USD volleyball secures win over Saint Louis

CORALVILLE, Iowa (USD) — South Dakota volleyball wrapped up its nonconference slate of games Saturday morning with a 3-1 win over Saint Louis at the Kwik Star Klassic. The Coyotes will now turn their focus to the Summit League regular season starting next week and will carry an 8-3 record. Cheyenne Hlady put together one of her best performances in a Coyote jersey, as the graduate transfer put away a career high 15 kills on a .367 hitting percentage. Hlady was expecially dominant in the second set, leading USD to a 25-16 win, as she was perfect from the floor with six kills on six swings. Morgan Bode was the Coyotes' leader on the block with four assisted rejections, followed by Lauren Medeck's three. Audrey Nelson's 11 kills marked the second time she's reached double-digit kill totals this season. Kylen Sealock and Bode added nine kills each, while Medeck had eight. Alaina Wolff led the Yotes for the first time this season with 19 digs. Kylen Sealock powered a 5-1 run early in set one, as the Yotes took a 10-7 edge, with Sealock putting down three kills in the stretch. A Hlady kill, followed by a Wolff service ace, gave the Yotes their largest lead of the set 21-14. The Billikens made things interesting with a 7-1 run, but Medeck put a stop to the Saint Louis run with a kill. After a quick point from the Billikens, Medeck closed out the frame with a kill and a service ace as the Yotes won 25-22. Sealock, Nelson and Bode all registered four kills in the first set and hit .500, .429 and .333, respectively. It was all Yotes to start the second set, as they built an early 7-2 lead. Hlady and Bode each notched a pair of kills, while Farris tallied USD's fourth ace during the run. During a USD 7-2 run that gave them a 19-9 lead, Hlady was dominant during the stretch with three kills on three swings. She put down her sixth kill in the frame, as the Yotes grabbed a 23-14 advantage. South Dakota would soon go up 2-0 in the match, as Medeck closed out her second straight set tallying point No. 25, this time with a kill. Samantha Laird provided a spark for the Coyotes in the third set, as she was efficient with four kills on six swings (.667%). Wolff was active for the Yotes in the third, leading the team with six digs. Saint Louis held the lead for the first half of the third, but the momentum started to swing back in favor of USD after four straight points started by a Bode and Hlady block and ended with two straight kills from Laird. The Billikens, however, would push the match to a fourth frame after a pair of kills from Delaney Rice and two aces. The Coyotes got back on track to start the fourth after back-to-back aces from Farris and then two straight kills from Laird to take a 6-2 lead. For the second match in a row, the Yotes had a set reach 30 or more points, and would take the fourth set by a score of 30-28. After an error by the Yotes that brought the score even at 28, Sealock and Nelson notched kills to secure the 3-1 match win. South Dakota hit .270 in the frame, while holding Saint Louis to a .229 clip. Van Hook was named the Kwik Star Klassic's MVP, while Farris and Bode were also named to the tournament team. Van Hook dished out 144 assists on the weekend, had two aces, three blocks and tallied 15 kills on a .483 attack rate. Farris commanded the back row for the Yotes, tallying a team-high 63 digs on the week with six aces. Bode was a force at the net with 30 kills, a .307 attack rate and 13 blocks (one solo). South Dakota will hit the road for the first week of Summit League play at Denver on Thursday before facing Oral Roberts on Saturday.