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Nyssa Patnoe Zabel was a pioneer of sorts for the Augustana volleyball program. Thanks, in part, to her dominance at the net, Augustana reached new heights and climbed to volleyball prominence in the North Central Conference and NCAA Division II.
In 1992, she was named to the All-North Central Conference team for the third time, led the Vikings to a 30-13 record and their first appearance in the Division II tournament. Augie was unbeaten in the Elmen Center's Hall Sports Forum, and defeated NDSU to end a 22-game losing streak to the Bison dating back to 1976.
Nyssa was a two-time All North Central Region Team selection and was named to all tournament teams at the Augustana Invitational (twice), the UNC Premier Tournament, and the Missouri Invitational. She was also an NCC Player of the Week. She made Augie's career charts with kills (1,385), blocks (377), and hitting percentage (.270). When she graduated she was the career leader in all those categories.
Nyssa credits her coaches with her success. "Zaundra Bina was truly an inspirational and motivational coach. She took my skills and love for volleyball and trained me to be a real volleyball player. One big thing Zaundra helped instill in all of us was to play as a team. This may sound silly, as volleyball is a team sport, but it takes work. Zaundra helped build Augustana volleyball into a successful volleyball program. I loved each and every day of my athletic career at Augustana. Pam Johnson was a great assistant coach. She helped the team to remember to laugh and not take everything too seriously."
The 1992 season was memorable for Nyssa, She wrote, "A highlight of my career was helping our team reach its first playoff appearance in 1992. This was an exciting moment for me and Augustana volleyball. I have very fond memories of the road trips. We would all pile into 15 passenger vans. It always seemed to be a tight fit, but we managed."
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