STOCKTON, Calif. — South Dakota junior setter Brittany Jessen recorded her second triple-double of the year with 40 assists, 10 kills and 10 digs as the Coyotes beat Pacific 25-22, 18-25, 26-24, 25-23 Saturday at the Alex G. Spanos Center.
 
The Coyotes finished the Pacific Community Classic with a perfect 3-0 record on their way to winning the tournament. Senior outside hitter Audrey Reeg was the tournament's MVP and Jessen joined her on the all-tournament team.
 
USD has won nine straight matches and is 9-1 on the season. The loss drops Pacific to 3-5.
 
"We knew this tournament was going to be tough, so to come out of the weekend 3-0 is a huge step for us," said head volleyball coach Leanne Williamson. "We were able to play high-level volleyball throughout the weekend, and we were able to do that with our depth."
 
Reeg led the Coyote attack with 14 kills. She added nine digs, six assists and two service aces.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Schmidt tallied eight kills with a .412 clip. Junior middle blocker Kelly Law added seven kills and three block assists and junior outside hitter/middle blocker Meagan Kerns tallied three kills and two block assists.
 
Sophomore libero Lauren Mattison tallied a match-high 18 digs and sophomore outside hitter Hayley Dotseth had 10.    
 
"Multiple people had to step up and come off the bench for us, and they handled it very well," said Williamson. "Both Rachael and Meagan were clutch for us in the second half of our match. Audrey once again led our team in attacking and actually got better as the match went on. I am very proud of this team to go on a long road trip, and play the level of volleyball that we did in all three matches."
 
The Coyotes and Tigers split the first two sets. South Dakota won the first set 25-22 and Pacific won the second set 25-18.
 
Set three was tied nine times and neither team led by more than three points. With the Coyotes down 17-16, Jessen recorded three straight service aces and USD took the lead 19-17. Pacific tied up the set at 24, but an error by the Tigers put the Coyotes at set point and a kill by Schmidt gave the Coyotes a 26-24 win.
 
The teams kept set four just as close. With USD up 21-20, Reeg tallied three of the next four Coyote points by the way of a kill. The Coyotes won the set 25-23 and the match 3-1.
 
South Dakota continues its season next weekend as the team travels to Iowa City, Iowa. The Coyotes open the Iowa tournament on Friday against Lamar at 1 p.m.