TULSA, Okla.—South Dakota senior setter
Brittany Jessen recorded 32 assists against Oral Roberts to take the title of all-time assists leader for the USD volleyball program. The Coyotes fell to the Golden Eagles in a tough four sets. The scores went 25-12, 24-26, 25-15 and 25-18.
Who Stood Out
Alongside Jessen's 32 assists, she recorded three kills and six digs. Junior
Hayley Dotseth made a presence in the Coyote offense as she recorded her 13
th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 11 digs. Behind Dotseth was junior
Taylor Wilson with seven kills and senior
Kelly Law with six. Law's six kills on 10 attempts earned her a .600 hitting percentage for the match.
Leading the defensive pack for the Coyotes was sophomore
Anne Rasmussen with 16 digs. Sophomore
Mehana Fonseca added nine more.
For the Golden Eagles, senior Laura Milos led the offensive effort with 31 kills on 56 attempts to give her a .482 hitting percentage. Junior Lara Picht contributed 12 kills with senior Shelby Cox and freshman Morgan Blomquist adding nine each. Three Golden Eagles played a part in the assists category. Junior Bria Bergman tallied 29 assists, senior Lucija Bonjanjac recorded 26 and junior Tori Roe added 13.
Milos also led the Golden Eagle defense with 15 digs. Roe added 13 digs and Picht contributed 11 more.
Turning Point
In the second set, the score was tied 22-22. Jessen's 17
th assist to make her the all-time assists leader set up Dotseth to hammer down a kill to take the lead 23-22. South Dakota would keep the lead and take set two 26-24 to split with Oral Roberts.
To start off the third set, Oral Roberts would go up 7-2 forcing South Dakota into a timeout. The Coyotes would come out of the timeout and come within four of the Golden Eagles (11-7), but that is as close as the Coyotes would come. Oral Roberts would go on to take set three 25-15.
Quotable
"Oral Roberts played a very clean match today and made it very difficult to get into a rhythm," South Dakota head coach
Leanne Williamson said. "At this point in the season we need to learn from today, make changes, and move on to play another tough match with a short turnaround. We will be better on Tuesday as we continue to push at the end of the year.
"Britt has been and will continue to be a big part of this program. We are extremely happy for her on this achievement. It says a lot about how much time she has put in to become the best setter that she can be."
Notable
- After today's match, Jessen now sits at 4,655 assists. The old all-time assists record sat at 4,639 set by Tori Kroll (2010-2013).
- With the loss, South Dakota drops to third in the league (15-9 overall, 9-3 Summit). Oral Roberts remains at the top of the league (14-11 overall, 11-2 Summit) with Denver in second (18-5 overall, 9-2 Summit).
Up Next
The Coyotes head to Brookings, South Dakota, on Tuesday to take on the Jackrabbits at 7 p.m.
