VERMILLION, S.D.–This season the Coyotes welcomed two new faces to the program, junior
Taylor Wilson and sophomore
Mehana Fonseca, both coming from different parts of the country.
Wilson, the Corydon, Indiana native, started her collegiate volleyball career for the Stony Brook University Seawolves in New York. Fonseca, originally from Aurora, Colorado, trekked down to Oklahoma where she competed for the University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos.
For both Wilson and Fonseca, a big draw to their first choice colleges were the volleyball programs. But after time spent at their respective colleges, various aspects of those institutions started to change which led to contact with the USD coaching staff.
"My old assistant coach at Stony Brook knew coach (Michael) Runde and called him for me," Wilson said. "I sent coach Runde an email and hoped for the best."
"I spent everyday emailing coaches," Fonseca said. "I also had a recruiting coordinator help me from my old club and he talked to coach Runde. A couple weeks later coach Runde called me and said that they were looking for my position."
USD's associate head coach, Runde, went through film, had phone conversations with the athletes, and talked with previous coaches. After seeing the potential the pair could bring to the program, the staff brought both Wilson and Fonseca to campus on official visits.
"When I came on my visit, the trip took me 12 hours to get here," Wilson said. "It was only supposed to take me three, but I came in during a snowstorm and my flights got cancelled. But once I got here I really liked it. I liked what the staff was doing with the program. They obviously just came off a great season and I thought I could make an impact."
After their official visits, both Wilson and Fonseca found something in the Coyote volleyball program that stuck with them.
"A big thing for me as a player is the coach-player interaction and those relationships," Wilson said. "Seeing how the team, along with Leanne, Michael and Shelly, all interacted was a key piece."
"I could tell the coaches genuinely cared about everybody and it's not a front they put up just for their recruits," Fonseca said. "You could tell that every single person loved the coaches."
Alongside the coaching staff, the South Dakota team and the culture that is Coyote volleyball was a draw for the pair.
"The winning atmosphere and the refuse to lose mentality that I saw through the team was a key selling point," Wilson said. "They wanted to work so much harder for the 2017 season to be better than they were last season."
"Loving your team is what's most important to me and that's what made it really hard for me to leave my last school even though that was the only thing that kept me wanting to be there," Fonseca said. "I felt that same kind of love for one another when I came here and that was a big factor."
While it took Wilson and Fonseca a trip to campus to really see themselves as Coyotes, from film and various conversations, Runde saw the potential that the pair could bring to the team.
"Both of them brought different perspectives of what they were looking for in their next move," Runde said. "For Taylor, she wanted to come to a place and wanted to win and do whatever it takes to win. That competition that she has brought into the gym since day one has really been beneficial.
"Mehana was looking for that college environment and has thrown herself into Vermillion and USD. The reasons that they both did transfer add to what they bring to the table here."
Once the Coyotes were back in action, it didn't take long to see what exactly Wilson and Fonseca would add to the program.
"With a couple injuries, we identified that we needed to bring another defensive specialist on," Runde said. "After watching film of Mehana, we thought she could help us right away in the serve-receive aspect and she has done that.
"Taylor has been valuable due to her versatility. Early on she saw a lot of playing time in the middle, but now we think she can fill any role. Her willingness to make those changes and to put herself in uncomfortable situations has really been a big positive for the team just because we know that she can go where she is needed."
South Dakota is past the midway point in its season, and both Wilson and Fonseca have voiced that the transition has gone well. The relationships throughout the team have grown and it is as if the two have been Coyotes since the beginning.
Wilson, Fonseca and the rest of the Coyotes are back in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center at 7 p.m. Friday where they take on in-state rival South Dakota State in the first event of the South Dakota Showdown Series.
