kills and a team high .351 hitting percentage...Kathleen Hruska had 14 kills and a .275 hitting percentage...Heather Hult and Kristin Kritenbrink each added 13 kills...four players also recorded double digit digs...Amber Kobus (22), Slager (17), Gina Baldwin (12) and Hruska (10)...USD finished the game with a .278 hitting percentage and seven total blocks.

VS. BEMIDJI STATE- The Coyotes picked up their second win of the day sweeping Bemidji State 3-0...game scores were 25-21, 25-18, and 25-15...South Dakota finished the game hitting .379 and totaled 42 kills and eight team blocks...Laura Slagter had14 kills and a .417 hitting percentage...Kristin Kritenbrink had 11 kills and a team high .455 hitting percentage... Kathleen Hruska added nine kills...Gina Baldwin had a team high 27 set assists, while Amber Kobus and Laura Slagter led the team with eight digs each.

VS. LAKE SUPERIOR STATE- South Dakota cruised to a 3-0 victory over Lake Superior State University...game scores were 25-15, 25-15 and 25-13...USD finished the game with a .320 hitting percentage while holding the Lakers to a .090 hitting percentage...Kathleen Hruska had12 kills and a .571 hitting percentage as she had zero errors on 21 attacks...Kristin Kritenbrink was second on the team with 10 kills...Gina Baldwin split time in the setter spot with Jolene Slagter as Baldwin recorded 18 assists and Slagter had 14...Amber Kobus led the defense with 13 digs while Hruska had five block assists.

VS. MINNESOTA CROOKSTON- USD's Amber Kobus broke the all-time school record in digs in the 3-0 victory over the University of Minnesota Crookston...game scores were 25-16, 25-17, and 25-16...Amber Kobus led the defense with 14 digs...Kristin Kritenbrink led the offense with 13 kills while Heather Hult had 11 kills and a team-high .846 hitting percentage recording zero errors in 13 attack attempts...Laura Slagter also added 10 kills for the Coyotes while also having 13 digs...Gina Baldwin had a team high 37 set assists...USD finished the game with a .379 team hitting percentage.

2007 SEASON REVIEW: -Most successful season in school history...transitioning to NCAA Division I...posted a school record 23-9 overall record...a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs. -Opened season with 14 consecutive victories...broke school record for wins in a season. -Broken Records in 2007: wins in a season (23), consecutive wins (14), kills per game average (15.79), hitting percentage (.236), individual hitting percentage (.378), individual digs in a season (Amber Kobus, 616) and assists per game (14.0).

HEAD COACH: Matt Houk is in his first season as head coach of the Coyotes. Houk comes to South Dakota with five seasons of NCAA Division I coaching experience. From 2004-06 he was an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. During his three seasons with the Phoenix, five players were named to the All-Horizon League team and six players earned academic all-league honors. Prior to his stint at Green Bay, Houk was an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2002-03. In those two seasons the team combined to go 45-19 with 20-win seasons both years. In his first season with the Panthers, they went 20-14 overall and were 11-3 in the Horizon League. They earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament after winning the conference tournament. Then in 2003 the Panthers went 25-5 and 13-1 in conference play. In two seasons at Milwaukee, Houk coached one All-American, three all-region players, five all-conference players and back-to-back Horizon League Player of the Year award winners. Houk is a 2002 graduate from UW-Milwaukee where he earned his bachelor's degree in English. He and his wife, Angie, have three kids; Jaeden (4), Cole (2) and Jorie (1).