The South Dakota volleyball team will travel to Laramie, Wyo., to compete in Wyoming's Rumble in the Rockies Friday and Saturday to kick off the 2015 season.

The Coyotes will start the tournament against Butler on Friday, at 5 p.m. (4 p.m. local time). They return to action Saturday against Wyoming at 12:30 p.m. and Ohio State at 6 p.m.

A free web stream of the South Dakota/Wyoming game can be viewed live, online at http://campusinsiders.com/network/mw/live.

You can also catch live stats of the other games at http://www.goyotes.com/schedule.aspx?path=wvball.

South Dakota returns three players who started all 31 matches from last year in senior Kelsey Biltoft, junior Audrey Reeg and sophomore Brittany Jessen. Jessen and senior Sydney Dimke were both named to the All-Summit League team last year. The Coyotes also welcome five freshmen as the team is looking to improve on back-to-back 19 win seasons. USD was picked to finish fifth in the Summit League according to the preseason coaches' poll.

The Series
The Coyotes have played Wyoming one time, back in 2011. The Cowgirls won at home in straight sets 3-0. This is the first meeting South Dakota will have with both Butler and Ohio State.

A Look at the Teams
Butler: The Bulldogs have two players who were chosen as preseason All-Big East selections in junior Kayla Bivins and sophomore Makayla Ferguson who helped their team to a 20-10 overall record and a 12-6 league mark. Ferguson was the 2014 Big East Freshman of the Year as a setter and averaged 10.52 assists per set. Bivins, a redshirt junior and middle blocker, had 153 total blocks and 200 kills. Butler was picked to finish fifth in the Big East preseason poll.  

Wyoming: The Cowgirls boasted a 23-8 overall record in 2014 and went 12-6 in the Mountain West conference. They return their top two attackers in senior Bridget Shanahan, who had 386 kills and junior Laura Beach, who had 300 kills and an attack percentage of .406. Shanahan was selected to the 2015 Mountain West preseason team. Wyoming was picked to finish fourth in the Mountain West preseason poll and received one first place vote.

Ohio State: The Buckeyes went to the Sweet 16 last year as they posted a 23-12 record and were 12-8 in Big Ten conference play. Junior middle blocker Taylor Sandbothe was one of 14 players selected as an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American in 2014 and had 321 kills and 140 total blocks. She was also selected to the 2015 preseason All-Big Ten team. Another returnee is senior outside hitter Elizabeth Campbell, who had 346 kills. Ohio State was picked eighth in the Big Ten preseason poll.