The South Dakota women's volleyball team makes it's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance at the Division I level when it faces Creighton on Friday night. First serve is set for 6 p.m. inside the D.J. Sokol Arena in Omaha, Neb.
 
The Game
South Dakota faces another tough assignment on the opponents home floor after securing the NCAA automatic berth with a five-set win at Denver in the Summit League Tournament championship. The Coyotes were the first team to defeat Denver on its home floor in five seasons.
 
South Dakota has two players who hail from the state of Nebraska in Omaha native Elizabeth Loschen, playing in her home town for the first time in college, and Madison Jurgens, who is from Odell, Neb.
 
Friday's match will be broadcast live on KVHT 106.3 FM (Yankton/Vermillion) and also available on www.kvhtradio.com. The pre-game show presented by Premier Real Estate of Vermillion begins at 5:45 p.m.  John Thayer the "voice of Coyote women's basketball" will provided play-by play while former Coyote standout Kendall (Kritenbrink) King will serve as color analyst.
 
The Jays
Creighton (28-4 overall) went 18-0 to secure its fifth-straight Big East regular season title and added the Big East tournament title as well by defeating Marquette inside the Sokol Arena last Saturday.
 
The ninth-ranked Bluejays own a non-conference win over 10^th-ranked Kentucky while suffering three of their four losses to ranked teams in third-ranked Illinois, seventh-ranked Nebraska and 17^th-ranked USC.
 
Big East Player of the Year Jaali Winters (3.85 kps., 3.10 dps) leads the Creighton offensive attack along with outside hitter Taryn Kloth (4.13 kps, .281%). Winters, an Ankeny, Iowa native, was also the MVP of the Big East Conference tournament. Madelyn Cole, a transfer from Marshall, leads the Big East with 10.89 assists per set while Big East Libero of the Year Brittany Witt leads the team defensively at 4.35 digs per set.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota is 21-9 overall and after finishing second at 13-3 in the Summit League regular season standings won its first-ever Summit League tournament title with a five-set victory over Denver.
 
Senior outside hitter Hayley Dotseth, the Summit League Player of the Year, leads the Summit League at 4.04 kills per set and ranks third nationally in attack attempts per set at 13.44.
 
Senior middle blocker Taylor Wilson, the Summit League Tournament MVP, is coming off a career-high 24 kills in the title match win over Denver. Wilson ranks fourth in the Summit League at 3.24 kills per set and is currently the Coyotes career leader in hitting percentage at .348 thanks to her .372 attack percentage this season, tops in the Summit League.
 
Junior libero Anne Rasmussen, the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, led the Summit League at 5.45 digs per set to rank 18^th nationally. Part of the Coyotes defensive unit that ranks eighth nationally as a team at 18.24 digs per set.
 
The Series
Creighton leads the overall all-time series 3-1, but South Dakota prevailed in the team's most recent meeting, a five-set battle in Omaha in 2014.
 
One Last Thing
Creighton is the highest ranked team the Coyotes will face in the Division I era. South Dakota dropped a three-set match to 22^nd-ranked Utah during the 2017 season.