Box Score Oct. 5, 2014
Final Stats
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Kendall Kritenbrink notched 14 kills while Melissa Firtko tallied nine kills as South Dakota volleyball won its fifth straight match with a 25-23, 25-21, 25-21 sweep of Fort Wayne in the Gates Sports Center on Sunday. The Coyotes moved to 5-0 in Summit League play and have won eight of their last 10 matches.
Kritenbrink recorded a hitting percentage of .333 during the match, which is her second-best mark of the season. She also led South Dakota (11-6, 5-0) in total blocks with four. Firtko recorded her nine kills on 13 attacks and finished with a career-best attack percentage of .692, breaking her old mark of .571 that she set at Omaha last season.
Sydney Dimke added eight kills to the USD offensive effort while Riley Haug recorded 12 digs to reach double-digits in that stat for the 16th time this season. Audrey Reeg was the only other Coyote to record double-digit digs with 10. Setter Brittany Jessen finished the match with 37 assists, seven digs and three kills.
Fort Wayne (7-10, 1-2) was led by Emily Spencer's 15 kills. Somer Johnson added 10 kills and led the Mastodons in digs with 13. Madison Spence and Mallory Slyder both recorded 19 assists.
USD held advantages in attack percentage (.318 to .219), kills (44-40) and blocks (7-5). The Coyotes also forced Fort Wayne into 17 attack errors while committing 10.
Kritenbrink tallied six kills on 11 attacks in the opening set while Dimke added four kills. South Dakota tallied 16 kills overall during the set and overcame a 9-2 Mastodon run that gave Fort Wayne a 16-13 lead. Five of Kritenbrink's kills came after that run.
The Coyotes finished set two with a 9-2 run. Kritenbrink tallied three kills during that stretch while Fort Wayne committed four errors. Firtko tallied five of the Coyotes' 16 kills during the set, while USD recorded just two attack errors.
Fort Wayne out-killed the Coyotes 15-12 in the third set, but committed eight attack errors during the process. The Mastodons led for one point during the set (17-16) before USD responded with a 9-4 run to end the match.
South Dakota will host Western Illinois (3-14, 1-3) in The Den on Friday at 7 p.m.
