OMAHA, Neb. – South Dakota rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to hand Omaha its first Summit League loss of the season in a thrilling five-set match that lasted two hours and 32 minutes on Thursday at Baxter Arena.
 
The Coyotes, hitting .325, won the opening set 25-17 before falling in sets two and three by two-point margins, 23-25 and 25-27. A 25-22 win in the fourth set led to a deciding winner take all fifth that produced yet another two-point margin with the visitors taking it 15-13 on an Elizabeth Juhnke kill.
 
Juhnke, a junior, posted season highs of 24 kills and 22 digs in the match as South Dakota improved to 10-7 overall and moved into first place in the Summit League at 7-1.
 
Omaha, meanwhile, fell to 6-1 in Summit League play, now tied with Denver for second, and 9-8 overall.
 
South Dakota had season-highs of 72 kills, 67 assists and 115 digs during a match that saw 15 lead changes and 44 tie scores.
 
The Coyotes had six attackers register seven or more kills, led by Juhnke, who reached 20 plus kills in a match for the second time this season. It's also the second time this season she has posted a 20 kill, 20 dig match.
 
Madison Harms had 15 kills and five total blocks while Aimee Adams added 10 kills and 11 digs for her second double-double of the season. Sami Slaughter had eight kills and a career-high eight digs while Maddie Wiedenfeld also had eight kills to go with one solo block and six assisted blocks.
 
Madison Jurgens, meanwhile, matched her career-high with seven kills while also contributing 51 assists and a season-high 20 digs.
 
Defensively, the Coyotes had five register double figures in digs led by Lolo Weideman's career-high 32. Brooklyn Bollweg had a career-high 14 digs.
 
The first set was tied at 13-13 before South Dakota scored the next four points and went on to register an eight-point set win. Juhnke had seven kills and Harms four in the opening set.
 
The Coyotes trailed 22-19 in set two, only to score four straight points to take a 23-22 lead, before Omaha scored the final three points of the set. Harms had seven of the team's 18 kills in set two.
 
Set three was tied at 19-19, then again at 22-22, 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25 before Omaha closed it out to take a 2-1 set advantage.
 
South Dakota trailed 19-18 in set four before closing on an 7-3 run as Juhnke had seven kills and seven digs in the set.
 
The deciding fifth set saw one lead change and four ties, the last coming at 10-10. Kills from Harms, Adams and Juhnke to close it out were sandwiched around a Omaha service error and attack error giving the Coyotes the victory.
 
South Dakota closes out the first rotation through the Summit League with Saturday's test at Denver.