USD vs. SDSU women’s game – Memories

As some of you may know, I am not an ordinary senior. I have been in school for a few years.

Before I went to school at USD for journalism, I was a business major at Iowa State University.

I was a freshman in 2003 and I had a friend, Renae Luecke, who was a freshman on the USD women’s basketball team. That’s when I started to follow the Coyotes basically.

Luecke was a pretty good friend of mine and I started to listen to the games online and didn’t know any of the players at first. After about the first 10 games, I started to figure out this was a pretty good team with the likes of Mandy Koupal, Heather Nelson and Stacy Schooley to name a few.

But as usual, the NCC was a dogfight again, like it had been for many, many years.

The top team at the time was South Dakota State University, who were lead by the likes of Melissa Pater and Shannon Schlagel at the time.

The Jacks were No. 1 in the country and when the Coyotes met up with SDSU in Frost Arena for the two teams first meeting of the year, USD was ranked 12th and was 13-1 and 3-0 in the NCC.

I listened to the game on the radio and it didn’t sound good at first with the Coyotes trailing by 13 at halftime, but USD closed it to 40-38 before the Jacks went on another run, but the Coyotes closed it to 70-66 before USD went cold and SDSU earned an 86-79 win.

Koupal had 30 points in the game and USD stuck with SDSU for most of the game, and the NCC saw that these two teams would be reckoned with all year.

After that, if I had the weekends free at ISU, I would drive the four hours to Vermillion to watch the women and the men play at the Dome. It was awesome.

But one game I was unable to see was the next USD-SDSU game, which was Feb. 15th and a game that took place right after an ice storm and a blizzard, which hit Ames very hard.

I was relegated to listening to it on the radio and it was spectacular.

Neither team could gain a clear advantage and SDSU went into halftime with a 39-36 before Koupal took over the game in the second half.

Koupal scored 24 of her 28 points in the second half and the game went back and fourth until the Coyotes Koupal scored five straight points to give USD a 78-74 lead and went on to win 87-83.

Nelson also had 26 points.

It was a great game to listen to and I went nuts in my dorm room, which was weird to a lot of people since they didn’t even know what USD was. I mean, ISU women’s basketball does have a pretty rich history.

The two teams would meet up again in the NCAA Regional Tournament in Brookings and I was able to make that game. I attended the Coyotes previous game as well and Frost was ABSOLUTELY packed for this game. This game was a chance to make it to the Elite Eight.

Unfortunately, most of the game was dominated by SDSU. USD has some real trouble hitting its three’s and SDSU consistently doubled Koupal down low because of this and she had a difficult time because the Jacks were very solid defensively.

How solid were they? Well SDSU went on to win the D-II title after that, which USD had a realistic shot of winning if the Coyotes would’ve be the Jackrabbits.

The next year, the Jacks would win both games, the first one both teams were ranked in the top 10 and then the top 15 in the  next match-up. Those two were the last two games to be played between the two teams from that year.

Those last two years were the best of the rivalry, but this is coming from my short memory. The two teams were the playing at such a high level, along with NDSU and UND.

Those games in 2002-03 made me bleed Coyote red, and I am an Iowa boy but I consider myself just as much of a Coyote as a Cyclone.

It’s going to take a time to find that fever pitch that would fit almost 8,000 fans into a stadium and to see the quality of games these two teams played, but Monday will be the first step. I don’t think USD is up to that level that they were, and even with how good SDSU is, they could be compared to equally as good as those two years (last year’s Jacks were a lot better).

Of course, the games between Chad Lavin and Aaron Johnston were like a chess match, it was great. It will be different, but also fun, to see Ryun Williams take the helm for USD in this rivalry against Johnston.

The great thing though is that there are many games to go in this renewed rivalry and count me in for following them.

- Justin Rust

Hoffman signs to play in Holland

Former University of South Dakota women’s basketball player Jeana Hoffman has signed to play professionaly in Holland.

Hoffman will play for Ledierdorp, which the highest national league in Holland.

Hoffman has been a member of the Coyote women’s basketball team the last two years. This past season, Hoffman averaged 17.6 points and 3.7 rebounds as she helped lead the Coyotes to the NCAA Division II National Title Game.

We will have more on this story for the volanteonline.com later on in the day.

———-Justin Rust

USD sports adds three full-time positions

On Wednesday, the USD sports department announced the hiring of three positions throughout the department. The new employees are Chris Kassin (assistant men’s basketball coach), Ryan Larsen (assistant women’s basketball coach), and David Frazier (strength and conditioning coach).

Kassin has been with the men’s basketball team the past four years, but wasn’t on the staff as a full-time coach. Since the men and women’s basketball team were given permission to add another coach, Kassin seemed like a logical fit. Kassin earned his bachelor’s degree from USD in 2002 and his master’s degree from USD in 2005.

Larsen joins the USD women’s basketball team after spending the last five years on staff with the Augustana men’s basketball program. For three of his five seasons at Augie, Larson was the recruiting director for the men’s basketball team. Larson will be the second assistant coach on USD women’s basketball team. He should bring a lot of recruiting ties with him. Even though it was mostly with men’s basketball, he can still use those ties for the women’s program.

Frazier was a graduate assistant this past season. He works with all of the programs with their strength and conditioning. This was one position the university wanted to have a full-time position in their move to Division I.

Before coming to USD, Frazier was the assistan strenght and conditioning coach at Division I Detroit Mercy. He is a NSCA strenght and conditioning specialist. He earned his bachelor’s degree in health and human performance from Iowa State University in 2006. He earned his master’s degree in health, plysical education and recreation from USD in 2008. When he was at Iowa State, he was a part of the wrestling team for the Cyclones.

This is a great hire for the sports department. He has been working with the teams around as a graduate assistant and now will be on full-time, so this means the department and coaches must have liked the job he was doing. He has a great background. If anyone is familiar with Iowa State’s wrestling program, it is traditional one of the best programs in the nation year in and year out. He knows what it takes to train at the Division I level basically.

All three of the hires seem like good hires. The Kassin hire was no surprise since he has been at the university for four years now. From talking with Kassin, it is great to seem him with a full-time job at the university now.

I don’t know much about Larsen but it is an interesting hire. He is the second assistant coach so I think it is a good hire with the background he brings with him in recruiting.

Of course you know my thoughts on Frazier and I think he will be a big part in the Coyotes move to Division I.

——–Justin Rust

Radio update and Women’s bball news

Sorry this post is late, was a little busy yesterday. Anyways, the press conference yesterday announced that the Coyote broadcasts for football and men’s and women’s basketball can now be heard on BEE 102.7 out of Sioux Falls. They are a part of Cumulus Media Group/Results Radio.

The Coyotes will also have a new play-by-play announcer which is no surprise. Warren Swain will take over the duties and has 27 years of experience. He joins the Coyotes after being a broadcaster for the University of Ohio.

There will be more on the story on the website, so stay tuned to volanteonline.com for more.

In USD women’s basketball news, the team posted the highest Grade Point Average in Division-II this past season. How many other teams make the run the Coyotes did AND post such a great GPA. The answer is not many. Overall, the Coyotes ranked fifth in the nation in GPA with schools from Division-I, Division-II, Division-III, and the NAIA. The team posted a GPA of 3.649.

This is exactly the kind of direction you want the team to go into Division-I. With all the academic scandals that happen in college sports, this is great news for the university. Dave Lorenz, the athletics academic advisor, does a great job of making sure the athletes succeed in the classroom. Former coach Chad Lavin stressed how important that was as well.

Also, it shows how a team performs on the court. This was a smart team on the court and this only further proves that point. They made the right decisions most of the time based on their low turnover rates and ability to create turnovers.

This team should continue to earn academic accolations as the team moves forward into Division-I.

———-Justin Rust

Head volleyball candidates, other tidbits

Well, I got this info a few days ago, but it is still a bit confusing. The Coyotes have released the two candidates they brought on campus to interview this past week. The two people are Mary Schroeder-Miller, Briar Cliff head coach, and Matt Houk, who’s position is somewhat unknown right now. I will get into that in a bit.

Schroeder-Miller has spent the past 12 seasons at NAIA Briar Cliff. She has done a pretty good job with an overall record of 280-174. Last season, she coaching Briar Cliff to a 22-11 mark, which was top in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.

My MAJOR question for Schroeder-Miller is the severe difference between NAIA and Division-I. Yes, she has done a good job at Briar Cliff, but there is a big difference in playing the University of Sioux Falls to playing the likes of maybe Iowa State or South Dakota State or even the smaller Division I schools. Everything is completely different. It would be a HUGE jump. People were asking about Ryun Williams going from Division-II to Division-I. I know she is a local product and this is an interesting choice.

Matt Houk was an assistant coach for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee from 2002-03. Then he became an assistant for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay from 2004-06. Both schools are in Division-I. Last year, Houk was the club director and coach for the Wisconsin Volleyball Academy in Appleton, Wisconsin.

The most intriguing thing about Houk is that he is currently listed as the head coach at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin. From what I have found, he took the job on April 11th, no more then two months ago. St. Norbert is a Division-III school. I have tried to call his office but I have gotten no answer from him yet. Plus he hasn’t coached in college since 2006. That’s a long time to have off and have no head coaching experience in college to be going to Division-I.

Another thing is interim head coach for the Coyotes Kevin Marquis isn’t in the final list. I was very surprised by this because the whole team wanted him back. He runs the same system as former coach Brian Lamppa and the players think he might run the system better. Even though he has no head coaching experience, he has been with the Coyotes and doesn’t seem any worse than the other two candidates. I think the search committee made a mistake by not letting him have another interview.

I am guessing since both candidates interviewed, a decision could come up here soon, maybe in the upcoming week. Heck, the season starts in about two months and the schedule is close to being released, the team just needs a coach. I will keep trying to get in touch with Houk until it is shown he is not the coach.

In other news, former Coyote offensive lineman Tim Schneider agreed to a contract with the Sioux Falls Storm. The Storm are in the United Indoor Football League and have been the top team for the past three years basically and they have the league’s best record at 10-2. Schneider will join the team immediately and puts him in a good spot to be on the team next year.

Allison Kruger was named as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team. Now guess where Kruger was from. Yep, she was an assistant at Wayne State under Ryun Williams the past four seasons. Not really surprising after you think about it, and I have also heard former Coyote great Mandy Koupal will be added as an assistant coach as well. Talk about a staff right there. Plus both the men’s and women’s team have been given the go ahead to add a third assistant to both programs. Interesting to see who the men add and who the fourth assistant will be for the Coyotes.

Also, it will be interesting to see if any players transfer from Wayne State to USD with Kruger now moving onto USD. Guard Teresa Case for Wayne is from Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls. Granted that is just speculation from my part and I haven’t heard anything to confirm it, just mainly using it as an example.

On a couple of finals notes, two Coyote track members have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII Track and Field Squad.

Senior Steph Gebhart earned her first selection on the team after posting a 3.53 GPA in psychology. Gebhart has a school record 21 career All-American honors during her career at USD.

Senior Colte Haines earned the same award on the men’s side. Haines earned a 3.88 GPA in mathematics and computer science.

As I said before, with my internship I have limited internet so hopefully something can get worked out for more posts. I will try to keep you all informed as much as possible. Thanks.

————-Justin Rust

Meet Ryun Williams

Hopefully you watched the Wayne State-North Dakota women’s basketball game at the regional tournament in Vermillion last month.

If you did, you were watching USD’s next coach in action. And like many of us, you probably had no idea.

Thursday, Ryun Williams was named the new Coyote women’s basketball coach. He replaces Chad Lavin, who just a week ago was coaching USD in the Division II national championship game.

But that was then. Now, welcome to the Williams Era.

The 39-year-old Williams spent a decade as the head coach at Wayne State College (Neb.) where he compiled 181 wins.

Said Williams in the USD press release:

The University of South Dakota is the right place for us to be and we could not be more excited to come back to the place that gave us our start. I have the utmost respect for coach Lavin, who has been a great friend over the years and it is a privilege to take over his team and build on the momentum he established. I can’t wait to get to work and coach the heck out of this team.

Williams is a 1992 USD graduate and played two seasons for the Coyote men, under head coach Dave Boots. He later served as one of Boots’ assistants before leaving to begin his head coaching career.

Now, it’ll come full circle. Williams will guide the Coyotes into the Division I waters, which will provide him and the team with numerous challenges.

But, don’t be discouraged, Coyote fans. Williams will bring the energy, excitement, enthusiasm and coaching savvy needed for such a challenging stretch.

Ryun Williams. Get to know him.

— — Jeremy Hoeck

Northern Kentucky wins Division II title

USD struggled from field in the game’s biggest moments while NKU kept its composure and was able to pull out a  win in the championship game.

Angela Healy hit a two down low to give NKU a 56-53 lead and USD was unable to respond. After a free throw by sophomore Rachel Lantry, USD missed another shot and was forced to foul. NKU hit their free throws while to come out with the 63-58 win.

The crowd and the players looked stunned.

Northern Kentucky is celebrating in the middle of the court and is hearing the applause from their small section of fans.

It was a great season for the Coyotes and they should be very proud of what they accomplished this year, but it will probably take some time to get over this one.

It’s going to be a long drive back to Vermillion.

 – Matt Dahlseid

There goes the lead

With more late game heroics from Cassie Brannen, Northern Kentucky has taken a 54-52 lead with 1:18 to play.

Brannen has hit two layups and two free throws, while the Coyotes have only gotten two points from Jenna Hoffman. Brannen, who scored only three points in the first half, has scored twelve points this half.

The crowd looks nervous and someone is going to have to step up and score for the Coyotes if they’re going to pull this one out.

At least ESPN2 is getting a good game.

– Matt Dahlseid

This isn’t going to be easy

… but what else is new?

Jessie Slack, a transfer from Division I East Carolina, has been doing her best to keep the Norse in the game.

On two straight possessions, Slack hit a deep two from the right wing and followed it up with a three at the top of the key.

After a free throw from Amber Hegge, NKU’s Cassie Brannen hit a shot under the basket and drew a foul.

Norse are now down only two at 50-48 with 3:58 remaining.

– Matt Dahlseid

Coyotes holding strong

With 7:42 remaining, the Coyotes have withstood the NKU run and pushed their lead to 46-38.

Sophomore Jasmine Mosley has been the catalyst of the USD run with four points. She first hit a jumper from the left elbow. Then Jeana Hoffman hit a three from the top of the key. Mosley struck again moments later, hitting a shot under the basket after getting away with a travel.

It looks like USD has gotten its composure back thanks to Lavin’s calming effects during a TV timeout. Thanks ESPN2.

 – Matt Dahlseid