VERMILLION, S.D. – North Dakota dropped a 3-0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-19) decision at South Dakota inside the Sanford Coyote Sports Center on Saturday night. The Coyotes (27-3, 16-2 SL) finished with a hitting percentage of .290, while the Fighting Hawks (12-17, 9-9 SL) earned a .113 at the clip.

Marissa Stockman paced UND with nine kills on 17 swings for a hitting percentage of .294. She also led the team in blocks with four (one solo, three assisted).

Maddy Hornyak was next for the Fighting Hawks with nine terminating attacks on 23 attempts, finishing with a .261 at the clip. Hornyak just missed a double-double with a team-high 11 digs.

Sierra Ward recorded five kills to go with a dig and a blocking assist.

Peyton Sewell dished out a team leading 12 assists while adding eight digs and a service ace. Elizabeth Norris also quarterbacked the offense with 11 assists and seven digs to go with two kills.

Izzy McCormick was the second most productive Hawk defensively with nine digs, while also earning four assists and a service ace.

Statistically, South Dakota controlled the match winning the battle of kills (43-33), blocks (9-6), assists (39-29) and digs (56-44). The Coyotes also held a 3-2 edge in service aces.

USD led 16-6 early in the first set after going on a 7-0 run. Moments later, the Coyotes scored three consecutive points to go up 20-8 before winning set one by a tally of 25-12.

UND held a 9-3 advantage early in the second set, powered by a pair of 3-0 runs. South Dakota would go on a 5-1 run later in the set to knot the match up at 11-11. Two 3-0 runs from the Coyotes late in the set led to a 24-21 deficit for the Fighting Hawks and the Coyotes would put the set away at 25-22 after an Aimee Adams kill.

South Dakota led 8-4 at the beginning of set three and built its lead up to 20-13 after going on a 6-0 run midway through the set. The Coyotes would take set three and the match by a score of 25-19.

North Dakota drew the No. 6 seed in the Summit League Tournament and will play No. 3 seeded North Dakota State at 7 p.m. (CT) in Omaha on Thanksgiving night. The winner of that match will play the No. 2 seed Omaha at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Postgame Notes

• UND has now dropped six straight matches – the longest skid of the season.
•  Katy Riviere had five digs, good for a season high.
•  USD held a 3-2 edge in service aces.
•  South Dakota outhit North Dakota by a .290-.113 margin.
•  North Dakota is the No. 6 seed for the Summit League Tournament and are in the tournament for the first time since 2018.

How It Happened

• Set 1: USD 25, UND 12
• Set 2: USD 25, UND 22
• Set 3: USD 25, UND 19