DENVER, Colorado – A five-set marathon between the top two teams in the Summit League ended with league-leading Denver prevailing 25-15, 25-27, 27-25, 24-26, 15-12 over second-place South Dakota in Tuesday's match at Hamilton Gymnasium.
 
The Coyotes became the first Summit League team to win a set against Denver on its home floor, but ultimately couldn't hold on for the big win despite being up 10-6 in the fifth and decisive set.
 
After falling in set one the next three sets each went to bonus volleyball with South Dakota pulling out victories in sets two and four. Denver, though, had five individuals record 10 or more kills and had a .239 hitting percentage in a match that saw the hosts accumulate 31 more attack attempts and 15 more kills than the Coyotes.
 
The loss snapped a five-match winning streak for South Dakota, who fall to 16-9 overall and 10-3 in the Summit League.
 
Becca Latham had 16 kills and Katarina Marinkovic 14 as Denver won for the 21^st straight time, moving to 23-1 overall and putting a firm hold on first place in the league standings at 12-0.

"Tonight was a really good match," Coach Leanne Williamson said. "We are obviously disappointed in the loss, but i am really proud of the way the team fought.

"I thought the team worked really hard and gave Denver a hard time. We made them take multiple swings in a rally in order to score and because we did that we were also able to force them into some errors."
 
Hayley Dotseth had 13 kills and 16 digs while Elizabeth Loschen added 10 kills, however, the Coyotes had only a .141 hitting percentage in the match.
 
Madison Jurgens contributed 36 assists and 12 digs while libero Anne Rasmussen led the defense with 21 digs.

"There are a lot of good take a ways from this match," Williamson added. "I have no doubt that this will make us better in the long run."
 
South Dakota plays its final road contest in Summit League play on Sunday against Omaha in a battle for second place in the standings.