ST. PAUL, Minn. – South Dakota (14-9, 8-4 Summit) swept St. Thomas Thursday night inside Schoenecker Arena. Game scores went 25-22, 25-17, 25-15.
 
Who Stood Out
Middle blockers Madison Harms and Brynn Paumen led the offensive attack for the Yotes tonight. Harms had 12 kills on 17 attempts with just one error to hit .647, her highest hitting percentage in a league game so far this season. The fifth-year senior also tallied four blocks, including two solo blocks. Paumen added nine kills on 15 attempts to hit .533 on the match while adding six blocks. Sophomore libero Kamryn Farris put up a match-high 16 digs from the back line.
 
St. Thomas (6-18, 2-11 Summit) had a team-high 11 kills from Ellie Gustafson. The outside hitter added 12 digs to tally her fourth career double-double. Libero Ella Voegele put up a team-high 15 digs and had two service aces.

Turning Point
Set one was a back-and-forth battle that saw seven tie scores and five lead changes. South Dakota started to take control in set two, hitting .262 as a squad while holding the Tommies to a .064 hitting clip. St. Thomas came out strong to start set three despite the two-set deficit, but the Coyotes were not to be stopped. What started as another back-and-forth display quickly got away from the Tommies after a kill from Paumen spurred a 9-0 run for the Yotes. Junior Alaina Wolff served all nine of those points, tallying all three of her service aces in that run. The Tommies were able to survive one match point before Paumen sealed the sweep with her ninth kill of the match.
 
Notable

• Freshman setter Avery Van Hook had 35 assists, 12 digs, and three kills to record her 11^th double-double of the season and her sixth 30+ assist game.
• As a squad, South Dakota hit .536 in the third set while holding St. Thomas to a .097 hitting clip.
• The Yotes outblocked the Tommies 12-7.
• Kylen Sealock and Amanda Loschen each added seven kills apiece for the Yotes. Sealock added 10 digs and one ace. Loschen had no errors to hit .438 on the night.

 
Quotable
"We struggled getting into a rhythm in the first set offensively, but we got better as the match went on," said head coach Leanne Williamson. "Our serving also improved in the second and third sets which allowed us to play cleaner transition. I'm proud of this team for staying patient on the road and improving throughout the match.
 
"Harms had another big day offensively and Alaina had a great serving run to blow open the third set. We continue to have different people step up in different matches which is certainly helping contribute to our success."

Up Next
South Dakota returns home to host North Dakota on Saturday at 2 p.m. Following the match on Saturday, kids in sixth grade and below are invited to a volleyball clinic. The clinic is free with the purchase of a game ticket. Fans can RSVP for the clinic here.