Coyotes Drop Two At UND Classic

GRAND FORKS, ND -- Despite several strong performances, the South Dakota volleyball team dropped two matches at the North Dakota Classic to finish the tournament with a 0-3 record.

The Coyotes lost to Stephen F. Austin in five sets (19-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-11) and to Green Bay in three sets (25-21, 25-18, 25-18), and is now 3-4 this season.

Amber Aschoff (Ankeny, Iowa) led the Coyotes on both offense and defense with 33 kills and 28 digs over the two matches.  Her efforts earned her all-tournament team honors.

Sydney Dimke (Ham Lake, Minn.) also had a good day offensively with 22 kills, while Riley Haug (Gretna, Neb.) and Katie Bunkers (Columbus, Neb.) both had strong defensive efforts with 26 digs and 25 digs, respectively.  Setter Tori Kroll (Germantown, Wis.) had 77 assists.

Most of those numbers came in the loss to Stephen F. Austin.  Three players had double digit kills against the Lady Jacks, while four had double digit digs.  Aschoff led in both categories, with 18 kills and 22 digs. Dimke had 12 kills and Lindsey Sathre (Maple Grove, Minn.) recorded 11 kills and had seven block assists.

On defense, Haug had 15 digs, while Bunkers added 13 and Kroll recorded 12 digs in the match.

Green Bay proved to be more of a challenge, as only Aschoff's 15 kills and Dimke's 10 kills provided offense for the Coyotes.  The Coyotes also helped out the Phoenix with 10 serving errors.

Bunkers led the defensive effort with 12 digs, and Haug added 11 more.

The Coyotes will be at the Central Arkansas Tournament on Friday and Saturday.  They will play four matches in that tournament.

Courtesy:  University of South Dakota