VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota volleyball is back in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center to open Summit League play this Friday when they host South Dakota State at 7 p.m. for this year's first Interstate Series match presented by First Interstate Bank. 
How to Follow

• Friday's match between the Coyotes and Jackrabbits will be available on Midco Sports and the Summit League Network on Midco Sports Plus. 
• Live stats are available at yote.us/stats.

Quick Hitters

• The Coyotes ended the preseason with a pair of Big Ten opponents that were represented on this week's AVCA Top-25 Poll in #15 Minnesota and RV Washington. 
• Since opening in 2016, the Sanford Coyote Sports Center has proven to be one of the toughest facilities in the Summit League for visiting teams. The Coyotes hold a 58-13 (81.7%) mark in league games in the SCSC and a 86-19 (81.9%) overall record. 
• The Yotes have held a winning record inside the SCSC each year since opening and have won 10 or more matches five times. However, the lone home loss in Summit League play a season ago was a four-set loss to South Dakota State.
• For the first time since 2023, the Coyotes have someone new as libero with the graduation of two-time Summit League Defensive Player of the Year Kamryn Farris. Sierra Pokharel has stepped into that role in her sophomore season and leads the Yotes with 151 digs (3.78/set). 
• After First Team All-Summit League and AVCA Northwest All-Region Honorable Mention honors in her sophomore season, Lauren Medeck has picked up right where she left and paces the Coyotes with 143 kills and a 3.58 kills per set average.
• Led by Avery Van Hook's 4.10 digs per set average and Sierra Pokharel's 3.78 digs/set average, the Yotes rank No. 9 in the NCAA with 16.58 digs per set. 
• The Coyotes have tallied 20+ digs in 13 of 40 sets so far this season. USD had a season-set high of 26 in set two against UNI and had 21 digs alone in set five against the Panthers, with 10 coming from Pokharel alone.
• Pokharel's career high of 32 digs against Northern Iowa is tied for the eighth most in the country and the Yotes' 97 digs vs UNI is tied for the 11th most digs in a five-set match.
• 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 258-114 record. Williamson set Summit League records for overall career wins and conference wins in 2025. 

Series History vs SDSU

• From 2015 to 2023, it was all Coyotes in the South Dakota vs South Dakota State rivarly with 18 straight Coyote wins and nine sweeps, including eight straight sweeps from 2016 to 2019.
• The Jacks have gotten the better of the Yotes over the last two years with a 4-1 record. However, the lone Coyote win was a 3-2 victory for the 2024 Summit League Tournament Championship in Kansas City. 
• Since moving to Division I, the Coyotes are 28-6 all-time against the Jackrabbits and 13-2 when playing in Vermillion. 
• Lauren Medeck led the Yotes with 14 kills in the match in Vermillion last year, followed by Amanda Loschen's 11 kills on a .296 swing rate. SDSU was paced by the Summit League Player of the Year, Sylvie Zgonc, who had 21 kills, 11 digs and hit .347. 
• Ava Ball tallied 26 kills across the two matches against the Jacks in 2025, including a then career-high 17 kills at a .300 swing rate in the five set loss in Brookings.

Recapping the Preseason

• The Coyotes enter Summit League play with a 7-4 record and faced three teams that appear in this week's AVCA Top-25 poll in #15 Minnesota, RV Washington and RV Colorado State. 
• The Coyotes also matched up with #25 Creighton in an exhibition in August. 
• The Coyotes were a perfect 3-0 inside the Sanford Coyote Sports in the preseason, capping off the South Dakota Classic with a 3-2 win over Northern Iowa for the program's first win over the Panthers. 
• USD went 2-1 in true road games, with the lone loss coming to now RV Colorado State. The Yotes won 3-1 over Drake and Wyoming on their respective home floors. 
• The Yotes went 2-3 in neutral site games, but two of those losses came over the weekend when they faced #15 Minnesota and RV Washington at the Sanford Pentagon. 
• Lauren Medeck lead the Yotes in kills in nine of 11 matches and has 143 total.
• Avery Van Hook, who missed three matches during the preseason, leads the team with a 4.10 digs per set average, while Sierra Pokharel paces the team with 151 total digs.
• Pokharel set a career high with 32 digs against Northern Iowa and is tied for the eighth most in the country for digs in a five-set match.
• The Yotes 97 digs against UNI is tied for the 11th in the country for most digs in a five-set match.

Peak Performers of the Week

• Sierra 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). 

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 in midseason form this preseason.
• USD ranks No. 9 in the NCAA in digs per set at 16.58 (as of Sept. 23), led by Avery Van Hook's 4.10 digs per set average. 
• Sierra Pokharel leads the Yotes with 157 digs and is followed by Van Hook's 123 and Lauren Medeck's 120.
• 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.
• In total, the Yotes have tallied 20+ digs in 13 of 40 sets so far this season. 
• 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). 

Home Sweet Home

• The Coyotes have excelled on their home court under Williamson with a 110-27 record. 
• Prior to the 2016 season, the Yotes played in 'The Coyote Den' in the DakotaDome.
• Beginning in 2016, South Dakota has called the Sanford Coyote Sports Center home and have accumulated an 89-19 (82.4%) overall record and 58-13 (81.7%) mark in Summit League Matches.
• USD totaled five sweeps in the SCSC a season ago.
• A new addition to the SCSC in 2024 was the addition of the Teraflex floor in the SCSC. The Yotes became the third Summit League school to utilize a Teraflex floor. 
• Since the 2019 season, the Coyotes have ranked inside or just outside the top-50 nationally for average home attendance. 
• The Coyotes highest ranking for home attendance average was the 2021 season when they ranked No. 40 in the NCAA. 
• *The Yotes ranked No. 14 in the NCAA during the adjusted 2020-21 season due to COVID.

Summit League Wins Leader

• Head coach Leanne Williamson made Summit League history last season as she became the winningest coach in conference history after reaching 249 overall wins and 147 Summit League wins in the same match against Kansas City (Nov. 8, 2025).
• Williamson enters year 13 at USD with 251 overall wins and 149 Summit League wins.
• Since taking over as the bench boss in 2014, the Coyotes have won over 15 games each year and 20+ six times. The Yotes put together a 31-3 record in the 2019 season, including a perfect 16-0 record in Summit League play.
• South Dakota has won 10 or more Summit League matches in 11 of the last 12 seasons under Williamson.

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