CORALVILLE, Iowa — In a total team effort, the South Dakota volleyball team earned a 3-1 win over Drake Friday afternoon at the Kwik Star Klassic. The Coyotes spread their offense around with six players registering eight or more kills behind 51 assists from Avery Van Hook, and on defense five Yotes had 10 or more digs led by 30 from Kamryn Farris.  
 
"We bounced back really well today as a team. It was a huge defensive match starting from the first set, and I was happy to see how we battled," said head coach Leanne Williamson. "With how long each rally was going, fatigue set in, but we did a really good job of finding ways to win the long rallies.  We lost our edge a bit in the 3rd set but responded really well in the 4th and controlled it from the beginning. Avery did a good job of getting our attackers involved and we were fairly balanced with our kill numbers. It was a great team win against another good team!"
 
Van Hook was one of the Coyotes to hit the eight-kill mark, which tied a career-high, and also tallied a double-double with her 51 helpers, 17 digs and two aces. Lauren Medeck had a team-high 14 kills and was followed closely by Cheyenne Hlady (13), Kylen Sealock (12) and Morgan Bode (11).
 
South Dakota's block was active with 10 total team blocks, the fourth time USD has reached double-figures as a team, led by five from Bode and five from Audrey Nelson (one solo). Hlady tallied four assisted blocks, while Van Hook had three.
 
Medeck got the Yotes offense rolling early, as she notched five kills on her first eight swings to give USD a 13-11 lead. On the flip side, Farris led the defensive effort early recording 13 digs in the opening frame. While dishing out 17 assists in the first, Van Hook also took matters into her own hands multiple times, as she tallied four dump kills on five attacks. Hlady, Sealock and Bode combined for 10 kills in the frame. Two straight kills put the Yotes on set point, 24-23, but from there the score would tie six times before South Dakota closed out the 31-29 set win following a Medeck kill and a Bulldog error.
 
Van Hook and Nelson powered a 7-1 run early in set two to grab a 13-8 advantage. Nelson got the run started with a kill, followed by a Van Hook ace and the Coyotes would hold the lead for the remainder of the set. Nelson put down four kills in the run, with a pair of assists from Van Hook. Drake would stick close to the Yotes, but Sealock secured the final two points for USD and a set two win.
 
The Bulldogs scored six unanswered to grab a 14-10 lead in the third set, but USD responded with six of the next eight points to tie the score at 16. Similar to the first two sets, the third was tightly contested throughout, but it was the Bulldogs who ended up on top 25-22, forcing a fourth frame. South Dakota outhit Drake .273 to .222 in the third but committed more errors leading to the Bulldog set win.
 
South Dakota recorded its best hitting percentage in the fourth frame (.286) and had four total blocks. The Yotes pulled ahead 13-8 following a pair of kills from Hlady and would later take control of the frame with a 6-1 run. Van Hook, Sealock and Medeck put away kills in the run, while Nelson had a solo block and teamed up with Hlady for another rejection. Kills from Hlady and Bode secured the match win for the Coyotes, 25-16, to move to 7-3 on the season.
 
South Dakota will close out its nonconference schedule tomorrow morning when they face Saint Louis at 11:00 a.m. at Xtream Arena.
 
Notes

• South Dakota is now 5-3 all-time against Drake and 2-0 in neutral sites
• The Coyotes are now 2-1 on the season in matches following a loss
• USD is 4-0 when winning the first two sets, and 7-0 when winning the second frame
• It was the first match this season where four or more Coyotes reached double-digit kill totals
• Lauren Medeck recorded her third straight double-double and fourth in her last five matches
• South Dakota is now 4-1 in four-setters this season
• Kamryn Farris set a new season-high and matched a career best with 30 digs
• After matching a season high last night against Iowa, Morgan Bode set a new best with 11 kills today
• It was Bode's sixth match with a .300 or better hitting percentage with 10 or more attacks
• Cheyenne Hlady's 13 kills match a career best, which she set last weekend against Montana State
• Kylen Sealock has recorded 10+ kills in three straight matches and is averaging 13.0 kills per match across those matches
• Bode has tallied multiple blocks in seven straight matches and carries a 4.3 block per match average over that time
• Avery Van Hook recorded her second match of the season and fifth of her career with 50+ assists