VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota volleyball takes its six match win streak into the second half of Summit League play this Friday when they face South Dakota State for the second round of the Interstate Series, presented by First Interstate Bank, in Brookings, South Dakota.
How to Follow

• Friday's match at South Dakota State is available on Midco Sports Two and the Summit League Network on Midco Sports Plus. 
• Live stats can be found at yote.us/stats.

Quick Hitters

• The Coyotes and Jackrabbits sit tied atop the conference standings at 6-1, but the Jacks got the better of the Yotes in the Summit League opener on September 25. 
• The Yotes are 6-1 in true road matches with their lone loss at the hands of now RV Colorado State. The Coyotes are 4-0 in Summit League road matches.
• Morgan Bode earned her first career Summit League (Offensive) Peak Performer of the Week honor Tuesday. Bode led the Coyotes last week with 28 kills (3.11/set) with a .436 hitting percentage. She also had two aces, five digs and 13 blocks. 
• Bode set season highs in the win at North Dakota with 15 kills, nine blocks and a .517 swing rate.
• South Dakota has been well represented on the Summit League Weekly Honors with at least one Coyote being recognized in five of the eight weeks. Lauren Medeck (offensive) and Sierra Pokharel (defensive) swept last week's weekly awards.
• At the halfway point of the Summit League season, the Coyotes rank No. 1 in the conference in hitting percentage (.245), assists per set (13.28), kills per set (14.16) and digs per set (18.36). Amanda Loschen paces the league with a .368 hitting percentage, Avery Van Hook is the only setter averaging double-digit assists per set at 11.32 and Sierra Pokharel is the only player averaging our four digs per set at 4.52.
• Pokharel's career high of 32 digs against Northern Iowa is tied for the 12th most in the NCAA in a five-set match and the Yotes' 97 digs vs UNI is tied for the 17th most digs in a five-set match.
• The Coyote middles, Morgan Bode and Amanda Loschen, have been red-hot during the Coytes six-match win streak. Bode's put away the second most kills with 61 at 2.77 kills per set with a .382 hitting percentage and 24 blocks. Loschen's tallied 45 kills at a .356 clip and has 21 blocks.
• There are plenty of familiar faces on the South Dakota squad again this year with zero players leaving through the transfer portal and with zero additions through the portal. The Yotes graduated just one senior (Kamryn Farris) from last year's roster.  
• South Dakota welcomed two freshmen to the team in Harrisburg, South Dakota, native Gabi Zachariasen and Chloe Kmiecik from Shawnee, Kansas. Zachariasen was a three-time South Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year during her prep career.
• Leanne Williamson enters her 13th year leading the Coyotes and holds a 264-115 record. Williamson set Summit League records for overall career wins and conference wins in 2025.
   

Series History vs South Dakota State

• The Coyotes are 16-24 all-time in Brookings, but 14-3 in the Division I era. The Jackrabbits have won the last three matches over the Coyotes. 
• SDSU won the first Interstate Series match 3-0 in the SCSC on September 25. 
• The Jacks held the advantage in kills (47-34), blocks (5-4), assists (45-34) and digs (65-49). USD had more aces, 6-2.
• Gabi Zachariasen had a team-high nine kills, while Morgan Bode had eight and Lauren Medeck and Amanda Loschen had seven each.
• Sylvie Zgonc led the Jacks with 19 kills at a .283 clip and had 13 digs. 
• The Jackrabbits hit .281 in the match, the highest hitting percentage by a South Dakota opponent in Summit League play. The Coyotes' .163 swing rate was the lowest by USD in the first half of conference play.

Whole Lotta Digs

• The Coyotes ranked No. 1 in the NCAA from September 28 to October 4 with a 22.50 digs per set average.
• Of the six sets played in a pair of Coyote sweeps that week, USD tallied 28+ digs in three of those sets. The 30 digs in set two vs St. Thomas was a single-set season high, and Sierra Pokharel's 12 in set one vs the Tommies was the most by a Coyote in a single set this season. 
• Four Coyotes averaged 3.0+ digs/set, led by Pokharel's 5.17 average. She was followed by Lauren Medeck (4.67), Samantha Untiedt (3.17) and Avery Van Hook (3.17). 
• The four Coyotes (mentioned above) all had double-digit digs in the win at St. Thomas.
• Omaha and St. Thomas hit a combined .125 against the Yotes defense, while the Coyote attack hit .215.
• Pokharel averaged 5.43 digs/set last week (10/5-10/11) for her second straight week above 5.0 digs/set.
• On the season, the Yotes are No. 5 in the NCAA with a 17.26 digs/set mark.
• In Summit League play, the Coyotes lead the conference with a 18.36 digs/set mark, and Sierra Pokharel is the only player in the conference averaging over 4.0 digs per set at 4.52.

Peak Performers of the Week

• Morgan Bode made it three straight weeks with a Coyote being honored with a Summit League Peak Performer of the Week recognition, as she was named the offensive peak performer of the week for the first time in her career. 
• Bode led the Yotes with 28 kills against North Dakota and North Dakota State, boasting a .436 hitting percentage, 13 blocks and two aces. She set new season-highs of 15 kills and nine blocks with a .517 swing rate in the win over UND. 
• South Dakota has been recognized with at least one Summit League Peak Performer of the Week in five of eight weeks.
• South Dakota became the first team in 2026 to sweep the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week honors, as Lauren Medeck (offensive) and Sierra Pokharel (defensive) were honored by the league office on Oct. 13. 
• It was Medeck's first of the season and third of her career, while Pokharel earned her second straight honor and third of the season.
• Medeck ranked No. 9 in the NCAA that week in kills/set at 5.57 to lead the team to a 15.86 kills/set mark which ranked No. 12 in the country. 
• Pokharel headlined a Coyote defense (9/28-10/4) that ranked No. 1 in the NCAA that week with a 22.50 digs/set average.
• Pokharel earned the first Summit League Peak Performer of the Week for the Coyotes on Sept. 8 after helping the Coyotes to a 3-0 record at the South Dakota Classic.
• Pokharel tallied double-digit digs in all three matches, including a career high 32 in a five-set win over Northern Iowa, which was also her first career double-double with 11 assists. Pokharel had 10 digs alone in the fifth set against the Panthers. 
• Ella Rogers, who made her first three career starts, was named the Summit League Offensive Peak Performer of the Week on Sept. 15 following the Coyotes' weekend in Colorado and Wyoming (Sept. 10-Sept. 12)
• Rogers dished out 97 assists, had 10 kills, four blocks and four aces across 10 sets. She put together an all-around performance in the four-set win over Wyoming with 42 assists, 10 digs, four aces, three blocks and six kills on eight swings (no errors). 

Fast Starts

• Under head coach Leanne Williamson, the Coyotes have been extremely successful when getting out to fast starts in matches.
• The Yotes are 203-23 since 2014 when they've won the first set in a match. 
• USD is a perfect 11-0 in 2026 when winning the first set of a match and 7-0 when winning the first two. 
• South Dakota went 12-2 in 2025 when winning the first set of a match.
• When taking the first two sets in a match, USD is 144-4 under Williamson and has won 37 straight.
• The Coyotes were a perfect 8-0 a season ago after winning the first two sets of a match. 
• Winning the second set proved to be a momentum builder for the Yotes in 2025, as they posted a 16-3 record when taking the second set. 

Can You Dig it?

• After ending the 2025 season at No. 18 in the NCAA with a 16.68 digs per set average, the Coyote defense has been one of the bests in the country so far this season.
• USD ranks No. 5 in the NCAA in digs per set at 17.26 (as of Oct. 21), led by Sierra Pokharel's 4.06 average.
• Sierra Pokharel leads the Yotes with 264 digs and is followed by Lauren Medeck's 216 and Van Hook's 190.
• The Yotes tallied a season-high 97 digs in the win over UNI and had a single-set high of 26 in set two. 
• USD had 21 digs in the fifth set alone against the Panthers, led by Pokharel's 10 as she set a career high of 32 digs vs UNI.
•  The Coyotes set a single-set season high of 35 digs in the third set against Kansas City.
• The week of the South Dakota Classic (Aug. 31 to Sept. 6), the Coyotes ranked No. 5 in the NCAA in digs/set (18.50) and No. 11 in total digs (222). 

Six in a Row

• The Coyotes are tied for the 21st longest win streak in the country and hold the longest winning streak currently in the Summit League.
• South Dakota has been dominant offensively and defensively over the last six matches averaging 14.55 kills, 13.55 assists, 18.64 digs and 2.23 blocks per set with a .257 team hitting percentage, while holding opponents to a .163 clip.
• Avery Van Hook's dished out 11.41 assists per set and behind her delivery, four Coyotes have averaged over 2.0 kills per set led by Lauren Medeck (3.86) and Gabi Zachariasen (3.21). 
• Sierra Pokharel's anchored the defensive efforts with a 4.68 digs/set mark and Medeck adds 3.91 digs.
• Morgan Bode and Amanda Loschen have combined for 45 blocks and four solo rejections.
• The third set of matches has been one of the best sets for the Coyotes, as they're outscoring opponents 142-97 across the six matches.   

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