GREELEY, Colo.—South Dakota opened the Hampton Inn and Suites Northern Colorado Classic with a 3-0 sweep of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The scores went 25-14, 25-17, and 25-13.
 
The Coyotes (5-5) hit .396 while the Golden Lions hit .193. South Dakota outside hitter Rachel Schmidt led all players with 10 kills and hit .353 (10-4-17). Kelly Law added nine kills with no errors on 12 attempts (.750).
 
Brittany Jessen recorded 39 assists for the Coyotes on the offensive end, while Anne Rasmussen led the team with 16 digs.
 
Leading for Arkansas Pine-Bluff (2-9) was Lisa Casimie who had eight kills and two digs. Cheyenne Odger led the Golden Lions in digs with six, and Britney Sahlmann recorded 17 assists for the match.
 
Turning Point
After rallying back and forth for the first half of set two, the Coyotes closed with an 11-3 run to win 25-17. Raquel West served eight straight points for South Dakota and had one of five Coyote aces during the run. Schmidt tallied half of her 10 kills during the run including three straight kills that pushed the lead to 23-16. The rally continued into the third set where USD scored four of the first five points, the first coming from a Schmidt kill.
 
Quotable
"This match was really about our side of the net," Head Coach Leanne Williamson said. "Our middles hit for a high percentage and led our offense. The serve and pass game allowed us to run our offense and be unpredictable."
 
Notables

• The second set was the only time the entire match that Arkansas-Pine Bluff took the lead.
• This is the second time South Dakota has faced up against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The first time was back in 2012, where the Coyotes won in three straight sets.
• The nine kills and .750 hitting percent this match were season highs for Law.
• Schmidt's .353 hitting percentage against Arkansas-Pine Bluff is a season best.

 
Up Next
The Coyotes return to Bank of Colorado Arena at 8 p.m. CT to play the home team, Northern Colorado.