First Serve
South Dakota returns to Vermillion after defeating Kansas City and Oral Roberts on the road last week. The Coyotes' 3-1 win over ORU on Saturday secured the regular season conference title for South Dakota and they head into the Summit League tournament as the No. 1 seed next week. Picked seventh in the preseason poll, North Dakota State is playing spoiler at 12-4 in league play and sits in third heading into the last regular season weekend. North Dakota, currently in a four-game rut, sits in sixth at 9-7 and are looking to secure the last spot in the tournament. The Coyotes host North Dakota State Thursday at 7 p.m. before taking on North Dakota at 4:45 p.m. Saturday. Saturday features a double header for the Coyotes as the football team hosts Northern Iowa in the season finale with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
 
The Coyotes
At 26-2, South Dakota boasts the sixth-best record in the country. The Coyotes have won 13 straight matches and their 12-game home win streak is Division I's 12th-longest active streak.
 
Elizabeth Juhnke continues to lead the nation in kills and kills per set. Her match-high 22 kills against Oral Roberts on Saturday boosted her career total to 1,927, making her USD's all-time career kills leader. Freshman Madi Woodin put up a career-high 46 assists in her seventh start for the Coyotes on Saturday. Woodin has taken the reins at setter as Brooklyn Schram continues to recover from an injury. 
 
Middle blocker Madison Harms recorder her 500^th career block on Saturday, making her just the second Coyote to reach that milestone. She is the school record holder in the rally scoring era in solo blocks, assisted blocks, and total blocks. Libero Lolo Weideman picked up her second defensive player of the week honor of the season last week. She continues to lead the league in digs per set.
 
The last time South Dakota met North Dakota State, Juhnke broke a Summit League and South Dakota record by tallying a career-high 39 kills. The total broke the league record for most kills in a single match and is the highest tally in the NCAA this season. Evelyn Diederich also recorded a career-high 13 kills while freshman Kamryn Farris totaled a career-high 18 digs.
 
The Fighting Hawks and the Coyotes went at it just a few weeks ago up in Grand Forks, as the Coyotes battled to a 3-2 victory. Five hitters clocked kills on the stat sheet for South Dakota while junior Alaina Wolff tallied a career-high 18 digs.
 
The Bison
North Dakota State (19-9) is coming off a five-set loss to preseason favorite Denver on Saturday. The Bison's last three matches have all gone to five sets, including wins over North Dakota and Omaha.
 
Senior setter Kelley Johnson leads the league in assists and assists per set. In North Dakota's 3-2 win over Omaha last Thursday, Johnson put up 57 assists, just one shy of her career-high. Junior outside hitter Ali Hinze totaled a team-high 19 kills in that same match. Hinze's 3.61 kills per set are forth in the league.
 
Earlier this season, the Bison defeated South Dakota to give the Coyotes their first and only league loss. Senior outside hitter Syra Tanchin notched a career-high 26 kills while senior middle blocker Michelle Artis added 18 kills on a .577 hitting clip.
 
The Fighting Hawks
Jesse Tupac took over as the head coach for North Dakota in December. Tupac spent three years at Denver as an assistant coach and helped lead the Pioneers to three regular season championships. At 9-7 in the league, Tupac has led the Fighting Hawks to their first .500 win conference season since 2019.
 
Junior setter Elizabeth Norris leads the league with six triple-doubles, which ranks second nationally. Her most recent triple-double was a 12-kill, 19-assist, 12-dig performance in North Dakota's five-set loss to North Dakota State on Nov. 5. Earlier this season, Norris recorded her fifth triple-double of the season in the Fighting Hawks' 3-2 loss to South Dakota. Norris remains the only player in the Summit to have recorded a triple-double this season.
 
Marissa Stockman, a graduate student transfer from Florida State, holds down the net for North Dakota with a 1.00 block per set average. Senior setter Kortney Carney defends the back court for the Fighting Hawks. Her 393 digs on the season are fourth in the league. Last time the Coyotes and Fighting Hawks met, Carney tallied a career-high 33 digs. Stockman put up five blocks and had seven kills in the five-set battle that ended in favor of the Yotes.
 
Up Next
South Dakota heads into the Summit League Tournament as the No. 1 seed next week in Omaha. As the No. 1 seed, the Coyotes earned a first-round bye and will play their first match of the tournament on Friday. Time and opponent are still to be determined.