HONOLULU – South Dakota used a strong first set to carry itself to victory in straight-sets over Western Carolina 25-13, 25-18 and 25-17 in the final match of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, Hawai'i.
 
The Coyotes used a .600 hitting percentage in the first set to lead to the victory behind four kills each from Taylor Wilson and Rachel Schmidt on four attempts. Hayley Dotseth also had four kills in the first set.  South Dakota's defense held the Catamounts offense to a .194 attack percentage.
 
The momentum carried over to the second and third sets as the Coyotes held Western Carolina to .027 and .085 hitting percentages, respectively.
 
"I was happy to see our middles have so much success," head coach Leanne Williamson said. "Henzie Hesse came off the bench and did a great job, scoring the ball at a high rate."
 
Hesse tallied five kills over two sets for South Dakota (2-4) and did not record an error. Her five kills came on seven attempts for a .714 hitting percentage, a tally that the Coyotes as a team recorded at .330 clip. Western Carolina was held to a .096 hitting percentage over the three sets.
 
Dotseth recorded a season-high 15 kills for the Coyotes while Brittany Jessen recorded 33 assists, three assisted blocks and a service ace. Anne Rasmussen tallied a match-high 19 digs and three service aces.
 
"This was a great team match to end on this weekend," Williamson added. "Western Carolina is a team that is similar to some of our conference opponents. They are a scrappy team that made us play volleyball."
 
Western Carolina (1-5) was led by MaKenzie White with eight kills while Hannah Price totaled 25 assists.
 
The Coyotes now travel to Kansas City, Missouri, for the Kangaroo Klassic hosted by UMKC beginning Friday. South Dakota faces host UMKC at 1 p.m. followed by a match with Northern Iowa at 4:30 p.m.