KANSAS CITY, MO (KELO) — The USD volleyball team claimed a 3-2 win over SDSU Tuesday to win the 2024 Summit League Tournament Championship.
The Coyotes have now won four of the last five tournament championships and five overall in the Summit League.
SDSU falls runner-up for the first time in Summit League Volleyball Tournament history.
The set scores were 20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 16-25, 15-10.
USD will now advance to the NCAA Tournament. They’ll learn their opponent on Sunday, Dec. 1 in the Selection Show at 5 p.m. The first round of games are Dec. 5-7.
THE MATCH
The first set was a tight contest until SDSU scored three straight points late, creating a 22-18 lead. They’d score three of the next five points to claim a 25-20 set one win.
Set two saw little separation through the first 14 points. It was tied 7-7. USD scored the next four points and held that lead through the remainder of the set. The Coyotes won the set 25-18.
The third set was near even as the Coyotes held an 11-10 lead. That was followed by a 6-0 USD run to build a 17-10 score. SDSU got back within two, but USD scored the final four points to win the set 25-19. The Yotes built a 2-1 match lead, needing one set to win the Summit League title.
Top-seed SDSU needed to win two sets to keep their season alive and they started that with a very fast start in set four. The Jacks built an 8-2 lead and grew that into a 14-4 lead. SDSU won the set 25-16 to force a fifth and final set, with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
The fifth set was tied at three and then USD reeled off four straight points. That four point lead seemed to be the lead through the rest of the match, until the Coyotes added a couple late to pull away and win the set 15-10.
THE NUMBERS
USD tallied 73 kills to SDSU’s 61, while the Coyotes earned a 23.9% hitting percent.
Kylen Sealock led the way with a match high 23 kills. She was named the Summit League Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Cheyenne Hlady added 18 kills, while Lauren Meddeck had 13 and Amanda Loschen 10.
Two Jackrabbits finished with double figure kills. Sylvie Zgonc had 19 kills. Alyssa Groves added ten.
UP NEXT
USD has earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Selection Show is set for Sunday at 5 p.m. and they’ll learn who their opponent will be.
SDSU will hope their 27-2 season was enough to earn an at-large bid into the tournament. They’ll await the results of Sunday’s selection show as well.
