First Serve
South Dakota is headed to postseason play for the sixth-straight season as the Coyotes were selected to play in the National Volleyball Invitational Championship. The selection marks the second time the Yotes will play in the NIVC.
 
South Dakota is headed to Northern Colorado, one of eight host schools, where they will face Wyoming on Thursday at 4 p.m. The winner will advance to the second round on Dec. 1 and will face the winner of Valparaiso vs. Northern Colorado.
 
The Coyotes
The Coyotes claimed a share of the Summit League regular season title after going 12-4 in league play and 18-10 overall. In 2019, the Coyotes played host to all five rounds of the NIVC, winning four-straight matches to make it to the championship game before falling to Georgia Tech in the final match.
 
Fifth-year senior Madison Harms was named the Summit League Player of the Year for the first time in her career. She led the league throughout the season in hitting percentage (.375) and total blocks (134). The middle blocker has 664 total blocks in her career and owns the Summit League all-time career blocks record.
 
Junior Kylen Sealock was named to the all-Summit team for the first time in her career. She tallied a career-high 21 kills in South Dakota's reverse sweep of SDSU on Nov. 14. Sealock averaged 3.31 kills per set and led the league in service aces (43) through the season.
 
Freshman setter Avery Van Hook was named to the Summit all-freshman team after taking over as the starting setter at the beginning of the year. Van Hook has dished out 884 assists so far this season and had a career-high 58 assists in the win over SDSU on Nov. 14.
 
The Cowgirls
Wyoming (20-9) is making its fourth postseason trip to the NIVC after finishing seventh in the Mountain West and not qualifying for the conference tournament. The Cowgirls made three consecutive trips to the NIVC tournament from 2017-19. Wyoming started the season with 11-straight wins before suffering its first loss of the season to Utah State in five sets.
 
Setter Kasia Partyka runs the Cowgirl offense and averaged a league-leading 10.67 assists per set (18^th nationally). Partyka was an All-Mountain West selection after leading the Cowgirl offense that was fourth in the league in team hitting percentage (.242) and averaged 13.15 kills per set.
 
Middle blocker Sarah Holcomb led the Mountain West during league play in blocks per set with 1.41 per set. She had a career-high nine blocks in Wyoming's win over New Mexico. As a squad, the Cowgirls rank first in the league and 24^th in the NCAA with 2.61 blocks per set this season.
 
Outside hitter Rylee Schulz, an All-Mountain West honorable mention selection, led the Cowgirls on offense with 3.25 kills per set through the season. Schulz averaged a .221 hitting clip and 0.37 blocks per set.
 
The Series
Thursday's matchup will mark the sixth time that South Dakota and Wyoming will meet. The Cowgirls hold a 4-1 overall advantage over the Yotes since the teams' first meeting in 2011. Wyoming won the most recent meeting in four sets in 2021 at the Shocker Classic hosted by Wichita State. South Dakota's lone win of the series came in 2019 in Vermillion when the Yotes hosted Wyoming as a part of the South Dakota Classic and beat the Cowgirls in four sets.
 
Up Next
The winner will advance to the second round on Dec. 1 and will face the winner of Valparaiso vs. Northern Colorado.