VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota volleyball hits the road for the first time in the Summit League season this week beginning on Thursday night in St. Paul, Minnesota, against St. Thomas. The Coyotes will then head to Omaha Saturday to face the Mavericks.

How to Follow

• Live streams of both matches this week will be available on Summit League Network on Midco Sports Plus. 
• The links for live stats are available on the volleyball schedule page on goyotes.com

Quick Hitters

• USD went 4-0 in the regular season vs the Tommies and Mavericks in 2025, sweeping UST in St. Paul and winning in five sets at Omaha. 
• The Coyotes fell in the conference opener Friday night to South Dakota State, marking the second year in a row the Yotes have lost the first match of conference play. USD is now 9-4 all-time in Summit League opening matches under Leanne Williamson. USD finished second in the Summit League standings a season ago, and tied for first in 2023 after dropping its first SL match.
• 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 161 digs (3.74/set). 
• The Coyotes continue to be among the NCAA's best on defense with a 16.56 digs per set average, which ranks No. 9 in the country and leads the Summit League. 
• Avery Van Hook (3.88) and Sierra Pokharel (3.74) rank No. 2 and 3, respectively, in the Summit League for digs per set. 
• After First Team All-Summit League and AVCA Northwest All-Region Honorable Mention honors in her sophomore season, Lauren Medeck leads the Coyotes in her junior season with 150 kills and a 3.49 kills/set average.
• With a win in Thursday's match, the Coyotes would snap a three-game skid. The Yotes haven not lost more than three matches in a row since Sept. 1-7, 2023 (#3 Louisville, Mizzou, Northern Kentucky, Drake).
• Pokharel's career high of 32 digs against Northern Iowa is tied for the eighth most in the country in a five-set match and the Yotes' 97 digs vs UNI is tied for the 12th 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 258-115 record. Williamson set Summit League records for overall career wins and conference wins in 2025. 

 
Series History vs St. Thomas

• It'll be the 13th meeting all-time between the Coyotes and Tommies Thursday night in St. Paul, with the Yotes holding an 8-4 lead vs UST. 
• South Dakota swept the regular season over St. Thomas in 2025, including a 3-0 sweep at Schoenecker Arena, but it was the Tommies who got hot at the end of the year and upset the Yotes in the Summit League Tournament Semifinals 3-2. 
• Audrey Nelson paced a balanced Coyote attack in a 3-0 sweep of the Tommies in St. Paul in 2025 with 11 kills. Morgan Bode added nine kills on a .429 hitting percentage with three blocks and two aces.
• Lauren Medeck and Bode had 15 kills each in the Coyotes 3-1 win in Vermillion in 2025. Bode tallied her 15 kills on just 22 swings (.545%) and had four blocks.
• In the two regular season matches, Bode put away 24 kills on 43 swings (.488%). 
• In the Summit League Tournament match, Ava Ball set a career high with 20 kills at a .296 swing rate. In total, five Coyotes hit double-digit kills in that match.

Series History vs Omaha

• South Dakota has won three straight matches against the Mavericks dating back to the 3-0 win over Omaha in the 2024 Summit League Tournament. 
• While the Mavericks hold an all-time 56-32 edge over the Coyotes, South Dakota is 24-10 over Omaha in the Division I era and 10-4 in Omaha. 
• The first regular season meeting in 2025 between the Coyotes and Mavericks went five sets in Omaha, with the Yotes taking a 3-2 win behind 23 kills from Lauren Medeck. Ava Ball and Audrey Nelson had 14 and 12 kills, respectively. 
• Defensively, the Coyotes tallied 83 digs with five Coyotes reaching double-digit digs and had 10 blocks. 

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, #22 Washington and RV Colorado State. 
• 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 led the Yotes in kills in nine of 11 matches.
• 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 161 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 one of the bests in the country so far this season.
• USD ranks No. 9 in the NCAA in digs per set at 16.56 (as of Sept. 23), led by Avery Van Hook's 3.88 digs per set average. 
• Sierra Pokharel leads the Yotes with 161 digs and is followed by Lauren Medeck's 130 and Van Hook's 128.
• 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 43 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). 

You've Been Served

• In the Coyotes' seven wins, they have won the serve receive to the tune of 45 aces to 18 reception errors. 
• Gabi Zachariasen, who features a top spin serve, leads the Coyotes in her freshman season with 16 aces (.39/set). Zachariasen started the season with four straight matches with multiple aces and has one ace in each of the last four matches.
• The Coyotes have had three players serve up four aces in a match already this season in Zachariasen vs Milwaukee, Sierra Pokharel vs Drake and Ella Rogers vs Wyoming. 
• In the last two Coyote wins, South Dakota held a 14-3 advantage in serve receive. 
• In South Dakota's four losses, opposing teams hold a 27-22 advantage in service aces.

---