USD volleyball stunned again by NDSU
Coyotes fall 3-1 and are swept in season series
VERMILLION, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - North Dakota State outside hitter Syra Tanchin hit .375 with a match-high 22 kills and the Bison backed up their home win against South Dakota with a 3-1 road victory over the Coyotes Thursday inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. Scores were 25-23, 25-17, 13-25 and 25-23.
South Dakota (26-3, 15-2 Summit) clinched its Summit League regular season title last weekend, but saw its 12-game home win streak end. North Dakota State (20-9, 13-4 Summit), picked seventh in the preseason poll, can clinch the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye with a road win at South Dakota State Saturday.
Who Stood Out
Tanchin hit .375 with 26 kills in NDSU’s five-set victory over South Dakota back on Sept. 27. She produced similar numbers Thursday while adding 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. The Bison got terrific back row play from Ali Hinze, who had 16 kills and 11 digs, and from libero Logan O’Brien.
For South Dakota, it was sophomore Kylen Sealock who saw the first extended time of her career and took full advantage. Sealock entered during a lost second set, but turned it on right away and continued to play well in sets three and four. She totaled 14 kills on just 24 swings with three errors and also came through with three blocks.
Turning Point
North Dakota State rallied from 17-14 down to win set one. Three Coyote service errors and trouble handling Bison serves flipped the advantage. A USD attack error and a block by Kelley Johnson and Michelle Artis gave NDSU its final points.
NDSU hit .326 (18-3-46) and .372 (18-2-43) in sets two and four. South Dakota hit .696 (17-1-23) out of the break to take set three. The Coyotes trailed 18-14 and 23-20 in set four, but Sealock rattled off four consecutive kills and USD had four swings to try to draw even down the stretch including three on match point.
Notable
· Sealock entered the match with five career kills
· USD’s Elizabeth Juhnke, the nation’s kills leader, had a Summit- and program-record 39 kills in the first match against NDSU. She had 19 kills on 54 swings Thursday. She stands 12 kills away of the Summit League record for kills in a season.
· Juhnke had a match-high 18 digs to go with her 19 kills.
· USD middle blocker Madison Harms had 10 kills and one error on 23 swings with five block assists. Artis, the Bison’s middle blocker, had nine kills on 23 swings with three block assists.
Quotable
“I think the game really came in waves,” said USD head coach Leanne Williamson. “North Dakota State did a very good job of playing defense and extending rallies. There were a few that felt like were going to be kills and they just kept chipping away and sending more balls over. I didn’t think we were as clean in transition. The serve and pass game is going to come in waves at times and I think we saw that on both sides tonight.
“We made that adjustment with Kylen coming in and I thought Kylen had a really, really good match for us. That’s a tough situation to come into and she handled it extremely well. She gave us that spark.”
Up Next
South Dakota will honor seniors Lolo Weideman and Aimee Adams following Saturday’s 4:45 p.m. match against North Dakota. The Summit League Tournament runs Nov. 24-26 in Omaha, Nebraska.
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