DENVER, Colo. – South Dakota will play for a berth in the NCAA National Tournament.
 
The Coyotes held off a spirited challenge from North Dakota State on Saturday in the Summit League tournament semifinals at Hamilton Gymnasium on the campus of the University of Denver.
 
South Dakota, advancing to the Summit tourney title game for the second time in school history, defeated the sixth-seeded Bison 25-11, 21-25, 25-11, 25-23.
 
The Coyotes (20-9), reaching 20 wins for the second time in Coach Leanne Williamson's five seasons, will get a third meeting this season with regular season champion Denver. Sunday's title match begins at 2 p.m. (MT), 3 p.m. (CST).
 
"That was a good team win," Williamson said. "We were able to control sets one and three with our serving and transition offense. North Dakota State came back strong in sets two and four and really challenged us.
 
"We were able to come up with two big blocks late in the fourth set to close the lead and eventually finish the match. I think it was important for us to be pushed tonight going into Sunday."
 
South Dakota snapped fourth set ties of 21-21 and 22-22 with blocks, the first from Hayley Dotseth and Taylor Wilson and the second a solo block from Dotseth. A North Dakota State attack error gave the Coyotes a match point and after the Bison saved one, Madison Jurgens ended the match with a great dump kill at the net.
 
"I didn't really dump a lot all game, so I figured it would be open, I took a chance," said Jurgens, who had 44 assists in the match to go with three kills and six digs.
 
Five Coyotes registered six or more kills, led by Dotseth with 14 while Wilson and Elizabeth Loschen had 13 apiece. Kristina Susak had eight and Claire Gerdes six.
 
South Dakota had four reach double digits in digs as Anne Rasmussen led the way with 21 and moved past Kari Hanafan into sixth on the school's career chart. Dotseth contributed 17 digs, recording her 20^th double-double (kills-digs) this season while Mehana Fonseca had 11 and Lolo Weideman 10.
 
Alexis Bachmeier had 16 kills for North Dakota State, who posted a four-set upset over third-seeded Omaha in the quarterfinals on Friday.
 
"We've gotten better every match this season," said Jurgens. "We're really excited and we're really prepared coming into this championship match."
 
South Dakota faces a Denver team that will be seeking a fifth-straight Summit League tourney title. The Coyotes battled the Pioneers to five sets in the team's most recent meeting on October 30 in Denver.
 
"This is exactly where we wanted to be," said Williamson. "We wanted to play for a berth to the NCAA tournament and we put ourselves in a position to do just that."