VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota will look to make it three in a row Saturday when they head to Tulsa, Oklahoma to face Oral Roberts Saturday at Noon.  
 
Where To Watch

• Saturday's match between the Coyotes and Golden Eagles can be found on the Summit League Network and Midco Sports Plus.
   

Key Storylines

• South Dakota heads to Tulsa, Oklahoma for its lone match of the week Saturday at noon against Oral Roberts.
• Head coach Leanne Williamson made Summit League history last week as she became the winningest coach in conference history with 249 overall wins and 147 Summit League wins. 
• The Coyotes are holding opponents to the second lowest hitting percentage in the conference at .178, only trailing SDSU (.142).
• USD leads the conference in digs per set during conference play (15.40), are No. 2 in kills per set (13.38) and No. 4 in blocks per set (2.09).
• The Coyote backrow is among the NCAA's elite ranking No. 20 nationally in digs per set at 16.50. USD ranks No. 23 in total digs with 1,650. USD leads the Summit League in both categories.
• USD's offense, directed by Avery Van Hook, ranks No. 47 in assists per set (12.58), No. 32 in attacks per set (36.71) and No. 38 in kills per set (13.62).
• The reigning Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, Kamryn Farris, leads the Summit League in total digs (462) and digs per set (4.62). She ranks 39th in the NCAA in digs per set and No. 28 in total digs.
• Farris was on lockdown for the Yotes to start the season as she was named the Summit League Kwik Star Defensive Peak Performer of the Week in four of the first five weeks.
• The floor general, Avery Van Hook, paces the conference with 1,016 total assists. She reached 3,000 career assists earlier this season in the Coyotes sweep of St. Thomas.
• On the season, Van Hook is No. 2 in the conference with a 10.16 assists per set average. Van Hook is No. 11 in the NCAA in assists and No. 30 in assists per set.
• Amanda Loschen continues to terminate at a high efficiency as she's hitting .335 with 216 kills on the season. During Summit League play, Loschen is hitting .332 with 110 kills.
• When out of system, the Yotes have turned to Farris who has tallied 148 assists on the season. She has three of double-doubles already on the season (digs and assists). 
• Morgan Bode was a brick wall at the net at Denver on October 4, as she set a new four-set program record with 13 total blocks (3 solo). 
• Bode's block total against Denver is tied for the third most in a single four-set match this season in the NCAA. 
• Freshman Ava Ball lead the Yotes on the outside against South Dakota State last Saturday with a new career-high of 17 kills on a .300 hitting percentage and had two aces and six digs. 
• Ball has tallied an ace in each of the last three matches, and had a career-best two against the Jackrabbits.
• Following last week's win over Omaha, the Coyotes moved to 8-0 on the season in matches following a loss. 
• Leanne Williamson is in year 12 as the head coach at USD and holds a program best 249-109 record.

Made History

• Head coach Leanne Williamson made Summit League history last week as she became the winningest coach in conference history with 249 overall wins and 147 Summit League wins. 
• In 12 seasons at the helm, she has amassed a 247-109 record and 147-44 record in the conference. 
• Since taking over as the bench boss in 2014, the Coyotes have won over 15 games each year and 20+ six times. The Yotes put together a 31-3 record in the 2019 season, including a perfect 16-0 record in Summit League play.
• South Dakota has now won 10 or more Summit League matches in 11 of the last 12 seasons under Williamson. 
• In each of the last seven seasons, the Coyotes have won either the Summit League regular season or tournament championship. The 2022 season saw USD accumulate a 29-4 record (16-2 SL) and claimed the Summit League title in the regular season and postseason tournament. 

Ball Out

• Freshman Ava Ball set a new career-high Saturday in the Yotes loss to SDSU with 17 kills on a .300 clip. 
• It was Ball's seventh double-digit kill match of the Summit League season and 10th of the season. 
• She has had an ace in each of the last five matches and had a career-high of three Saturday against Kansas City.
• Ball has tallied 21 digs over the last three matches.
• She has six matches on the year with a .300+ hitting percentage. 
• In the first matches against Omaha and KC, Ball had 14 kills vs the Mavericks and followed that up with 12 kills against the Roos. 

Heating up on the Outside

• Audrey Nelson was on fire at the pin a couple weeks ago as she swung at a .450+ clip in all three matches. 
• Nelson started the week with nine kills and just one error for a .471 swing rate in a four-set win over NDSU.
• She matched her career-high of 12 kills in a 3-1 win over Denver Thursday. After Denver took the first set, Nelson was key in the Coyote attack over sets 2-4 as she put away 11 kills on 12 swings with no errors. 
• In the sweep of UND Saturday, she posted her second straight errorless match with seven kills on 15 swings (.467%).
• Nelson has tallied double-digit kills in each of the last four matches and in five of the last six. 

Bode's Block Party

• Morgan Bode set a new four-set program record at Denver (Oct. 4) with 13 total blocks. 
• It was a new career high for Bode and the first time recording double-digit blocks. 
• She was especially dominant in the second set win with seven total blocks (2 solo).
• Bode became the first Coyote with 10+ blocks in a single match since Madison Harms in 2023 vs Drake (12). 
• Bode ranks No. 5 in the Summit League in blocks (102), No. 4 in solo blocks (18) and No. 5 in blocks per set (1.04). 
• The sophomore eclipsed 200 career blocks earlier this season.

Dropping Dimes

• Avery Van Hook ranks No. 11 across the NCAA with 1,016 assists on the season and No. 30 in assists per set (10.16).
• Van Hook has guided the Yotes to a .232 hitting percentage in Summit League play, which ranks No. 3 in the conference.

The Minis

• The Coyote backline has been amongst the NCAA's best this season.
• The Yotes rank No. 20 in the nation in digs per set at 16.50 and No. 23 in total digs with 1,650. 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 (462), while Avery Van Hook is No. 7 (317).

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 earned four of the first five Summit League Kwik Star Defensive Peak Performer of the Week honors to start the season.
• Farris averaged over 5.0 digs per set in four straight weeks of play during the month of September 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.

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.