Kritenbrink, Coyotes sweep Jacks

VERMILLION, S.D. – The South Dakota volleyball extended its winning streak over South Dakota State to five with a 25-14, 25-18, 25-15 sweep of the Jackrabbits on Friday night.

The win moved the Coyotes to 12-14 overall and 6-8 in the Summit League.  It also keeps the Coyotes alive in the conference tournament chase, but they trail SDSU (16-11, 8-6) and Oakland (15-11, 8-6) for the tournament’s final spots by two games with two games left.

The Coyotes were in control of the net the entire night and trailed only once (8-9, second set) in the match.  Kendall Kritenbrink had 16 kills to lead the Coyotes, while Sydney Dimke (Ham Lake, Minn.) had the second most kills with nine.  Natalie Walseth (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) recorded seven kills on nine attacks, but left the match in the second set because of a leg injury. 

Melissa Firtko (Racine, Wis.) added seven kills, a solo block and four block assists.  Tori Kroll (Germantown, Wis.) set up the offense with 41 assists.

SDSU, which was missing their leading offensive threat Kelli Fiegen due to injury, couldn’t find a way to put points on the board.  They trailed in kills 50-31 while only having five less attacks.  Kelly Hermann recorded a double-double for the Jackrabbits with 10 kills and 12 digs.

Riley Haug (Gretna, Neb.) recorded 17 digs to lead the Coyote defense, with Kim Bulaga (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Katie Bunkers (Columbus, Neb.) each tallying 10 digs. 

USD was aggressive early in all the sets, recording a 12-4 run to start the first set and an 11-3 run to start the third set.  The Coyotes didn’t break away in the second set until late.  The sides were tied six times in the set, but after leading 16-15 the Coyotes finished the set on a 9-2 run behind three kills by Kritenbrink.

The Coyotes will next host North Dakota State (11-15, 7-7) for Senior Day on Sunday at 2 p.m.