VERMILLION, S.D. – The impressive undefeated start to the 2025 campaign came to an end on Thursday night for Villanova volleyball, falling in four sets (19-25, 19-25, 25-22, 23-25) at South Dakota to kick off a three-day stay in the Mount Rushmore State.

A trio of players finished in double digits for Villanova (8-1), including a season-best 13 kills by Taylor Lewis in addition to 12 terminations each from Campbell McKinnon and Abby Harrell while the 'Cats tallied a season-high with 71 digs.

Alyssa Nelson contributed her sixth straight double-double on team bests in assists (26) and digs (18) while Marly Smith added a season-high two kills and Mina Diggs saw her first career playing time in the libero jersey with three digs and an ace.

"I'm really happy with how we fought tonight," head coach Josh Steinbach said. "South Dakota is a really good team and played a fantastic match. We had some things exposed tonight that I think we needed to see and that will make us better."

Despite the loss, it's still the second best start in Wildcat volleyball history and the greatest opening to a campaign in 20 years (10-0 in 2005). 

The host Coyotes got out to a hot start in the first, opening up leads of 7-2 and 11-3 to grab control. The Wildcats strung together some points of their own to draw closer, but USD got the necessary scores to win the opener 25-19.

South Dakota jumped out to another early edge in the second and expanded the lead to 10 before the 'Cats got their footing and battled back, though ultimately falling 25-19 to go down two sets to none. 

It was Villanova who began the third on the right foot with a 5-0 stretch to kick it off and later advancing it to a lead of seven. The home side wasn't done yet as USD brought it back within one, but VU strung enough points together to win 25-22 and pull a set back.

The fourth frame was the only one of the day that featured more than two ties as the squads were deadlocked 13 different times throughout the period, for the last time at 23-all. South Dakota managed to snatch the final two points of the match, winning the outing in four sets.