EL PASO, TEXAS – South Dakota finished the Borderland Invitational 3-0 after a 3-2 victory over University of Texas at El Paso Saturday. Elizabeth Juhnke recorded a match-high 27 kills while Brooklyn Schram put up a match-high 44 assists. Scores went 25-20, 21-25, 21-25, 25-19, 17-15.
 
Who Stood Out
Middle blocker Madison Harms added 12 kills and five blocks to complement Juhnke's match-high 27 kills. Schram added two service aces and nine digs to go along with her match-high 44 assists, while libero Lolo Weideman put up a match-high 18 digs and added two service aces.
 
UTEP received 14 kills from outside hitter Serena Patterson while Ema Uskokovic and Sara Pustahija each added 11 kills. Mattie Gantt (27) and Hande Yetis (21) combined to put up 48 assists for the Miners and Hula Crisostomo had a team-high 17 digs.
 
Turning Point
South Dakota took an early lead with a 25-20 set one victory, but UTEP fought back to take sets two and three. The Coyotes were not to be tamed and came back to win set four, going on a 6-0 run to take a 17-9 lead to force a fifth set. The final set started with a 3-0 run from the Coyotes, but it was a back-and-forth battle all the way. A kill from Adams tied the score at 13-13 before another kill from Juhnke put South Dakota in the lead. A Coyote error gave the Miners match point at 15-14, but a UTEP service error, Adams put up a block, and an attack error for UTEP gave South Dakota the 17-15 win.
 
Notable

• Harms hit .545 on the day, putting down 12 kills with no errors.
• Brynn Paumen had nine kills and five blocks to compliment her .500 hitting percentage
• There were 27 tie scores and 12 lead changes throughout the five-set battle, including eight tie scores and four lead changes in set five.
• South Dakota went 3-0 on the weekend, including two five-set victories, for a total of 14 sets played over a two-day span.

 
Quotable
"This weekend proved to be exactly what we thought it could be! Each team challenged each other greatly, so I am really proud of this team for finding a way to leave here with three wins," said head coach Leanne Williamson. "It is still early in the season, and that showed at times with the highs and lows that we felt. However, when you can scrape by and find ways to win these close ones, it will absolutely set us up for success further down the road. Harms and Juhnke did a great job of being consistent threats offensively, but we had so many players that contributed in big moments, whether that was a dig or a massive block! These three wins show a lot of grit and determination."
 
Up Next
South Dakota returns to Vermillion to host the South Dakota Classic Sep. 9-10. The Coyotes will play three games over a two-day span that will include CSU Bakersfield, West Virginia, and Northern Colorado.