Box Score Sept. 19, 2014
Final Stats
OMAHA, Neb. – South Dakota volleyball brought down the Colorado Buffaloes 25-18, 26-24, 22-25, 25-22 during the first match of the Creighton Classic at D.J. Sokol Arena on Friday. The win snapped Colorado's eight-game win streak and gave the Coyotes their second win over a power conference school in eight days.
The win gave South Dakota (5-5), which posted a 3-1 win over Arkansas (SEC) last week, its second win ever against a Pac-12 program. The first was when the Coyotes topped Oregon State in five sets during the opening weekend of the 2011 season (Aug. 27). Colorado (8-2) was ranked 47th in the NCAA's final RPI standings last season.
I think the match was a turning point for us, said assistant coach Michelle Cole. I think beating Arkansas put a lot of confidence in us and we played a very steady game. Half the team was still sick and bouncing back from the illness we got in Arkansas last week, and they did a great job of running around the court on very little rest.
Head coach Leanne Williamson did not coach the match because she is expecting twins in the near future.
Three Coyotes recorded at least 11 kills and both Kendall Kritenbrink and Audrey Reeg had double-doubles. Kritenbrink tallied her fifth double-double of the season with 16 kills and 11 digs, while Reeg tallied her third of the season with 14 kills and 18 digs.
It was a total team effort again, but Audrey stepped us for big, said Cole. I don't think they had an answer for her variety of shots. The team really pulled behind her and they pulled behind each other.
Kelsey Biltoft was the final Coyote to reach double-digit kills, finishing with 11 kills and one attack error on 17 attacks. She had a hitting percentage of .588. Riley Haug recorded the most digs for USD with 23 while Brittany Jessen had 43 assists.
Colorado had 19 kills from Taylor Simpson and 13 kills from Joslyn Hayes. Cierra Simpson, Taylor's younger sister, led CU defensively with 19 digs.
South Dakota jumped out to a 2-0 match lead with the help of a pair of late runs in the first two sets. USD, which had 14 kills on 30 attacks in the first set, scored 15 of the final 22 points to take the opening set. Reeg and Kritenbrink both tallied three of their five kills in the set during that 15-7 run, which was also aided by six Colorado errors.
The Coyotes finished set two on a 10-1 run and trailed by as many as seven points three times in the set. USD was down 23-16 when a kill by Biltoft started that run. Kritenbrink had three kills during the run while Biltoft had two kills. South Dakota had just one attack error in the second set and was led defensively by Haug's nine digs.
Set three went to the Buffaloes as Taylor Simpson tallied eight kills and Hayes added four more. Colorado had 15 kills in the set and forced USD into seven attack errors. Reeg was USD's top attacker in the set with five kills.
The Coyotes bounced back in the fourth set. They never trailed in the set and took advantage of five Colorado service errors. South Dakota had 14 kills led by as many as five in the set. Kritenbrink had five kills, including the match winner, in that set.
South Dakota will play two matches tomorrow, starting with tournament host Creighton at noon. The Yotes will also play Illinois, who is ranked 16th in the latest coaches poll, at 5:30 p.m.
