If the Omaha Volleyball team wants to extend their stay in Denver, they’ll need to upend a team that has yet to lose in Summit League play, the South Dakota Coyotes.
In the semifinals of the 2019 Summit League Tournament presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare, the fourth-seeded Mavericks pair up with the top-seeded ‘Yotes. South Dakota comes into the match with a 27-1 record, with their only loss coming all the way back on Sep. 3 at the hands of Iowa State.
Omaha has already played South Dakota twice this season, and while they are in 0-2, they’ve been competitive in both contests. The squads first met back on Oct. 4 in Vermillion, S.D. with the ‘Yotes winning in five sets. South Dakota took the first two sets before Omaha rallied to take sets three and four. However, in the decisive fifth set, South Dakota edged out the Mavs 15-11.Isabella Sade led the way in the match for Omaha with 18 kills.
In their second meeting on Nov. 1 at Baxter Arena, South Dakota came away victorious again, this time in four sets. In front of a high-energy home crowd, the Mavericks battled strong in the first three sets, taking one of three. However, South Dakota caught fire in the fourth, taking the set and match 25-14. Sade once again led the team In kills with 16. Freshman Rachel Fairbanks led the way on defense with seven blocks.
It’s been a historic season for South Dakota, looking to win their second straight Summit League Tournament. They’re led by Summit League Coach of the Year Leanne Williamson in her fifth season, her second time taking home the honor. In addition, senior libero Anne Rasmussen garnered Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second time in as many years. The accolades didn’t stop there for South Dakota as Madison Jurgens was named Setter of the Year and Elizabeth Juhnke was named Freshman of the Year. Rasmussen, Jurgens, and Juhnke, as well as Sami Slaughter were named to the All-Summit first team.Madison Harms made the All-Summit honorable mention team, as well as the All-Freshman team with Juhnke.
The Coyotes are, simply put, a very balanced team. South Dakota attacks at a .275% clip, as opposed to Omaha’s .233%. Then, on defense, Rasmussen leads the Summit with 4.97 digs per set. Omaha will have to limit the unforced errors in order to pull off the upset.
Omaha last beat South Dakota last season in a four-set match in Vermillion. In that victory, Sadie Limback led the team with 14 kills, while Claire Mountjoy led the defesne with 21 digs. The Mavericks are trying to advance to their second ever Summit League Tournament Final. Their only other appearance came in 2015, when they were runners-up against Denver.
Winner of this match will play for that final tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. CST. Today’s semifinal begins at 4 p.m. CST and can be heard in its entirety on MavRadio.fm
