AMES, Iowa— South Dakota (1-1) defeated DePaul in three straight sets this afternoon in Hilton Coliseum. It was the final game for the Coyotes of the Cardinal and Gold Challenge hosted by Iowa State. Game scores went 25-23, 25-19, 25-19.
 
Who Stood Out
The Coyotes had three hitters in double-digits today, including a game-high 11 kills from outside hitter Kylen Sealock. Sealock also put up 10 digs and four blocks. Middle blocker Madison Harms followed with 10 kills and five blocks. South Dakota's back row was held down by junior libero Alaina Wolff who put up a match-high 17 digs. Wolff and Harms were both named to the Cardinal and Gold Challenge All-Tournament Team.
 
DePaul (0-1) was led by pin hitter Bailey Nelson's nine kills. Outside hitter Jill Pressly and middle blocker Aly Kindelberger each followed with eight kills. Setter Maggie Jones put up 25 assists for the Blue Demons.
 
Turning Point
Set one was a back-and-forth battle the whole way, with the Coyotes and Blue Demons trading points. DePaul took its second lead of the set on a kill from Kindelberger to make it 14-13. From there, the Blue Demons went on a 5-3 run to take a 19-16 lead and force a USD timeout. When the Coyotes were down 21-17, multiple DePaul errors and a kill from Evelyn Diederich spurred a 3-0 run for the Yotes and brought them within one at 21-20. South Dakota took a 24-23 lead on an attack error by Pressly and a kill from freshman Amanda Loschen secured the first set comeback. The momentum shifted in favor of the Coyotes who took control of the match and secured the sweep.
 
Notable

• Freshman Amanda Loschen made her first collegiate start for the Coyotes on the right side. She had eight kills and four blocks in her debut, including a solo block and the kill to win set one for the Yotes.
• Freshman setter Avery Van Hook put up a career-high 39 assists in her second career-start for South Dakota.
• Diederich had 10 kills on 19 attempts with just three errors to hit .368 on the afternoon.
• As a team, the Coyotes hit .210 while holding DePaul to a .068 hitting percentage.

 
Quotable
"I was very happy with how we bounced back today," said head coach Leanne Williamson. "This team has been competing so hard all preseason, and we saw that level today. We were able to make some changes on our block that really helped us defensively from last night to today, which says a lot about how engaged this group was.
 
"DePaul is a good team, but we were able to control a lot of the game once we took the lead late in set one. Evelyn and Madison did a great job at the net and Alaina anchored our defensive efforts. Avery did a good job of distributing the ball and taking advantage of their defensive scheme. Overall, we are happy with how we attacked this match and are looking forward to continuing to make changes throughout the week."
 
Up Next
The Coyotes will head to Columbia, Missouri for the Tiger Invitational hosted by Missouri Sept. 1-3. While there, South Dakota will face national runner-up Louisville (Sept. 1), Missouri (Sept. 2), and Northern Kentucky (Sept. 3). South Dakota football will also be in Columbia next week as it opens the season at Missouri on Aug. 31 with a 7 p.m. kickoff.