VERMILLION, S.D. — The South Dakota volleyball team fell in straight sets to St. Thomas Thursday night in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. The Coyotes are now 10-4 on the season and 2-1 in conference play.
 
St. Thomas outhit the Coyotes .318 to .200 in the match and committed fewer hitting errors, 9-19.
 
Lauren Medeck led the Yotes in kills with nine and was followed by Kylen Sealock and Cheyenne Hlady who had eight each. Amanda Loschen put away six kills with a .455 attack rate in the third set.
 
Kamryn Farris paced USD with 17 digs, her 11th straight match with double-digit kills, while Morgan Bode had a career-high 12 digs. Avery Van Hook dished out 39 assists, had one ace, seven digs and two blocks.
 
St. Thomas jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first set, and would hold the advantage throughout, eventually taking its largest lead at 22-14 after an ace. Five Coyotes tallied three kills in the first set and were led by Morgan Bode's .600 attack rate and Audrey Nelson's .333 clip. The Tommies registered a .412 hitting percentage in the first frame and didn't commit a hitting error on their way to a 25-18 set win.
 
Looking to bounce back from the first set loss, the Coyotes scored four straight points to begin the second. Medeck was involved in three straight points to start the frame with two kills and a block. St. Thomas put away seven straight points to grab a 10-8 advantage, and the two teams would go back and forth for the remainder of the set with the score tying eight times. The final tie was after a Van Hook and Nelson block to pull the set even at 24-24. The Tommies, however, scored the next two points to take a 2-0 match lead.
 
St. Thomas' attack picked back up in the third set, registering a .318 clip while holding USD to .171. Loschen put away six kills on 11 swings in the frame to lead the Coyotes. St. Thomas took control of the set with a 7-1 run in the middle of the frame. Facing match point, Hlady put away a kill followed by a Farris ace, but the Tommies closed out the sweep with a kill, taking the set 25-20.
 
The Coyotes will be back at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Saturday when they host Omaha at 6:00 p.m.
 
Notes

• South Dakota is now 6-2 all-time against St. Thomas
• Tonight's match was just the second time this season the Coyotes have been swept
• USD dropped its first match at the SCSC this season
• South Dakota was swept in a regular season conference match for the first time in 96 conference matches. The last time USD was swept was on Oct. 5, 2018 against Denver in Vermillion, S.D.
• Kamryn Farris recorded her 11th straight match with 10+ digs
• While the kill totals were nearly even with UST leading 44 to 43, the Tommies outhit USD .318 to .200