VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota volleyball heads East for the second week of the season for the UCONN Challenge in Storrs, Connecticut. It will be the second week in a row that the Yotes will matchup with a 2024 NCAA Tournament Team when they face Colgate on Friday. South Dakota's three opponents this week held a combined record of 67-29 in 2024.
 
South Dakota Weekend Schedule
Thursday, September 4 • 5:00 p.m. CT • vs. UCONN
Friday, September 5 • 6:00 p.m. CT • vs. Colgate
Saturday, September 6 • 10:30 a.m. CT • vs. Ball State
 
Where To Watch

• All of this weekend's matches will be streamed on UCONN+ at uconnhuskies.com/watch/live.

Key Storylines

• The Coyotes opened the 2025 campaign with a 2-1 weekend at the 2025 EVEN Hotel Bobcat Invite in Bozeman, Montana.
• The Yotes fell in the season opener to RV Oregon 3-1, but bounced back with a 3-2 win over host team Montana State and closed the weekend with a 3-0 sweep over Prairie View A&M
• In USD's first Power 4 matchup of the season, the Yotes battled but fell to the Ducks to four sets (21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 17-25). The Coyotes have another P4 opponent on the schedule when they welcome No. 15 Kansas to the SCSC on Sept. 13.
• Of the 12 nonconference games on the Coyote schedule, five were NCAA Tournament teams a season ago (Oregon, Kansas, Colgate, FGCU and Wichita State).
• Oregon was a Sweet 16 team in 2024 and fell in five to eventual National Champion Pittsburgh. Kansas advanced to the Round of 32, while Colgate, FGCU and Wichita State all fell in the first round.
• The reigning Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, Kamryn Farris, was named the conference's first Summit League Kwik Star Defensive Peak Performer of the Week on Tuesday after racking up 56 digs (4.67/set) and eight aces over the weekend.
• South Dakota graduated its kills leader from a season ago (Kylen Sealock, 417) but return sophomores Lauren Medeck and Morgan Bode who were No. 2 and 3 in kills with 316 and 224.
• Avery Van Hook is back to command the USD offense and was a Summit League Honorable Mention after dishing out a conference high 1,208 assists (10.24 per set) in 2024.
• 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 enters year 12 as the head coach at USD and holds a program best 233-102 record.

Instant Impact

• Freshman Ava Ball took the floor for the first time as a Coyote in the third set against RV Oregon and contributed immediately to the Yotes offensive attack with seven kills in the set.
• Ball ended the match with kills on 16 swings for a .313 hitting percentage.
• She followed that match up with a 12-kill performance against Montana State, her first 10+ kill match of her young career.
• Freshman DS Sierra Pokharel started in all three matches in the opening weekend and tallied 24 digs and served up three aces. 

Defensive PPOTW

• The reigning Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, Kamryn Farris, picked up right where she left off last season and earned the conference's first Summit League Kwik Star Defensive Peak Performer of the Week honor.
• Farris totaled 56 digs across the three matches with a 4.67 digs average.
• Farris tallied 25 digs against Montana State and notched her second career double-double with 13 assists. She also served up a career-high six aces in the win.
• After the first weekend of play, she ranks No. 34 in the NCAA in total digs.

Closing Time

• Under head coach Leanne Williamson, the Yotes hold a 54-26 all-time when matches head to a fifth set.
• South Dakota went to five sets and won for the second year in a row against Montana State.
• With the score tied at 9-9 in the fifth, Lauren Medeck took over for the Yotes, recording five kills in the final six points to close out the five-set win, 15-12.
• Medeck finished the set with six kills on nine swings, while Amanda Loschen had three kills on six swings.
• The Yotes hit .423 in the frame, while holding the Bobcats to a .273 swing rate.
• In the 2024 matchup, Medeck had three kills on three swings in the fifth set against Montana State.

Aces Wild

• Kamryn Farris served up a new career high six aces in Saturday's match against Montana State and ended the weekend with eight total.
• Farris' previous career high was three, a mark she had hit eight times most recently against Kansas City on November 24, 2024.
• Over the three-match weekend, the Yotes had 22 aces, compared to 12 for their opponents.
• Sam Untiedt had four aces across her first three matches as a Coyote, while Lauren Medeck, Avery Van Hook and Sierra Pokharel all had three each.