University of South Dakota Athletics

VERMILLION, S.D. – Behind a season-high .420 team hitting percentage, the South Dakota volleyball team dominated in a 3-0 sweep over Oral Roberts Thursday night in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.

Lauren Medeck was on fire from start to finish of tonight's match, setting the tone early by putting down six of her first seven swings en route to 19 kills. Medeck hit a season-high .455 and had two blocks and six digs. 

Both Gabi Zachariasen and Audrey Nelson hit an even .500 on the night, with Zachariasen tallying 11 kills and Nelson putting away nine. Amanda Loschen had six kills on 11 swings and tallied six blocks, with four coming in the third set alone. 

Avery Van Hook guided the Yotes to 52 kills, the team's most in a three-set match this season, and to a .400+ hitting percentage in two of the three sets. Van Hook dished out 37 assists which is the most in a three-set match this season and had nine digs, two kills and two blocks. 

Behind Medeck's fast start, the Coyotes raced out to a 13-4 lead in set one behind five kills from the junior outside. USD sent the set to the media timeout up 15-8 behind a .562 hitting percentage while holding ORU to a .091 swing rate. The Golden Eagles cut the lead to three, 19-16, but Medeck's eighth kill of the opener started a 6-2 run to close out the first set 25-18. The Yotes hit .485 in the first, their highest hitting percentage of the night. 

The Coyotes held the lead for the majority of the second set, but the Golden Eagles kept it close with the Coyote lead never exceeding four until late in the set. A service error by ORU followed by three straight points courtesy of Medeck and Loschen gave the Yotes a 23-18 lead. The two combined for a block and each registered a kill in the four-point run. Medeck's 14th kill of the night moved USD to set point, and Nelson put the Yotes up 2-0 in the match with her eighth kill. 

South Dakota's attack kept its pace in the third set with a .407 hitting percentage and the block picked up with five rejections, led by Loschen's four. The Coyotes, who had just one hitting error in the third set, was led by Medeck and Zachariasen who had nine combined. After ORU tied the set at 6-6, the Coyotes took firm control of the set with a 13-3 run to pull ahead 19-9 and cruised to a 25-14 set win and 3-0 match win. 

South Dakota has now won three straight matches, all by sweep, and improved to 10-5 on the season, 3-1 in Summit League play and 4-1 at the SCSC.  

The Coyotes are right back in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center on Saturday at 5 p.m. when they host Kansas City. 
 

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