INDIANAPOLIS — South Dakota freshman outside hitter Elizabeth Loschen swatted down a career-high 16 kills with a .542 clip as the Coyotes swept the IUPUI Jaguars 26-24, 25-20, 26-24 Friday night in The Jungle.
 
South Dakota improves to 22-5 on the season and 11-2 in Summit League play. USD and Denver remain tied at the top of the Summit League Standings after the Pioneers beat Oral Roberts. IUPUI drops to 11-17 and 7-6 in the Summit.
 
"This was a big match for us," said South Dakota head volleyball coach Leanne Williamson. "It is hard to play at IUPUI, so to come out and win in three sets is huge for us. Elizabeth made a great change from her last match to lead our team and hit with a great hitting percentage.
 
"Lindsey Brown once again stayed extremely efficient for us and got some big kills at crucial times. We were challenged tonight, but we responded at a much higher rate."
 
Senior Audrey Reeg competed in her 447^th game which ranks third all-time on the Coyotes Career Leaders list for games played. She tallied 11 kills and 13 digs for her 15^th double-double of the season.
 
Brown joined Loschen and Reeg in double-digit kills. She recorded a season-high 12 with a .556 hitting percentage.
 
Junior setter Brittany Jessen kept the Coyote offense going with 38 assists. She added 11 digs, four kills, four service aces and one block assist. She recorded her 12^th double-double with assists and digs.
 
Sophomore libero Lauren Mattison helped protect the back line with 14 digs. Redshirt junior Meagan Kerns led the Coyotes with five block assists and Reeg added four more.
 
South Dakota and IUPUI were tied five times at the beginning of the first set. IUPUI finally got some room and led the Coyotes 22-19. After a USD timeout, the teams exchanged points and the Jaguars had a 23-19 lead. South Dakota needed to string some points together, and they did just that. Jessen swatted down a kill and then recorded a service ace to cut IUPUI's lead to two. Reeg and Kerns combined for a block to tie the set at 23. IUPUI went back up 24-23 after a kill. Reeg tied it back up with a kill. Loschen and Kerns combined for a block to give the Coyotes the lead and Loschen sealed the first-set win with a kill, 26-24.
 
In the second set, South Dakota was down 10-9 before the Yotes went on a 4-0 run. Reeg tallied a kill, Jessen served an ace and Loschen connected on back-to-back kills to give the Coyotes a 13-10 lead. IUPUI would cut the lead to one, 21-20, but USD finished the set on another 4-0 run. Reeg recorded two kills and an ace during the run and Loschen added another kill. South Dakota won the second set 25-20 and had a 2-0 match lead heading into the break.
 
South Dakota jumped out to a 10-4 lead in set three. IUPUI made a comeback and tied it up at 18 and then took a 20-18 lead after a kill and a Coyote error. The Coyotes tied up the set at 21 after a Kerns kill. Kerns then combined with Reeg for a block assist and the Coyotes had the lead 22-21. Reeg made it 23-21 after a kill and junior Raquel West served an ace to make it 24-21. The Jaguars fought back, again, and tied the set at 24. A bad set by IUPUI gave USD a 25-24 lead. Reeg and Kerns ended the set with a block assist as the Coyotes won the third set 26-24 and the match 3-0.
 
The Coyotes are back in action Saturday at 6 p.m. in Fort Wayne, Ind., against the Fort Wayne Mastodons.