VERMILLION, S.D. — Freshman Hayley Dotseth led the Coyotes with 10 kills as South Dakota (9-12, 3-5 SL) swept Fort Wayne (6-17, 3-5 SL)  25-12, 25-20, 25-16 Saturday in the Coyote Den.
Sophomore setter Brittany Jessen kept the offense going with 31 assists. Juniors Audrey Reeg and Hayley Jorgensen added nine kills apiece, Jorgensen had a .529 hitting percentage. On defense, Reeg and Jessen each had 12 digs. This was the first sweep of the year for the Coyotes.

"The sweep is a huge stepping stone for us," said South Dakota head coach Leanne Williamson. "We played with a lot of confidence and that showed in some tough situations."

The Coyotes started the first set on a 12-3 run while scoring eight straight points. Dotseth, Jessen, and junior Lindsey Brown had two kills apiece during the stretch. The Coyotes continued this dominance throughout the game and scored six straight points to end the set, the final point being a kill from Reeg. South Dakota held Fort Wayne to an attack percentage of .083 in the set.

In set two, the Coyotes started strong again and scored the first five points with a service ace from Jessen and a kill apiece from Jorgensen and senior Kelsey Biltoft. Later in the set, Biltoft had a kill to put the Coyotes up 20-12 and the team never looked back as they took the second set.

Just like the first two sets, the Coyotes jumped out to a lead in the third set and led the Mastodons 8-3. With the Coyotes up 9-7, South Dakota went on a 9-3 run to take a 19-10 lead as they won the third set and swept Fort Wayne.

"Now that we have put ourselves in a better position in the conference, we need to continue to grow and improve," said Williamson. "We will rest up and keep pushing ourselves to get better each week."

The Coyotes are back in action on Friday as they travel to Tulsa, Okla., and take on Oral Roberts at 7 p.m.