Coyote Chatter

Great Weekend for Coyote Teams

Tom Berg USD Sports Information Coordinator

It was a great weekend to be a fan of The University of South Dakota athletic program.

All four Coyote teams in action – football, volleyball, women’s soccer and cross country – enjoyed successful weekends.

--The Coyote football team started it off with a 52-0 rout of William Penn on Sept. 3. On offense, Noah Shepard, the Great West Conference Offensive Player of the Week, threw for four touchdowns and looked sharp; Dan Skelly picked up where he left off a year ago with another big game at wide receiver; and all three running backs (Chris Ganious, Isaac Newton and Marcus Sims) looked good carrying the ball. And the USD defense, with several new starters, pitched a shutout and barely let the Penn offense get on track. It was a great way to start the year and a good chance to fine-tune prior to this week’s showdown at No. 4 Northern Iowa.

--The Coyote women’s soccer team had a great weekend, beating North Dakota twice in a pair of hard-fought one-goal games (3-2 in overtime and 2-1). Katie Quinones, the GWC Offensive Player of the Week, had all three goals in the Coyotes’ 3-2 overtime win in Grand Forks on Sept. 4. She also added a goal in the Sept. 6 win. The USD squad bounced back in a big way from a tough loss at Creighton with the two wins. USD’s next action is at home on Sept. 13 against Drake.

--The Coyote volleyball team went 3-1 and took second at the Drake Invitational with some very good play. The Coyotes nearly went 4-0 but lost a tough five-game match to Valparaiso. USD lost setter Gina Baldwin to an injury in Game 4 of that match, which is the equivalent of losing your quarterback in football or point guard in basketball. The Coyotes adjusted to finish off the invitational with a sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Kristen Kritenbrink and Tahnee Reed each made the All-Tournament team after outstanding weekends. USD plays at Kansas State on Sept. 8 and will compete at the Wisconsin-Milwaukee tournament this weekend. UW-Milwaukee happens to the alma mater of Coyote head coach Matt Houk.

--The Coyote cross country teams were solid in their season opener at home on Sept. 5. Ramsey Fitzsimmons (women’s) and Rob Gregoire (men’s) claimed individual titles at the meet, where no team scores were kept. Freshman Sigornie Pfefferle was third on the women’s side in her Coyote debut. Two freshmen for the men’s team, Ethan Marquardt and Andy Coy, finished fifth and eight, respectively to start off the year strong. USD’s next action is set for Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Woody Greeno Invitational at the University of Nebraska.

Logan’s NFL debut set for Sept. 10 against Titans
Former Coyote football standout Stefan Logan has secured a spot on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ regular season roster, and will make his official NFL regular-season debut at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 10 against the Tennessee Titans. The game is being televised nationally by NBC and will officially kick off the NFL’s regular season.

About Coyote Chatter
Coyote Chatter is the sports information blog put together by USD sports information coordinator Tom Berg. This will be updated periodically, and in the weeks ahead, will also include a feature called, “Where Are They Now?” If you have any submissions for updates on former athletes, coaches, etc., for this feature, please email tom.berg@usd.edu. We will also provide short tidbits on other former Coyotes.

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