South Dakota volleyball is headed west for the second tournament of the season. The Coyotes (1-2) are bound for Honolulu, Hawai'i, to compete in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic. South Dakota will face the host, Hawai'i, for the second time in program history while meeting Utah and Western Carolina for the first time.
Opening weekend saw a new starting line-up with five upperclassmen and a pair of sophomores. Reigning Summit League Setter of the Year
Brittany Jessen continues to run the Coyote offense and leads the Summit in assists per set (11.33) following opening weekend. Junior
Rachel Schmidt ranks second in the league for kills per set (4.22) and junior
Hayley Dotseth ranks third (3.89). Moving from defensive specialist to libero, sophomore
Anne Rasmussen ranks seventh in the league in digs per set (4.56). Transfers
Taylor Wilson and Mehana Fonseca also made their debut last weekend. Wilson started at middle blocker with 11 kills and four blocks, while Fonseca subbed into the back row of the rotation and tallied the fourth-most digs on the team with 18.
Scouting the Opponents:
Utah Utes [2-1]
No. 22 Utah was picked to finish fourth in the 2017 Pac 12 Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Utes are returning a pair of all-Pac 12 players, Adora Anae and Tawnee Luafalemana, who helped Utah to a 20-12 record a year ago.
Anae led the Pac 12 in kills, kills per set and points per set last season. Over opening weekend, she boasted 57 kills with an attack percentage of .432 as the Utes finished 2-1 at the Bluegrass Battle in Lexington, Kentucky. Utah's only loss came at the hands of No. 14 Kentucky in a five-set decision. Anae posted a 26-kill effort against UK and a .760 hitting percentage in th season opener against Cincinnati. Luafalemana tallied a team-best 14 blocks over the weekend and registered 18 kills with a .371 hitting percentage.
After the first week, Utah's .336 hitting percentage ranks ninth in the nation and second in the Pac 12.
Hawai'i Ranbow Wahine [0-3]
This season marks the first time since 1980 that Hawai'i (RV) has started the season 0-3 following opening week. After coming in at No. 20 in the preseason polls, the Rainbow Wahine dropped out of the poll for the first time since 2014. After falling to unranked Marquette in their season opener, Hawai'i was swept by No. 22 San Diego and fell in a five-set decision to No. 13 UCLA to cap off the weekend.
The Rainbow Wahine return three all-Big West Conference players in Norene Iosia, Savanah Kahakai and Emily Maglio. The trio helped the Rainbow Wahine to a Big West title in 2016 with a 26-6 record and are predicted to repeat as conference champions in the Big West preseason poll.
Hawai'i has a trio of middle blockers ranked in the top-five for blocks per set in the Big West. The Rainbow Wahine rank second as a team with 2.73 blocks per set with Skyler Williams (1.62), Maglio (1.23) and Kendra Koelsch (1.11) leading the way. Iosia ranks third in assists per set (10.38) and Kahakai comes in at fifth in digs per set (4.00).
Western Carolina Catamounts [1-2]
Western Carolina returns six of seven starters and a pair of Southern Conference all-freshman team players, Abigail Veit and Aleah Keaton, who helped the team to an 11-19 record last season.
The Catamounts opened the weekend at home with the Catamount Volleyball Classic in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Western Carolina swept Charleston Southern in their season opener before falling to Towson and Jacksonville State. The Catamounts rank second in the conference for blocks, third for aces and fourth for digs. Veit ranks 10th in the conference for kills per set (3.10) and leads the conference in service aces per set (0.50).
