VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota volleyball picked up its fourth sweep of the season Saturday in the South Dakota Classic Finale over Drake (25-21, 25-21, 25-13).
 
Lauren Medeck led all players with 14 kills and added nine digs, while Ava Ball hit double-digit kills for the third time in her career with 10 on a .348 hitting percentage.
 
The Coyote backrow was led by Kamryn Farris' 22 digs. She was followed by Sierra Pokharel's new career high of 14 and Sam Untiedt's 12. Avery Van Hook tallied 36 assists, had 11 digs and four kills of her own.
 
Medeck and Ball had the hot hands in the first set with a combined 11 kills. Ball put away an errorless five kills on eight swings. Drake built up a lead first, 12-9, but the momentum began to shift in USD's favor as Medeck put away three kills on three straight Coyote points that started a 5-2 run to take a 14-13 edge. Kills from Ball accounted for three of the next four Coyote points, and Audrey Nelson solo stuffed a Bulldog attack to give USD a 17-15 advantage. A 4-1 run, featuring kills from three different Coyotes, and a service error by Drake put the Yotes on set point. Cora Hokenstad put the Yotes up 1-0 in the match with a service ace for set point.
 
Four Coyotes recorded two kills apiece in the second set, including the libero Farris who also added six digs. A tightly contested frame saw the lead swap sides six times, and the score tied a dozen times. Trailing 20-19, an out of the ordinary kill from Farris jump started a 6-1 run as the Yotes closed out set two 25-21. Back-to-back kills from Medeck and Nelson moved the Yotes to set point, while Nelson teamed up with Morgan Bode to push USD up 2-0 with a block.
 
The scored tied four times early in the third set, but multiple runs from the Coyotes pushed their lead to 18-8 after a Medeck kill. Two straight kills from Bode capped a 5-0 run that extended the lead to 12, 23-11, and following a termination from Amelia Dugger the Yotes were on match point. Ball hammered home her 10^th kill of the night to close out the 3-0 sweep.
 
The Coyotes close out the nonconference schedule with an 8-4 record and will now turn their attention to Summit League play. South Dakota travels to Grand Forks, North Dakota to square off with North Dakota on Thursday, before returning to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center on Saturday against Oral Roberts.
 
Notes

• South Dakota is now 6-3 all-time against Drake and have won two straight
• USD is 6-0 on the season when winning the first set and have won 28 straight when taking the first two sets of a match
• Lauren Medeck led USD with 14 kills and is four kills away from 500 in her career
• Avery Van Hook tallied her seventh double-double of the season with 36 assists and 11 digs
• Kamryn Farris hit 20+ digs for the fifth time this season and 22^nd time of her career
• Sierra Pokharel set a new career-high with 14 digs
• The Yotes hit .287 on the match while limiting the Bulldogs to a .082 swing rate