VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota volleyball earned its second win in conference play Thursday night with a 3-1 victory over St. Thomas in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
 
The Yotes had three players reach double-digit kills led by Morgan Bode and Lauren Medeck who had 15 each. Bode swung at a .545 clip with four blocks, while Medeck secured a double-double with 12 digs, a pair of aces and three blocks. Ava Ball tallied her fifth double-digit kills match of the season with 12.
 
Avery Van Hook matched Medeck for the team high with 12 digs while also dishing out 44 assists and had two blocks. Ball and Amanda Loschen each had three blocks and Loschen put away eight kills at a .421 swing rate. Sam Untiedt had a match high three aces and eight digs.
 
The Yotes hit .267 on the night and ramped up their offensive attack in the closing third and fourth sets with .313 and .371 hitting percentages. Bode led the charge by putting down eight kills on nine swings for a .889 clip in the final two frames. Ball had nine kills on a .333 clip, while Medeck added 7 kills on 18 swings.
 
The Coyote defense held the Tommies to a sub-.100 hitting percentage in the first and third set and to a .188 clip in the fourth.
 
After St. Thomas scored the first three points of the match, the Yotes began to settle into the contest and would tie the score at six following a Bode ace. Trailing 12-10, Medeck started a 7-1 run as the Yotes grabbed their first lead of the match 16-13. Medeck had her hands all over the Coyote run with two kills and two aces. UST fought back to tie the set at 19-19, but a kill from Ball and a Medeck solo rejection started a 5-1 run to move the Yotes to set point and Medeck closed it out with her fourth kill.
 
The Tommies grabbed the second set 25-18 behind a .379 hitting percentage and 10 Coyote errors. The Yotes started the frame strong with a 5-3 lead, but it was the Tommies who scored five of the final seven to pull the match even at 1-1. Bode began to heat up in the second as she put down five kills on eight swings.
 
South Dakota's attack picked back up in the third with a .312 hitting percentage and was paced by Ball's six kills and Bode's four. Following back-to-back points from the Tommies, the Yotes held a 21-19 edge and would respond with two straight kills from Medeck to move closer to set point. A solo block from Audrey Nelson pushed USD to set point, and Medeck's third kill over the last four USD points made the match 2-1 in the Yotes favor.
 
The Yotes scored the first four points in the fourth and would hold the lead throughout on their way to a 25-19 set win. South Dakota pulled away when Untiedt held serve, and had a pair of aces, for a 7-0 Coyote run. Bode put away two straight kills to push the lead to 10, 23-13, and Ball was involved in the final two Coyote points with a kill and a block alongside Loschen to close out the match.
 
South Dakota travels to Omaha, Nebraska Saturday for its next Summit League match against the Mavericks at Baxter Arena.
 
Notes

• The Coyotes move to 10-6 on the season and 2-2 in the Summit League
• Three Yotes reached double-digit kills in Medeck (15), Bode (15) and Ball (12)
• Medeck tallied her ninth double-double of the season and 22^nd of her career, while Van Hook now has nine on the year and 42 in her career
• Medeck reached 500 career digs on the night and now has 500+ career digs and kills
• In the final two sets of the match, Bode tallied eight kills on nine swings for a .889 clip
• Untiedt served up multiples for the seventh time this season
• The Yotes improve to 6-2 on its home floor
• USD is 8-0 on the season when winning the first set