Tournament Central
 
South Dakota wraps up non-conference play this weekend as the Coyotes (4-6) travel to West Lafayette Ind., to compete in Purdue's Boiler Box Challenge. Friday, the Coyotes will play the home team, the 22^nd-ranked Boilermakers (6-2), at 9 a.m. USD takes on Notre Dame (4-5) at 4 p.m. Friday, and wraps up the tournament against Ball State (6-5) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
 
"The team is excited to play good competition," said South Dakota head coach Leanne Williamson. "Playing Purdue, a team that is ranked, is always exciting. We schedule tough matches so that we can see how we match up. Purdue is very athletic and will certainly test us, but our players are fired up for the opportunity to knock off a ranked opponent.
 
"Ball State and Notre Dame will play a different style, but I expect nothing less than a competitive battle. It will be a good weekend of competing and we are looking to come home with some wins."
 
Click here, for all your tournament information including live stats and audio, as well as video via the Big Ten Network.
 
The Coyotes traveled to Grands Forks, N.D., for the UND Classic last weekend. South Dakota went 2-2, sweeping Jacksonville State (25-21, 25-10, 25-22) and beating Drake (25-20, 23-25, 25-17, 25-20). USD lost to Green Bay (20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-21) and host North Dakota (25-19, 25-17, 25-19). Junior outside hitter Audrey Reeg was selected to the all-tournament team and led the Coyotes with 55 kills and 28 digs while sophomore setter Brittany Jessen added 143 assists.
 
Reeg has 103 kills on the season and senior Sydney Dimke is right behind her with 102. Senior Kelsey Biltoft has 56 kills, is ranked fourth in the Summit League with a .352 hitting percentage, and adds 28 total blocks. Jessen gets the team going with 304 assists, has 13 service aces, and tops the Summit League in aces per set. The Coyotes rank second in the Summit League with 1.47 aces per set. Freshman libero Lauren Mattison protects the backline with 104 digs.
 
A Look at the Teams
Purdue: The Boilermakers (22-10, 12-8) were picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten Conference this year. The host of the tournament also went 13-3 at home last year. Senior outside hitter Annie Drews was selected to the 2015 preseason All-Big Ten team, and currently leads her squad with 110 kills. Freshman Brooke Peters is ranked 12^th in the nation with 15 service aces, and Purdue is ranked 35^th in aces per set with 1.74. Sophomore Ashley Evans aids the offense with 287 assists and averages 10.63 per set. On defense, senior Amanda Neill has 107 digs and sophomore Danielle Cuttino has 36 total blocks. Purdue is coming off a win and a loss at LSU's tournament. The Boilermakers beat LSU (3-0) and lost to Miami (3-2).
 
Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish (6-23, 3-15 in conference) were picked to finish ninth in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Sophomore middle blocker Sam Fry was selected to the 2015 preseason All-ACC team.  Notre Dame hosted its Golden Dome Invitational this past weekend and beat Mississippi State (3-1) and Eastern Kentucky (3-0) before being swept by Penn State (3-0). On offense, Fry leads the team with 108 kills and adds 30 total blocks. Sophomore setter Maddie Dilfer has 316 assists and also leads the team with 10 service aces, the team is ranked second in the ACC in service aces with 54. On defense, freshman libero Ryann DeJarld has 146 digs and classmate Meg Morningstar has a team-high 36 total blocks.
 
Ball State: The Cardinal (17-13, 11-5 in conference) were picked to finish third in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. Senior setter Jenna Spadafora and classmate middle blocker Kelly Hopkins were both selected to the All-MAC West preseason team. Alex Fuelling leads her squad and is third in the MAC with 91 kills. Hopkins has 86 kills and adds 34 total blocks. Spadafora is ranked third in the conference with 420 assists, averaging 10 per set. The Cardinal is ranked second in the conference in digs with 11.92 per set and kills with 12.59. Defensively Kati Vasalakis leads her squad with 177 digs and has 4.21 per set. Ball State was at Washington State's Cougar Challenge this past weekend and was swept in their first two matches against host Washington State and Utah Valley before beating Morehead State (3-1).