VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota volleyball kicks off the Summit League slate this week against North Dakota and Oral Roberts. The Coyotes travel to Grand Forks, North Dakota to face the Fighting Hawks Thursday night at 7 p.m. and return to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center to host Oral Roberts Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
 
Where To Watch

• South Dakota's match at Denver will be streamed on the Summit League Network on Midco Sports Plus.

 
Key Storylines

• South Dakota opened up Summit League play with a 1-1 record last week. After falling at North Dakota Thursday, the Coyotes responded with a sweep of Oral Roberts at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Saturday.
• The Coyotes held an 8-4 record following the nonconference slate where they matched up with two Power 4 opponents and five teams that appeared in the 2024 NCAA National Tournament (Oregon, Kansas, Colgate, FGCU and Wichita State)
• USD's P4 matchups featured two teams in the AVCA top-25 or receiving votes in current #18 Kansas and then RV Oregon.
• The Coyote backrow is among the NCAA's elite ranking No. 4 nationally in digs per set at 17.54. USD ranks No. 19 in total digs with 912.
• USD's offense ranks in the top-30 nationally in both assists per set at 12.87 (27th) and kills per set at 13.88 (26th).
• The reigning Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, Kamryn Farris, has picked up right where she left off from a season ago. The Coyotes lone senior leads the Summit League in total digs (268) and digs per set (5.15). She ranks 11th in the NCAA in digs per set and No. 15 in total digs.
• Farris has been named the Summit League Kwik Star Defensive Peak Performer of the Week in four of the first five weeks of the season.
• Over the last four week, Farris has averaged over 5.0 digs per set each week and had a season-week high of 5.55 digs per set during the South Dakota Classic (Sept. 18-20).
• In year two with the Yotes, Lauren Medeck continues to build off a strong freshman season last year, as she leads the conference in kills (207) and total points (227.5).
• In the NCAA, Medeck ranks No. 35 in kills and No. 53 in points. She also ranks No. 11 in the conference in digs (139).
• The floor general, Avery Van Hook, paces the conference with 539 total assists. She also leads the league with a 10.37 assists per set average. Van Hook is No. 14 in the NCAA in assists and No. 15 in assists per set.
• Van Hook also ranks No. 5 in the conference in digs with 170 and No. 8 in digs per set (3.27).
• When out of system, the Yotes have turned to Farris who has tallied 80 assists on the season. She has a pair of double-doubles already on the season (digs and assists).
• Yotes in Europe! The Coyotes took their first foreign trip as a program this offseason, spending nearly two weeks in Spain and Portugal. South Dakota played four matches across their stay against Next Level Voleibol and Caep Soria Voleibol.
• Leanne Williamson is in year 12 as the head coach at USD and holds a program best 240-106 record.
   

Peak Performers of the Week

• Through the first four weeks of the season, the Coyotes have won six of the first 10 Summit League Kwik Star Peak Performer of the Week honors.
• Kamryn Farris won four of the first five defensive awards to start the season, while Lauren Medeck made it a Coyote sweep with Farris on Sept. 9.
• Avery Van Hook picked up her second career weekly honor last week after averaging 11.27 assists per set, 3.73 digs per set and had 13 kills at the South Dakota Classic.

 
The Minis

• The Coyote backline has been amongst the NCAA's best through three weekends of play.
• The Yotes rank No. 4 in the nation in digs per set at 17.54 and No. 19 in total digs with 912. USD leads the Summit League in both categories.
• The Yotes have two players in the top-10 in the Summit League rankings in total digs. Kamryn Farris leads the conference (268), while Avery Van Hook is No. 5 (170) and Lauren Medeck is just outside at No. 11 (139).
• Freshman Sierra Pokharel is No. 15 in the league with 126 digs.
• Farris is the only player in the Summit League averaging over 4.0 digs per set.

 
4 out of 5 PPOTW

• The reigning Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, Kamryn Farris, has locked down the back row for the Coyotes to start the season and has earned four of the first five Summit League Kwik Star Defensive Peak Performer of the Week honor.
• Farris has averaged over 5.0 digs per set in each of the past four weeks of play with 212 total digs and a 5.3 digs/set average.
• Farris became the first player since 2019 to win the defensive weekly award in three straight weeks.
• The last player to accomplish this feat was USD's Anne Rasmussen who did it in 2019 and 2017.
• Rasmussen set the Summit League single-season record with seven defensive weekly honors in the 2019 season.
• At the Coyote Invitational, Farris had 58 digs across three matches for a 5.27 digs per set average. She matched her season-high for the third time with 25 digs in a reverse sweep of FGCU.
• She tallied 56 digs at the Top Dogs Challenge with a 5.09 digs per set average and served up five aces.
• Farris totaled 56 digs across the three matches with a 4.67 digs average in the opening weekend at Montana State.

 
Aces Wild

• Kamryn Farris enters the weekend No. 4 in the Summit League with 23 aces.
• She served up a new career high six aces in the match against Montana State and ended the weekend with eight total.
• Her six aces against the Bobcats is tied for the second most by a coyote in a five-set match and is tied for fourth in a match across all sets.
• Farris' previous career high was three, a mark she had hit eight times most recently against Kansas City on November 24, 2024.
• Sam Untiedt set a new career high with five aces against Villanova this past weekend.
• Her five aces are tied for fourth most in a four-set match in program history and tied for 12th across all sets.
• In the Yotes sweep of Oral Roberts Saturday, USD totaled 11 aces to the Golden Eagles one.
• Farris served up four aces against ORU, while Sierra Pokharel set a new career-high with three.

 
Killin' it Efficiently

• Amanda Loschen has been one of the most efficient in the Summit League so far this season as she holds a team high hitting percentage and ranks No. 2 in the conference with a .347 clip. (minimum 10 attempts per match).
• Loschen has four double-digit kill matches this season and has swung at a .300 clip in 10 matches. She has four matches at a .400+ clip.
• In Saturday's sweep of ORU, Loschen put away nine kills, with no errors, on 14 swings for a .643.
• In the Yotes reverse sweep of FGCU, Loschen put away 13 kills at a .414 clip with five blocks.
• She put away eight kills on 15 swings with just one error for a .467% in the sweep of Ball State and had two solo blocks.
• Loschen also recorded a .400+ attack percentage in the five-set win over Montana State with 11 kills on 24 swings.
• In the Yotes sweeps of Prairie View A&M and Ball State, Medeck had 14 kills on a .387 clip against Prairie View A&M and 16 kills at a .353 rate vs Ball State.

 
Winning Traditions

• Over the past seven seasons, the Coyotes have seen their fair share of success with either a Summit League Regular Season or Tournament Championship in each of those seven seasons.
• In 2022, South Dakota was crowned the regular season champions after posting a 16-2 league record and also claimed the tournament championship. It was the first time in program history, the Yotes claimed both titles in the same season.
• From 2020-22 the Coyotes won three straight conference tournaments and have five postseason titles in the last seven seasons.
• USD became the first Summit League team to win the postseason title as the No. 3 seed or higher, winning three games in three days.
• The Coyotes have made five appearances at the NCAA D1 National Tournament, most recently in 2024 when the Yotes faced No. 2 seeded Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska.