BROOKINGS – So close!

The Jackrabbits lost a Summit League match in straight sets to South Dakota on Tuesday night at Frost Arena, but the third-place Coyotes had to work to get the win.

USD won by set scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-20 to improve to 16-9 overall and 10-3 in conference play as South Dakota State dropped to 2-24 and 0-13.

In the first set, the Jackrabbits trailed 16-11, but SDSU used an 7-3 run fueled by kills from junior Payton Richardson, Jellema, Fay and Macy Smith along with a block assist for Macy Smith and Ashlynn Smith and a solo stop by Macy Smith to pull within 19-18. USD finished with a 6-4 run for the win.

After 12 ties, the last at 20-20, South Dakota finished the second set with three kills and took advantage of a pair of SDSU errors to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Jackrabbits trailed 15-12 in the final set before outscoring the Coyotes 5-4 to pull within 19-17 on a Jellema kill. SDSU was still within two points at 22-20 after a Jellema and Macy Smith block, but the Jacks committed three errors to end the match.

Hayley Dotseth led the Coyotes with 14 kills, 11 digs, two aces, two set assists and a block as Brittany Jessen tallied 34 set assists and nine kills. Anne Rasmussen collected 15 digs and Mehana Fonseca added 10 while Elizabeth Loschen finished with eight kills and three blocks.

Ashlynn Smith posted a double-double with a team-high 10 kills and 11 digs to go along with two blocks for the Jacks.

Macy Smith added nine kills and three blocks as Ellie Benson had a match-high 22 digs.

Notables: Macy Smith hit a team-best .444, marking the sixth time she has hit higher than .400 in a match… Benson logged her fourth 20-plus dig match of the season… Mattison Munger has 1,994 career assists. She ranks ninth on the SDSU career list and needs six set assists to become the ninth Jackrabbit with 2,000 career set assists.

Up Next: South Dakota State returns to the court Saturday for a 6 p.m. match at Fort Wayne.