DENVER, Colo. — Sophomore setter Brittany Jessen recorded her second career triple-double as the South Dakota Coyotes (15-15) knocked off the North Dakota State Bison (19-12) 22-25, 25-17, 25-20, 16-25, 15-10 in the quarterfinal round at the Summit League Tournament in Hamilton Gymnasium.
"This was a hard fought win," said South Dakota head coach Leanne Williamson. "We had to scrape for every point. The conference tournament will bring out some great matches and this match started it off right.
"I was really proud of the way our team responded, especially after losing set four. Tomorrow will be another battle, but we are ready for the challenge!"
Jessen had a match-high 46 assists, 13 kills with a hitting percentage of .571, and 10 digs.
Three other Coyotes had double-digit kills. Junior Audrey Reeg had a match-high 18, her third straight game with at least 18 kills. Junior Lindsey Brown and freshman Hayley Dotseth added 11 and 10, respectively.
Freshman Lauren Mattison protected the backline with 19 digs. Senior Kaitlyn Hastings had 11 digs while Reeg and Dotseth added nine apiece.
Senior Kelsey Biltoft had four total blocks and the Coyotes as a team combined for 9.0 total team blocks.
The Coyotes jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the first set, but the Bison fought back and eventually tied up the set at 16. With the score tied at 20, an attack error by Reeg and a kill by North Dakota State's Jenni Fassbender put the Bison up 22-20. The Bison went on to win the first set 25-22.
The Coyotes bounced back in the second set. South Dakota got three straight kills, two from Reeg and one from Dotseth as the Coyotes took a 12-6 lead. Later in the match, back-to-back kills by Jessen and Dotseth put the Coyotes up 21-13. The Coyotes took the second set 25-17 and tied the match at one game apiece.
In set three, the Bison took an early 10-5 lead. The Coyotes fought back scoring the next five straight points and 11 of 13 and took a 16-12 lead. During the run, Brown, Reeg, and Jessen had two kills apiece. Also, Reeg and Brown combined for a block and Biltoft had a solo block. The Bison would cut the Coyotes lead to two, 19-17, but back-to-back kills from Brown and Jessen put the Coyotes back up by four, 21-17. South Dakota won the third set 25-20 and took a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Bison won the fourth set to force a fifth and final set. This is the third straight five-set match the Coyotes have played in.
With the score tied at five in the fifth set, a service error and back-to-back kills from Dotseth and Brown put the Coyotes up 8-5. South Dakota continued to score and went on a 6-1 run to take a 14-8 lead. Junior Haley Jorgensen, Brown, and Jessen each had a kill. Jessen and Brown combined for a block. The Coyotes won the fifth set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
With the win, the Coyotes advanced to the semifinal round against top-seeded Denver Pioneers Saturday. The match starts at 5 p.m. Mountain time, 6 p.m. Central time.
