Leanne (Felsing) Williamson was named South Dakota’s head volleyball coach on April 9, 2014, becoming the ninth head coach in program history. She previously was the assistant coach from 2009-13 and helped the Coyotes transition into the Division I level.
South Dakota played its best volleyball at the end of the season in 2024 and secured its fifth Summit League Tournament Championship and made its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It was the Yotes fifth conference tournament championship in the last seven years. It was the 11th year in a row where the Coyotes won 15 or more games under Williamson's guidance and ninth straight season with 10 or more wins in Summit League play. South Dakota earned a single-season program best three wins over teams inside the top-50 RPI and the win over Missouri was the program's first top-25 RPI win. After ending the regular season with three straight losses, the Coyotes responded by becoming the first Summit League team to win three games in three days to secure the Summit League Tournament Championship. The Yotes avenged a pair of regular season losses to Omaha with a 3-0 sweep over the Mavericks in the semifinal round, before grabbing a 3-2 win over SDSU in the championship to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Coyotes set a new Sanford Coyote Sports Center attendance record of 2,810 in a November 19 match against South Dakota State and ranked 50th nationally in home attendance on the year. USD earned two wins over Power 4 opponents with a 3-1 win over then RV Missouri (Sept. 8) and a 3-1 win over Iowa State (Sept. 14) at the South Dakota Classic. Kamryn Farris was named the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year, Kylen Sealock was a All-League First team selection for the second straight season and Avery Van Hook was an All-League Honorable Mention. Following impressive freshman seasons, Lauren Medeck and Morgan Bode were named to the conference's all-freshman team. Farris and Sealock also garnered AVCA Northwest All-Region Honorable Mention honors. Farris set a four-set program record with 38 digs in a match against St. Thomas (Nov. 14).
The Coyotes secured their fourth Summit League regular season title in 2023 and second straight with a 12-4 conference record. South Dakota finished the regular with five straight wins, including four straight sweeps, but would fall in the first round of the conference tournament to NDSU 2-3. In the match against the Bison, Madison Harms became the Summit League's all-time career blocks leader, finishing her time as a Coyote with 666. USD won 15-plus matches for the 10th year in a row under Williamson and the Coyotes made their sixth straight postseason appearance, earning a spot in the National Volleyball Invitation Championship for the second time in program history. Madison Harms was named an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention, AVCA All-Region Honorable Mention and the Summit League Player of the Year. Kylen Sealock joined Harms on the All-Summit First Team, while Avery Van Hook was selected to the All-Freshman Team.
South Dakota had a historic season in 2022, including its third-straight Summit League tournament title and the Summit League regular season crown. It was the first time that the Coyotes captured both the regular season and tournament titles in the same season. South Dakota finished first in the regular season at 16-2 before sweeping both Denver in the semifinals and Omaha in the Summit League tournament championship inside the Baxter Arena in Omaha. The Coyotes made history in the first round of its fourth NCAA tournament appearance in the last five seasons when they took #23 Houston to five sets. The 29-4 season marked the ninth-straight 15-plus win campaign for Williamson led teams. Williamson was named Summit League Coach of the Year for the third time, while Elizabeth Juhnke was named Summit League Player of the Year for the first time and Lolo Weideman was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year for the first time. Madison Harms joined Juhnke and Weideman on the All-Summit League team after becoming the rally scoring era leader for assisted blocks, solo blocks, and total blocks at South Dakota. She was just the second Coyote in program history to record 500 career blocks. Juhnke became the first Coyote and fourth Summit League player to reach 2,000 career kills and owns the South Dakota and Summit League record for kills in a single season (677). Williamson earned her 165
th career win and became the all-time career wins leader at South Dakota with a 3-2 victory over Missouri in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center on August 28.
The Coyotes captured a second-straight Summit League tournament title during the 2021 season, giving them two titles in the same calendar year. South Dakota finished second in the regular season at 15-3 before defeating South Dakota State and top-seeded Omaha in the Summit League tournament inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. South Dakota lost to #11 Minnesota in a NCAA Tournament First Round contest. The 20-10 season marked the eighth-straight 15-plus win campaign for Williamson led teams. Elizabeth Juhnke was named to the AVCA All-Region team and the All-Summit League First Team for the third straight season. Madison Harms joined Juhnke on the All-Summit League team after setting a school single season record with a .409 hitting percentage, the 14
th best in the nation. South Dakota led the Summit League and ranked 40
th nationally in home attendance.
The 2020 season was pushed from the fall to the spring due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that caused many leagues to move fall sports into the spring. The Coyotes captured their second Summit League tournament title in the last three seasons with a thrilling 3-2 win over Denver in which it won the final three sets after trailing 0-2. The 15-7 campaign concluded with a NCAA tournament loss to Missouri as the NCAA conducted its entire tournament, reduced down to 48 teams, inside the CHI Center in Omaha. Elizabeth Juhnke earned AVCA Honorable Mention All-American honors while also earning All-Summit League honors along with Sami Slaughter and Madison Harms.
The 2019 season was another banner year for the Coyotes as Williamson led the program to a school-record 31 wins, the highest winning percentage in Summit League history (.912), and was named Summit League Coach of the Year for the second time in her career. South Dakota finished a perfect 16-0 in winning its first outright Summit League regular season title. The Coyotes advanced to the title game of the National Invitational Volleyball Championships (NIVC) before falling at home to Georgia Tech. It was the first home loss of the season after 14 wins and snapped an 18-match home court win streak that was tied for the sixth longest in NCAA. Sophomore Madison Jurgens was named Summit League Setter of the Year while senior Anne Rasmussen repeated as Summit League Defensive Player of the Year. Elizabeth Juhnke was named Summit League Freshman of the Year.
Williamson earned her
100th career victory as South Dakota posted a 3-0 sweep over Murray State on August 31. She became just the second volleyball coach in school history to reach 100 career wins. South Dakota averaged 1,167 fans in 15 home contests, including setting a Sanford Coyote Sports Center record for volleyball when 2,431 were on hand for the
NIVC title match against Georgia Tech.
Williamson led the Coyotes to their first-ever Summit League tournament championship following a five-set win over Denver in 2018. That victory earned South Dakota its first-ever NCAA Division I national tournament berth. Senior Hayley Dotseth was named Summit League Player of the Year while junior Anne Rasmussen was honored as the Summit League Defensive Player of the Year.
Williamson garnered Summit League Coach of the Year honors in her third season at the helm as the Coyotes captured the program's first conference title in history. The 2016 season also saw the debut of the Sanford Coyote Sports Center with more than 2,400 fans in attendance at the home opener on August 30. The Coyotes finished 10-1 inside their new home with the only loss coming at the hands of NCAA Tournament participant Iowa State. USD also set a program record for wins in a season with 25 victories in 2016.
In addition to the Summit League regular season crown, Williamson's 2016 squad picked up three of the four individual Summit League awards. Audrey Reeg earned Summit League Player of the Year, Brittany Jessen repeated as the Summit's Setter of the Year and Elizabeth Loschen was named the league's Freshman of the Year.
In six seasons as head coach, Williamson has coached 14 all-Summit League honorees. One of those all-Summit League honorees includes Brittany Jessen who she coached to earn the title of USD all-time assists leader. Jessen ended her career with 4,826 assists, fourth most in Summit League history.
In her five years as an assistant, she helped lead the Coyotes to their first Summit League postseason berth in 2013. USD posted a 19-13 overall record and 9-5 mark in the Summit League. USD was 8-0 at home during the season. She helped coach Kendall Kritenbrink to Summit League Player of the Year honors. Kritenbrink led the Summit with 521 kills, ninth most in League history. Kritenbrink was selected to the Division I Honorable Mention All-America Team and was also chosen by USA Volleyball to be part of the U.S. Collegiate National Team.
Williamson came to USD after a decorated playing career at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2004-07. Williamson put together one of the best all-around seasons in UWM history in 2007, leading the nation in triple-doubles while earning AVCA All-Region and honorable mention All-America honors for a second-straight season. Williamson finished her career with 1,146 kills, 1,329 digs and 2,264 assists while helping the Panthers to four regular season league titles. She was a two-time national player of the week honoree and, earlier in her career, claimed League Newcomer of the Year recognition. Williamson was inducted into the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukuee's Hall of Fame on February 15, 2025.
Williamson also excelled in the classroom throughout her career, collecting academic all-league and all-region recognition. Williamson was named the Horizon League Player of the Year, an All-Horizon League honoree, ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection and Horizon League All-Academic Team.
Williamson, a native of Hartland, Wis., graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with a degree in education. She completed her master's degree from USD in Dec. 2010. Williamson and her husband, Tyler, live in Vermillion with their twin boys, Jaxson and Logan and daughter Kinsley.
Head Coaching Record
| 2014 |
South Dakota |
19-12 |
12-4 Summit |
|
| 2015 |
South Dakota |
15-16 |
8-8 Summit |
|
| 2016 |
South Dakota |
25-7 |
13-3 Summit |
co-Summit League Champions |
| 2017 |
South Dakota |
17-11 |
10-4 Summit |
|
| 2018 |
South Dakota |
21-10 |
13-3 Summit |
Summit League tournament champions |
| 2019 |
South Dakota |
31-3 |
16-0 Summit |
Summit League regular season champions |
|
| 2020 |
South Dakota |
15-7 |
12-3 Summit |
Summit League tournament champions |
| 2021 |
South Dakota |
20-10 |
15-3 Summit |
Summit League tournament champions |
| 2022 |
South Dakota |
29-4 |
16-2 Summit |
Summit League regular season and tournament champions |
| 2023 |
South Dakota |
18-11 |
12-4 Summit |
co-Summit League regular season champions |
| 2024 |
South Dakota |
21-10 |
10-6 Summit |
Summit League tournament champions |
| Career Coaching Record |
231-101 |
137-40 |
|
Williamson File:
- Kamryn Farris named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year (2024)
- Madison Harms named Summit League Player of the Year (2023)
- Elizabeth Juhnke named Summit League Player of the Year (2022)
- Lolo Weideman named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year (2022)
- Madison Jurgens named Summit League Setter of the Year (2019)
- Elizabeth Juhnke named Summit League Freshman of the Year (2019)
- Hayley Dotseth named Summit League Player of the Year (2018)
- Anne Rasmussen named Summit League Defensive Player of the Year (2018, 2019)
- Summit League Coach of the Year (2016, 2019, 2022)
- Audrey Reeg named Summit League Player of the Year (2016)
- Brittany Jessen named Summit League Setter of the Year (2015, 2016, 2017)
- Elizabeth Loschen named Summit League Freshman of the Year (2016)
- 30 all-Summit League honorees plus eight honorable mention players
- 11 Summit all-Freshmen Team honorees
- 11 wins over Power 5 Programs (Arkansas in 2014, Colorado in 2014, Notre Dame in 2015, Oregon State in 2016, Rutgers in 2017, Cal in 2018, Iowa in 2019, Missouri in 2022, West Virginia in 2022, Missouri in 2024, Iowa State in 2024)
- Three-time AVCA Honorable Mention All-Americans, Kendall Kritenbrink (2013, 2014), Elizabeth Juhnke (2020, 2022), Madison Harms (2023)
- AVCA All-Region: Taylor Wilson and Hayley Dotseth (HM) in 2018
- AVCA All-Region: Elizabeth Juhnke (Freshman of Year), Madison Jurgens and Sami Slaughter (HM) in 2019
- AVCA All Region: Elizabeth Juhnke in 2020, 2021, 2022
- AVCA All Region: Madison Harms in 2023
- AVCA All-Region: Kylen Sealock and Kamryn Farris in 2024
- 2017-18 AVCA Top 25 Team GPA
- 2016-17 AVCA Top 25 Team GPA
As assistant coach:
- Kendall Kritenbrink named Summit League Player of the Year (2013)
- Five all-Great West Conference honorees
