COLUMBIA, Mo. — South Dakota (1-2) fell to No. 3 Louisville in three sets on Friday afternoon inside Hearnes Center. It was the first of three matches for the Coyotes as a part of the Tiger Invitational hosted by Missouri. Game scores went 25-10, 25-16, 25-18.
 
Who Stood Out
Outside hitter Evelyn Diederich led the offense for the Coyotes with six kills and one block assist on the day. Middle blocker Madison Harms and freshman setter Avery Van Hook each followed with four kills of their own. Van Hook put up 11 assists to record her third double-digit assist match.
 
Louisville (4-0) was led on offense by outside hitter Charitie Luper who put up a match-high 11 kills, complimented by seven digs. Libero Elena Scott had a match-high 11 digs for the Cardinals while Aiko Jones held down with net with seven block assists. The Cardinals outblocked the Coyotes 12-5 while hitting .301 as a team and holding South Dakota to a .022 hitting percentage.
 
Turning Point
The Cardinals came out swinging to start set one, putting down 22 kills and hitting .364 percent while holding the Coyotes to just four kills on 25 attempts. Multiple runs for Louisville and a strong presence at the net ended the first set quickly. Set two saw the Coyotes gain confidence and momentum. A slow start was quickly rectified with back-to-back kills from Diederich and middle blocker Brynn Paumen, cutting the Cardinal lead down to 10-7. The teams traded points until a 20-15 Cardinal lead forced a USD time out, but Louisville came out of the timeout to go on a 5-1 run and take set two. The Yotes took advantage of the momentum gained in set two and came out strong to start set three, taking an early 6-3 lead. It was a back-and-forth battle with the Yotes always staying just within reach. A kill from Louisville's Reese Robins got the Cardinals to 20 and spurred a 5-3 run to finish the match. Libero Alaina Wolff and defensive specialist Kamryn Farris each tallied a service ace in set three. Set three also saw South Dakota's best hitting percentage of the match at .241 with 10 kills and just three errors.
 
Notable

• When the Coyotes hosted Louisville last season in Vermillion, Diederich had three kills for the Yotes. The outside hitter doubled that today with six kills.  
• Last season, all-American outside hitter Anna DeBeer had 10 kills for the Cardinals in Vermillion. Today, the Coyotes held her to just four kills.

 
Up Next
The Tiger Invitational continues as the Coyotes will face tournament host Missouri on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The tournament wraps up Sunday with South Dakota taking on Northern Kentucky at 11 a.m.