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DENVER, Colo. – Haley Dotseth connected for 14 kills and had 17 digs to lead No. 2 seed South Dakota to 3-1 (25-11, 21-25, 25-11, 25-23) win over No. 6 North Dakota State in a Summit League tournament semifinal played Saturday, Nov. 17, before 425 fans at Denver's Hamilton Gymnasium.
 
NDSU finished the season with a 9-20 record. Denver (27-1) defeated Purdue Fort Wayne 3-0 (27-25, 25-13, 25-20) in Saturday's first semifinal and reached the finals for the sixth straight season. Denver and USD play at 3 p.m. Central Time Sunday.
 
South Dakota (20-9), which swept the regular season series against the Bison, gained the points during the long rallies particularly in the first and third sets. The Coyotes took advantage of a 12-0 run in the first set and an 8-0 run in the third.
 
However, North Dakota State rebounded from a lopsided first set loss to hit .281 in the second to tie the match at 1-1, sparked by the alert play of Alexis Bachmeier and Allie Mauch. Bachmeier led NDSU with match-high 16 kills, one shy of her career best, while Mauch had five of her final eight kills in the second set.
 
The Bison again stormed back in the fourth set and had a strong net presence led by Emily Halverson and Bella Lien. The fourth set featured 11 ties and four lead changes. Halverson led NDSU with six blocks, Lien followed with four. The Bison had a 10-9 edge in team blocks.
 
North Dakota State took a 21-18 lead thanks to a Bachmeier kill and Kaylee Hanger ace, but the Coyotes tied the score at 22-all on a Dotseth kill and took the lead for good at 23-21 on Dotseth solo block.
 
USD outhit the Bison .248 to .103 as Taylor Wilson (.310) and Elizabeth Loschen (.385) each had 13 kills. Madison Jurgens handed out 44 assists, while Anne Rasmussen collected a match-high 21 kills to lead a group of four players with double-figure digs.
 
Kalli Hegerle finished with 29 assists and 10 digs for her 11th 'double-double' of the season. Abbi Klos led the Bison with 18 digs. McKenzie Burke matched her career-high with four service aces, and had nine digs, five kills and three blocks in her final NDSU match.