FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Fort Wayne's Lauren Hoffman, Nicole Rightnowar and Somer Johnson each tallied double-digit kills to lead the Mastodons past South Dakota 25-22, 25-17, 25-22 Saturday night at Arnie Ball Court.
 
With the win, Fort Wayne improves to 9-6 in the Summit and has an overall record of 13-16. South Dakota has lost two if its last three matches and is 22-6 and 11-3 in league-play. The Coyotes trail Denver by a half-game for the top spot in the Summit League standings. South Dakota hosts Denver Friday in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center at 6 p.m.
 
Hoffman recorded a match-high 13 kills. Johnson and Rightnowar had 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Madison Jaqua tallied 34 assists. Defensively, Olivia Hahn had 20 digs and Johnson added 15 digs for a double-double.
 
Senior middle blocker Lindsey Brown led the Coyotes with nine kills. Junior setter Brittany Jessen recorded a double-double with 28 assists and 17 digs.  
 
Fort Wayne jumped out to early leads in all three sets. The Mastodons led games one and two 6-1. In the first game, USD was able to cut into the deficit and took a lead after scoring five straight points. With South Dakota up 15-13, it was the Mastadons turn to answer.   
 
Fort Wayne eventually tied up the game at 21 and then Rightnowar and Johnson swatted back-to-back kills to give the Mastodons a 23-21 lead. After a Mastodon error, Hoffman and Johnson finished the game with a kill apiece. Fort Wayne won the first game 25-22 and carried that momentum into the second game and won 25-17 to take a 2-0 match lead.  
 
The Mastodons continued the trend of scoring early in game three and were up 5-1. South Dakota fought back and was able to cut the lead to one, 18-17, and then again at 23-22. That was as close as the Coyotes would get as a Johnson kill and a South Dakota error gave Fort Wayne the game three win, 25-22.
 
The Coyotes finish the regular-season with two games at home.