STORRS, Conn. — South Dakota volleyball went toe-to-toe with the Big East's UCONN Thursday night, but would fall in four sets (24-26, 21-25, 27-25, 23-25) at the UCONN Volleyball Center.
 
All four sets in the match were tightly contested with neither team winning a frame by more than four points. Across the four sets, the lead changed hands 19 times and the score tied on 34 occasions.
 
After the Huskies grabbed a four-point lead early in the first set, the Yotes answered back with a 7-1 run to pull ahead 15-13 at the first break in action. Amanda Loschen tallied two kills in the run, while Lauren Medeck and Ava Ball had one each. The two teams traded points until they were deadlocked at 24-24. UCONN, however, would score the final two points on a kill and a service ace to take the first set.
 
UCONN carried its momentum into the second, building an 8-4 advantage early. The Yotes put together a 4-1 spurt to pull back within one, 10-11, after a kill from Avery Van Hook. For the second set in a row, the score would tie late, this time at 21-all following a solo block from Loschen and Van Hook's fourth kill of the set. The Huskies again closed strong, scoring the final four points to move the match to 2-0 in their favor.
 
The Yotes battled in the third and pushed the match to a fourth set, powered by seven combined kills from Medeck and Loschen and five total team blocks. Van Hook, Medeck and Loschen all recorded solo rejections in the third. With the momentum shifting in the Yotes direction following back-to-back solo blocks from Loschen and Van Hook to take a 7-4 edge, the Huskies rattled off a 7-0 run to take an 11-7 lead. USD stayed within striking range, regaining the lead at 17-16 following four unanswered points capped by a Farris ace. With the Huskies on set and match point, 24-25, Medeck would extend the set with a termination. Kate Holthaus and Loschen teamed up for a block and Medeck followed with her fourth kill to secure the set win for USD and push the match to a fourth set.
 
Keeping with the trend of the night, the fourth and final set would be decided late as the two teams stayed within three points of each other throughout. The scored was even at 22-22 following a Medeck kill, but the Huskies would secure three of the next four points to close out the fourth 25-23 and the match 3-1. Medeck put away seven kills on 13 swings with no errors in the fourth, while Holthaus had four kills on 5 attacks with no errors.
 
Van Hook dished out 35 assists, four kills and nine digs. Medeck led all players with 18 kills and had a team high 14 digs. Farris had a team-high 11 digs and two aces, while Sierra Pokharel had two aces.
 
The Yotes will look to bounce back tomorrow night when they face Colgate for day two of the UCONN Challenge at 6 p.m. CT.
 
Notes

• UCONN won 3-1 in the first meeting between the two programs
• The Yotes are now 1-1 on the season in true road games
• Lauren Medeck led the Yotes in kills for the third match in a row with 18 on a .277 hitting percentage
• Medeck also notched her third straight double-double with 14 digs
• Kamryn Farris served up two more aces and now has 10 through four matches
• Sierra Pokharel had multiples aces for the first time in her career with two
• Amanda Loschen has hit above .300 in all four matches to start the season after putting away eight kills at a .348 clip tonight
• Kate Holthaus made her Coyote debut in the third and fourth sets tonight and had four kills