The South Dakota volleyball team (2-4) travels to Grand Forks, N.D., this weekend to compete in the North Dakota Classic. The Coyotes start the tournament on Friday against Jacksonville State (4-3) at 9:30 a.m. and then play North Dakota (3-4) in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday, South Dakota is back in action against Green Bay (4-2) at 2:30 p.m. and Drake (6-2) at 5 p.m.

"We are looking forward to playing closer to home against four quality opponents," said head coach Leanne Williamson. "We will be challenged again, which will make it a good test to see how we've improved since last weekend."
 
The Coyotes match against North Dakota will be televised on Midco Sports Net and Fox College Sports as well as online at UNDsports.com. For all three other matches, click here for live stats.

Also online is the full schedule for the weekend and has past all-tournament teams.  View the UND Classic tournament central page here.  

A week ago, the Coyotes took second place at the Arizona Invitational going 2-1 while sweeping Cal State Northridge (25-20, 25-20, 25-15) and Florida A&M (25-7, 25-17, 25-22). Senior outside hitter Sydney Dimke and sophomore setter Brittany Jessen were both selected to the all-tournament team. Dimke led the Coyotes with 38 kills and added 17 digs, while Jessen recorded 84 assists.

On the season, Dimke leads the team with 63 kills, Jessen has 161 assists, senior Kelsey Biltoft has 14 total blocks and junior Audrey Reeg has 53 digs. 

The Series
South Dakota and Jacksonville State have met two times, both in 2012, and each team won a match. Against Drake, the Coyotes are 2-1 overall and were victorious in the last meeting, in 2011, which went the distance (25-18, 19-25, 25-19, 25-27, 15-10). USD is 1-1 against Green Bay and won the match last year 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-18). The Coyotes have played North Dakota three times in the past two years and are 1-2 during that span.
 
A Look at the Teams
Jacksonville State: The Gamecocks (18-16, 9-7 in conference) were picked to finish sixth in the Ohio Valley Conference. Jacksonville State hosted its tournament this past weekend and went 2-2, beating Alcorn State and Alabama A&M and losing to Wofford and Louisiana Monroe. Senior Emily Rutherford leads the team with 63 kills and sophomore Charis Luedtke is right behind her with 62. Sophomore Jennifer Hart has 204 assists to fuel the offense. On defense, sophomore Hannah Kirk has 91 digs and freshman Mackenzie Rombach has 18 total blocks.
 
North Dakota: Last season UND set a school-record with 26 wins and led the Big Sky Conference in total blocks, digs, and total attacks. North Dakota is picked to finish third in the conference this year. They competed in the Omaha Classic this past weekend and lost their first two matches to Omaha and Central Florida before winning the final match against Drake. Sophomore Faith Dooley, 2014 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, leads her squad with 80 kills and classmate Sydney Griffin has 282 assists and averages 10.44 per set. On defense, senior McKenzie Hart has 171 digs and Dooley has 30 total blocks.
 
Green Bay: The Phoenix (5-21, 2-12 in conference) return six players who recorded 100 or more kills last season and are picked to finish eighth in the Horizon League. They competed in the Kansas State Invitational this past weekend. Green Bay lost to Kansas State before beating UNLV and California. Junior Megan Powers leads her squad with 56 kills. Freshmen Jessica Wolf and sophomore Lydia DeWeese have 45 and 42 kills, respectively. Senior Emily Riese has 199 assists to aid the offense. On defense, senior Jillian Bauer has 132 digs and DeWeese has 18 total blocks.
 
Drake: The Bulldogs (11-18, 3-15 in conference) were picked to finish eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference. Drake was at the Omaha Classic this past weekend and beat Omaha 3-2 but was swept by North Dakota and Central Florida. Junior Makena Schoene leads the team with 109 kills and sophomore Kyla Inderski, who was named to the Missouri Valley Conference all-freshmen team in 2014, is second on the team with 102. On defense, junior Michelle Tommi has 123 digs and senior Katie Dulek has 24 total blocks.