The Basics
Score: No. 2 South Dakota 3, No. 1 Omaha 0
Records: South Dakota (20-9, 15-3 SL), Omaha (20-10, 16-2 SL)    
Location: The Sanford Coyote Sports Center– Vermillion, S.D.

VERMILLION, S.D. – Second-seeded South Dakota swept top-seeded Omaha to claim its second straight Summit League Volleyball Tournament title, doing so on its home court at the Sanford Coyotes Sports Center. The sweep was the first in the tournament's title match since 2014 when Denver took all three sets from IUPUI.

The Coyotes were led by Championship MVP Elizabeth Juhnke, who had 24 kills to pace a South Dakota offense that hit .372 in the three-match victory.

The Mavericks took command early in the opening set, leading by six on multiple occasions but the Coyotes were able to close it on an 8-2 run to take it 25-23. USD took advantage of three attack errors and a service error by Omaha down the stretch to complete the comeback.

South Dakota outlasted the Mavericks in a back-and-forth second set, emerging with a 30-28 victory that gave the reigning champs a 2-0 lead. Sami Slaughter, who hit .500 with 15 kills on 30 swings, put the Coyotes up 29-28, then Juhnke delivered the set-winning kill that was originally called out before being overturned after a replay review.

The tournament hosts then rolled to the victory, posting a 25-16 edge in the clinching third set after opening it with a 5-0 run. Juhnke secured USD's third title in four seasons with her 24th kill of the match. The Coyotes will now represent The Summit League in the NCAA Tournament.

Who Stood Out

• USD's Elizabeth Juhnke racked up 24 kills in the sweep, which is the second-most all-time in a three-set match in tournament history.
• Juhnke now has 20-plus kills in three straight matches and has reached that plateau six times during the season.
• The Coyotes' offense hit .372 for the match, which is the fifth-highest three-set hitting percentage in tournament history.
• The Coyotes' defense limited Omaha to a .195 hitting percentage and recorded 63 digs. Lolo Weideman led that effort with a match-high 23 digs.
• Omaha's Sadie Limback, The Summit League Player of the Year, led the Mavericks with 13 kills.

 Turning Point

• After staving off three set points by the Mavericks in the second set, USD clawed out a 30-28 victory after Elizabeth Juhnke's set-winning kill was originally called out, but overturned by replay.    

All-Tournament Team
Elizabeth Juhnke, South Dakota (MVP)
Sami Slaughter, South Dakota
Madison Jurgens, South Dakota
Sadie Limback, Omaha
Marriah Buss, Omaha
Sakira LaCour, Oral Roberts
Crystal Burk, South Dakota State
Melanie Brecka, Kansas City
Tina Boe, Denver

Notable

• South Dakota won its third tournament title in the last four seasons.
• South Dakota and Omaha split their regular season matchups with the road team winning those contests. The Coyotes won in five sets in Omaha on Oct. 14 and the Mavericks returned the favor with a 3-1 victory a month later on Nov. 14.
• This marks the third time in the last four tournaments that the No. 2 seed has won the title.    
• No. 1 seeds have won 21 of 30 Summit League Tournament titles, but have not won the title since Denver did so in 2017.

Up Next
South Dakota advanced to its third NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. The bracket for the championship will be announced Sunday, November 28 at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.