FIRST SERVE
The South Dakota Coyotes (10-7, 7-1) close out the first rotation through the Summit League with Saturday's 2 p.m. (CST) contest at Denver (15-2, 6-1).

THE COYOTES
The Coyotes head into the final match of the first rotation in first place in Summit League play, just a half game ahead of Denver and Omaha. 
Junior outside hitter Elizabeth Juhnke leads the offensive attack at 3.56 kills per set while she adds 3.00 digs per set. The returning first-team All-Summit League performer is at 3.87 kills per set and 3.23 digs per set in league play. Juhnke has reached double figures in kills in 16 of 17 matches and has registered nine double-doubles on the season. She has also posted a pair of 20-20 matches with more than 20 kills and 20 digs in a single match.
Madison Harms, a junior middle blocker, ranks second on the team at 2.57 kills per set. 
Sami Slaughter, a fifth-year senior, is averaging 2.52 kills per set while Aimee Adams, a junior, and Maddie Wiedenfeld, a senior, chip in 1.88 and 1.69 kills per set, respectively for the South Dakota offense.
The offense is directed by senior setter Madison Jurgens, who ranks third overall in Summit League at 10.08 assists per set. She ranks second in league play at 11.03 assists per set. 
The Coyotes boast a .303 team hitting percentage in the seven Summit League matches, tops in conference play, while its 13.93 kills per set average in league play ranks fourth. 
Defensively, senior libero Lolo Weideman leads the Summit League at 4.66 digs per set.
Harms averages 1.25 blocks per set, second in the league, and Wiedenfeld 0.86 for a team that leads the Summit League at 2.44 per set. 

LAST TIME OUT
South Dakota rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to hand Omaha its first Summit League loss.
Juhnke, posting her second 20-20 match of the season, had 24 kills and 22 digs. 
Harms had 15 kills and hit .316 while Adams had her second double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs. 
Jurgens contributed 51 assists while matching her career-high with seven kills and a season-high 22 digs. 
Weideman had a career-high 32 digs and Brooklyn Bollweg a career-high 14. 

DENVER
Denver, who has lost only to Northern Colorado and Omaha, leads the Summit League in nearly every offensive and defensive team category. 
Lydia Bartalo, a fifth-year senior and Summit League player of the year two seasons ago, leads the way at 2.84 kills per set while also averaging 2.51 digs per set. She is the national leader in service aces per set at 0.80 while her 44 total aces are just two off the national lead. 
The offensive attack has five different players averaging over two kills per set. 
Erica Andrich is at 2.75, Tina Boe (2.35), Hailey Green (2.21) and Ari Winters (2.05) while Brianna Green is at 1.44.
Boe, a fifth-year senior, leads the Summit League and ranks seventh nationally, with a .453 hitting percentage. 
The Pioneers rank in the top 10 nationally in three categories, aces per set (10th), hitting percentage (10th) and opponent hitting percentage (sixth). 
The 6-2 offense is directed by setters Ellie Anderson at 6.11 assists per set and Lorrin Poulter at 4.60 assists per set. 
Defensively, Gianna Bartalo averages 3.75 digs per set and Anderson 2.04. 
Boe ranks third in the Summit League at 1.18 blocks per set. 

LAST TIME OUT
Denver used a strong .337 hitting percentage in its sweep over South Dakota State.
Boe had 11 kills on 18 swings for a .611 hitting percentage. Green added seven kills and hit .545 while Winters had six kills and hit .455.
Bartalo had six of the team's nine ace serves. 

THE SERIES
Denver holds a 12-8 edge during the Division I era. South Dakota, though, has won five in a row in the series, three of those coming in Denver. 

UP NEXT
The Coyotes begin the second rotation through Summit League with the second of two matchups in the South Dakta Showdown Series against South Dakota State on Friday in Brookings.