First Serve
South Dakota hosts South Dakota State Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center as a part of this year's Interstate Series sponsored by First Interstate Bank. On Thursday, the Yotes host Omaha at 6 p.m., with the match being followed by "Trick or Treat with the Yotes" on the concourse.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota (10-8, 4-3 Summit) has won four of its first seven league games and is looking to bounce back from a five-set loss at Kansas City. Prior to that, the Yotes swept St. Thomas in Vermillion to notch their fourth-straight win.
 
Senior middle blocker Madison Harms recorded her 600^th career block in USD's sweep of St. Thomas, becoming just the second Summit League player to record 600 career blocks. The Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, native recorded her 1000^th career kill in South Dakota's match against Omaha on Sept. 23, becoming the 12^th Coyote in program history to join the 1,000-kill club. Defensive specialist Kamryn Farris has rotated into the libero position for the Coyotes. The sophomore put up a career-high 26 digs against Kansas City on Oct. 14 and has tallied double-digit digs in seven of eight games as the libero.
 
Junior outside hitter Kylen Sealock plays all six rotations for the Yotes and has recorded seven double-doubles on the season so far. The Lincoln, Neb., native has tallied double-digit kills in all but three matches this season and recorded a career-high 18 kills in South Dakota's sweep of Central Michigan on Sept. 16.
 
Freshman setter Avery Van Hook has stepped into the setter role for the Coyotes and has recorded nine double-doubles in 18 games, including a career-high 53 assists against Kansas City on Oct. 14. Freshman outside hitter Samantha Laird has rotated into the main lineup for the Yotes and joins fellow freshman Amanda Loschen in the front row. Laird recorded a career-high 13 kills in USD's five-set win over North Dakota on Oct. 5. Loschen fills the hole on the right side and put up a career-high 10 kills against Kansas City on Sept. 28.
 
The Jackrabbits
South Dakota State (4-15, 2-5 Summit) is looking to bounce back from being swept by Denver on Saturday. On Thursday, the Jacks picked up their second league win of the season with a four-set win at Oral Roberts.
 
Freshman setter Rylee Martin has rotated into the starting lineup for the Jacks and dished out a career-high 35 assists and 17 digs in SDSU's win over Oral Roberts. Libero Stella Winterfeld leads the Jacks from the back row with 4.42 digs per set, good for second in the league.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Katie Van Egdom leads the league in Summit play with 4.15 kills per set. Freshman Sylvie Zgonc plays opposite Egdom and averages 3.33 kills per set from the outside. Zgonc has five double-doubles so far on the season and recorded a career-high 21 kills in SDSU's five-set loss to Kansas City on Sept. 23.
 
The Mavericks
Omaha (8-10, 7-1 Summit) dropped its first Summit match to Kansas City in five sets on Sept. 21 and have won every league match since then, good for a seven-match win streak and first in the league.
 
Middle blocker McKenna Ruch averages 2.52 kills per set and 0.96 blocks per set for the Mavericks. Earlier this season, Ruch added 11 kills and five blocks in Omaha's four-set win over South Dakota.
 
Outside hitter Rachel Fairbanks had a season-best day against South Dakota earlier this season, tallying a match-high 14 kills on a .423 hitting clip while adding 13 digs. Shayla McCormick plays opposite of Fairbanks and had 12 kills against USD earlier this year. The outside hitter averaged 2.47 kills per set and 2.62 digs per set for the Mavericks.  
 
Up Next
South Dakota heads back out on the road to take on Oral Roberts on Oct. 26 (7 p.m.) and Denver on Oct. 28 (2 p.m.).