ST. PAUL, Minn. — South Dakota volleyball picked up its second straight sweep and fourth straight win Saturday over St. Thomas in Schoenecker Arena.
 
During the Coyotes four-match win streak, the Yotes have had a different leader in kills in each match with Audrey Nelson leading the way with 11 tonight. Morgan Bode followed Nelson with nine kills at a .429 clip and had three blocks (one solo) and a pair of aces. The St. Paul native, Ava Ball, had six kills, nine digs and a pair of blocks.
 
Avery Van Hook eclipsed 3,000 career assists in the win, dishing out 30 assists and had 17 digs for her 14^th double-double of the season. Kamryn Farris paced the Yotes with 21 digs, had two aces, six assists and one kill.
 
The Coyotes held the Tommies to a .117 hitting percentage, marking the seventh time this season they've held a team to a sub-.150 hitting percentage.
 
The turning point of the first set came after the Tommies were the first to the 20-point mark. Trailing 20-19, two straight kills from Amanda Loschen started a 6-1 Coyote run, and following kills from Nelson and Samantha Laird, the Yotes were on set point 24-21. A St. Thomas error closed out the frame, as the Coyotes took the first set 25-21. Bode and Ball paced the Yotes with three kills each, while Van Hook had eight digs. South Dakota hit .143 in the opener but held the Tommies to a .056 hitting percentage.
 
The Yotes hit .118 in the second set, their lowest of the match, but held St. Thomas to a match-low .021 clip. Three different Yotes served an ace in the frame, while the Coyote block tallied four rejections with three Coyotes tallying two blocks each. St. Thomas built a lead at the midway point with a 7-1 run, 18-13, but a pair of short runs pulled the Yotes back within one, 21-20. The two teams traded points until the Tommies reached set point, 24-22, but a 3-0 run featuring a big block between Nelson and Loschen moved USD to a 25-24 advantage. St. Thomas answered with two straight, but the Yotes closed out the frame with three straight kills from Nelson, Farris and Laird.
 
Nelson kept the momentum on USD's side to start the third with back-to-back kills, and Ball served up her second career ace as USD built an early 8-3 lead. South Dakota stayed in front until a 5-1 UST run flipped the lead to St. Thomas, 18-17. Nelson's fourth kill of the set started a run of three straight to put USD back in the lead with Loschen being involved in the other two points with a block and kill. The Yotes held the Tommies at bay by trading points the rest of the way and received points from an ace from Farris, a kill from Nelson and back-to-back from Bode to close out the 3-0 sweep.
 
South Dakota will make to look it five in a row on Saturday when they travel to Brookings, South Dakota to face South Dakota State at 7 p.m.
 
Notes

• The Yotes have won six of their last seven matches and move to 16-7 on the season and 8-3 in Summit League play
• The Coyotes have now put together a four-match winning streak for the second time this season
• The Coyotes have had a different kills leader in each of the last four matches during their win streak
• Audrey Nelson reached double-digit kills for the fifth time this season
• Avery Van Hook surpassed 3,000 career assists in the first set
• Kamryn Farris tallied 20+ digs (21) for the ninth time this season and for the 26^th time in her career
• Van Hook recorded her 47^th career double-double
• USD held St. Thomas to a .117 hitting percentage, marking the seventh time this season they've held a team to a sub-.150 hitting percentage
• South Dakota has won four straight road matches