OMAHA, Neb. — The South Dakota volleyball team has now won six straight matches after the Coyotes knocked off Ball State 25-13, 21-25, 26-24, 25-19, and Abilene Christian 25-18, 25-15, 18-25, 25-22 Saturday at Baxter Arena.
With the two wins, USD has a record of 6-1. Ball State and Abilene Christian both drop to 0-7.
"Today was not the cleanest volleyball that we have played," said head volleyball coach
Leanne Williamson. "However, the important thing is that we dug deep and created opportunities for us to win. Audrey was big for us today. She took a lot of swings and handled the pressure really well.
"I think the depth of our team showed tonight as well. We used a lot of our roster in different situations which is a great sign for this year. We have people to fill in when others are struggling."
Against Ball State, senior outside hitter
Audrey Reeg recorded a double-double with 19 kills and 14 digs. She added three service aces.
Junior setter
Brittany Jessen kept the Coyote offense going with 53 assists. She also tallied 14 digs for a double-double.
Freshman outside hitter
Elizabeth Loschen connected on 14 kills, junior middle blocker
Kelly Law swatted down seven kills with a .462 clip and sophomore outside hitter
Rachel Schmidt added six more.
Sophomore libero
Lauren Mattison totaled a match-high 17 digs while freshman defensive specialist
Anne Rasmussen had two service aces.
The Coyotes and Cardinals split the first two sets with USD winning the first set 25-13, and BSU winning the second 25-21.
Ball State jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the third set. The Cardinals carried that momentum throughout the set and were up 24-19. A kill by Loschen started a 7-0 Coyote run which ended with Jessen swatting down the final kill for the 26-24 win and a 2-1 match lead. Schmidt and Reeg contributed a kill during the run while Brown and Jessen added a block assist. USD went on to win the fourth set 25-19 and the match 3-1.
Reeg and Jessen also recorded double-doubles against Abilene Christian. Reeg totaled 19 kills and 15 digs while Jessen had 44 assists and 14 digs.
Loschen tallied 13 kills, Schmidt had seven and Law, Jessen and Brown each had five.
Mattison and Rasmussen had 23 and 11 digs, respectively.
"We are looking forward to getting back in the gym," said Williamson. "We need to clean up some areas in our game and get ready to challenge some really good competition next weekend."
The Coyotes continue their season at the Pacific Community Classic in Stockton, Calif. USD will open the tournament on Sept. 9 against Northern Colorado at noon.
