University of South Dakota Athletics

DES MOINES, Iowa –  South Dakota volleyball suffered its first loss of the 2026 season Sunday 3-1 to DePaul on the final day of the Drake Invitational. The Coyotes close out their opening weekend with a 2-1 record. 

Lauren Medeck and Gabi Zachariasen led USD in the first set with four kills apiece, but 12 hitting errors would spell trouble for the Yotes who lost set one 25-21. After a back-and-forth start to the set, the Blue Demons were the first to sustain a run with five straight to take a 17-13 advantage. USD would answer back with a four-point swing of its own to cut the DePaul lead to two, 20-18. An error by the Coyotes, however, would end the first set in favor of the Blue Demons, 25-21. 

It was the Yotes in the second set who were the first to sustain a lengthy run, with a streak eight straight points to take an 18-13 advantage. Medeck started the run with a kill and powered the run with three kills. Chloe Kmiecik, who checked in early in the set, put away her first two kills a Coyote and had a block. 

DePaul pulled within two, 20-18, late but Zachariasen moved the Yotes closer to evening the match as she was responsible for three kills in a stretch of four USD points. Audrey Nelson and Amanda Loschen went back-to-back with kills to close out the set 25-23. 

The Coyote defense flew around in the second set with 25 digs, led by Avery Van Hook's eight and Samantha Untiedt and Sierra Pokharel's six each. 

After hitting sub-.120 in the first two sets, the DePaul attack picked up in the third set with a .360 hitting percentage. The momentum from the set two win stayed on the Coyotes side to start, as Loschen got the Yotes going with three straight points with a kill and two blocks alongside Zachariasen to build a 6-1 lead. The Yotes held the edge until a 6-0 surge from the Blue Demons put DePaul up 19-16 late in the set. A kill from Nelson pulled the Yotes within one, 23-22, but back-to-back Coyote errors ended the set as a 25-22 Blue Demon win. 

South Dakota was scrappy in the fourth set to stay within striking distance, and after trailing for most of the set, USD made a late push with three straight points to gain the lead 22-21. DePaul would score the next four points to close out the 3-1 match win. The Blue Demons hit .371, their highest of the match, with 16 kills in the final set. 

Medeck's 17 kills on the day were the most in a match by a Coyote this weekend. She hit .275, had 10 digs, two blocks and an ace. Van Hook dished out 45 assists and led the Coyotes in digs for the third straight match with 17. Pokharel added 16 digs while Untiedt had 12. Loschen had 10 kills on a .381 hitting percentage to go with five blocks while Nelson was the other Coyote in double-figures with 10 kills.

The Coyotes recorded more kills than the Blue Demons (57-49) but committed more hitting errors (27-18) and service errors (13-10).  

South Dakota makes its home opener in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center Thursday night when they host Utah Valley at 7 p.m. for day one of the South Dakota Classic.

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