Coach Matt Houk

VERMILLION, S.D. -- The University of South Dakota volleyball team, coming off of a 3-0 week, will look to continue that momentum on Thursday, Oct. 29 when it plays host to Great West-leading Utah Valley in a crucial conference match. The contest will begin at 7 p.m. at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, S.D. Utah Valley, which is 6-1 in Great West play, beat USD in three sets earlier this season in Orem, Utah.

ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA:
The Coyotes are 11-12 and 5-3 in the Great West after going 3-0 last week...USD opened with a four-set win over Dordt on Oct. 20...Kim Bulaga led USD with 19 kills, while Kristen Kritenbrink had 12 kills...Gina Baldwin had 42 set assists and Mallory Mork 31 digs for USD...the Coyotes followed with a three-set sweep of Chicago on Oct. 23...Jenna Hatfield and Bailey Reshel had seven kills each for USD, while Baldwin had 28 set assists and Kritenbrink had 12 digs...the Coyotes ended the week with a five-set win over the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Oct. 25...Kritenbrink had 20 kills, while Tahnee Reed had 17...Baldwin had 49 set assists while Mork tied a career-high 31 digs...USD, with an enrollment of 9,291, is located in Vermillion, S.D., and competes in the Great West Conference...Matt Houk is in his second season as USD’s head coach...he has a record of 34-16 at USD.

ABOUT UTAH VALLEY:
Utah Valley is 16-7 on the year and 6-1 in the Great West Conference...the Wolverines share the lead with North Dakota...Utah Valley has won four straight matches, including wins over Great West foes Texas-Pan American and Houston Baptist...the Wolverines will face BYU on Oct. 27 prior to facing USD...Kayli Broadbent leads with 335 kills, while Camie Manwill has 256...Chelsea Fa’alogo has 851 set assists...Allyce Jones leads with 423 digs while Sarah Clement has 73 block assists......Utah Valley, with an enrollment of 24,000, is located in Orem, Utah and competes in the Great West Conference....Sam Atoa is in his 11th season at Utah Valley with a record of 242-112.

2009 USD STAT HIGHLIGHTS:
-Kristen Kritenbrink leads with 267 kills, while Bailey Reshel is second at 207.
-Gina Baldwin has 593 set assists to lead the Coyotes, while Jolene Slagter is at 161.
-Jillian Fields leads with 240 digs, with Mallory Mork at 206.
-Tahnee Reed leads with 64 block assists.

CHASING THE TOP 10:
A pair of USD players are chasing the top 10 on the career charts:
--Kristen Kritenbrink is at 857 kills now is ninth all-time...she is just 28 kills behind eighth-place Heather Hult (885).
--Gina Baldwin has 3,385 set assists and is now second all-time. She also is now 10th all-time in career digs with 897 and is 88 behind ninth-place Gabi Jarchow.
--Jenna Hatfield is at 190 total blocks and trails 10th-place Lindsey Soukup by 17.

CAREER HIGHS:
Several returning Coyote players have set career highs in matches this season:
--Jenna Hatfield set a career-high with 17 kills in USD’s match vs. Seattle on Sept. 24, and set a career high with 10 block assists in the win over NJIT (Oct. 25)...she also had a career-high five service aces against Valparaiso on Sept. 5.
--Jolene Slagter had a career-high 17 digs against Dordt (Oct. 20), and a career high 36 set assists against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Sept. 5).
--Kristen Kritenbrink had a career-high 18 digs against Seattle (Sept. 24).
--Tahnee Reed had a career high 17 kills in the win over NJIT (Oct. 25), set a career-high with five digs against Texas-Pan American (Oct. 10), and a career high with five service aces vs. NJIT. In addition, Reed also had a career-high seven block assists against Valparaiso (Sept. 5).
Several freshmen also have posted impressive career highs for USD:
--Mallory Mork has a career high of 31 digs, set against Dordt on Oct. 20 and tied again against NJIT on Oct. 25.
--Kim Bulaga had a career-high 19 kills in the win over Dordt (Oct. 20).
--Jill Fields set a career-high with 21 digs against Valparaiso on Sept. 5.
--Taylor Russell had a career-high five kills against Houston Baptist on Sept. 19.