MATCH NOTES
This week: Augustana remains on the road this weekend for a pair of matches. The Vikings (9-9, 5-4 NSIC) begin the weekend with a 7 p.m. match against Minnesota State Moorhead (9-8, 5-4 NSIC) on Friday. On Saturday at 4 p.m., the Vikings will take on winless Minnesota Crookston (0-17, 0-9 NSIC).
Series records: In 1983 Augustana first played MSU Moorhead, winning the first five matches against the Dragons. The Vikings are 14-4 in the series and split 1-1 last season, first losing to the Dragons 3-2 before edging out a 3-2 victory in the next meeting. Augustana owns a 7-0 record against Minnesota, Crookston in a series dating back to 2003. In 2009, the Vikings topped the Golden Eagles twice by scores of 3-2 and 3-0.
Last week: Augustana played two ranked opponents last weekend, No. 3 Southwest Minnesota State and No. 16 Minnesota State. The Vikings finished the weekend 0-2 without picking up a set against either team.
Raising the bar: Brianna Erickson set a new career high last weekend against then-No. 3 Southwest Minnesota State. The Gurnee, Ill., native posted a flawless performance, smashing eight kills without committing any errors to hit .471 in the evening. Erickson's weekend totals include 14 kills (2.33 per set), seven digs and one block.
Top 10: The Vikings have four players among the top 10 in the latest NSIC statistical ranking. Libero
Grace Sanders has a 5.38 digs per game average in this season's conference matches to earn a spot at No. 3, while
Brooke Lewko sits at No. 5 in blocks for a 1.00 block per game average.
Dani Haley is at No. 7 in assists with a 9.88 per game average for the conference matches this season, and
Lindsey Petersen made the No. 10 spot in services aces with a per game average of 0.30.
Ranked: The Vikings take a break from ranked opponents this week, having faced four ranked teams in the last two weeks. The NSIC is a competitive volleyball conference as there are five teams ranked in the AVCA Coaches Poll. In the latest AVCA ranking, Minnesota Duluth and Southwest Minnesota State are No. 1 and 2, respectively, while Wayne State (Neb.) also cracked the top five, coming in at No. 4. Concordia-St. Paul is No. 6, and Minnesota State is No. 14. Augustana is 0-5 against ranked opponents. ? ?
Vikings on the road: Augustana posts a 2-4 record for away matches this season. The first on the road loses for the Vikings came early in the season against Colorado School of Mines Sept. 3 and Nebraska-Kearney Sept. 8. Augustana didn't drop another match on the road until last weekend when the Vikings fell to both Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota State.
Conference standing:?Augustana checks in at No. 6 in the NSIC. Also tied for No. 6 is Minnesota State and MSU Moorhead.
Who's back: Lone senior
Brianna Erickson (Gurnee, Ill.) will help lead the Vikings through the 2010 season. Erickson captained the team in 2009 and was second on the team in blocks per set with 0.95 in 2009. Along with Erickson, Augustana returns eight players.
Who's new: The Vikings welcome four new faces to this season's roster. Christine Beliski (Chaska, Minn.),
Kayla Wallerich (Marshall, Minn.) and
Holly Hafemeyer (Fairbault, Minn.) are all Minnesota natives, while Lindsey Peterson (Elkhart, Iowa) comes to Augustana from Iowa.
Moving up: In 2009 Kasey Loeslie came to Augustana to work alongside head coach
Ashley Buckley as a graduate assistant coach. This season Loeslie is back to serve her first year as a full-time assistant coach for the Vikings.
Looking back: Last season, the Vikings finished seventh in the NSIC with a conference record of 9-11. Augustana's overall record for the 2009 season was 14-18 and marked the first time since 1995 that Augustana didn't make the NCAA tournament. Sophomore standout
Jordan Spatenka led the Vikings in kills last season with 23, while
Grace Sanders recorded team high 32 digs.
Dani Haley was first on the team in assists, tallying 50.
Coaches' corner: Ashley Buckley enters her third season as head coach and owns a career record of 46-38. She has guided the Viking to one NCAA?Tournament appearance and has coached three All-NSIC performers. Kasey Loeslie is in her second year as an assistant coach. Coaching along with Buckley and Loeslie is first year graduate assistant coach Lisa Hoegh.
Players to watch: Sophomore outside hitter
Jordan Spatenka was named a Preseason Player to Watch in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. She had 154 kills and 33 blocks last season.
History lesson: Augustana is in its 38th year of competition in 2010. The Vikings own an all-time record of 792-531-14. The Vikings have made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, with the last one occurring in 2008.
What the coaches say: Augustana was picked to finish sixth in the conference by the 14 NSIC head coaches in their annual preseason poll. Augustana received 104 points in the poll. Concordia University, St. Paul's 11 first-place votes makes for the seventh consecutive season it has been selected as the top preseason team. Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, Wayne State and Southwest Minnesota State came in ahead of the Vikings.
Team (first-place votes) Points
1. Concordia, St. Paul (11) 166
2. Minnesota Duluth (2) 147
3. Minnesota State (1) 142
4. Wayne State 136
5. Southwest Minnesota State 134
6. Augustana 104
7. MSU Moorhead 95
8. Winona State 76
9. Upper Iowa 73
10. Northern State 62
11. St. Cloud State 54
12. Bemidji State 41
13. Minnesota, Crookston 25
14. U-Mary 19
Stay connected:?Stay connected with Augustana volleyball all season long at www.GoAugie.com. The Vikings are also on Facebook and Twitter; just log onto www.facebook.com/GoAugie and www..twitter.com/GoAugie. To catch even more Viking action log onto Augustana's official YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/GoAugie.
Action packed: Live statistics of each home match can be viewed by logging onto www.GoAugie.com/livestats.
Watch it: All NSIC volleyball matches will be webcast live and free of charge on New Media TV. Fans wanting to follow the action can go to the following link: www.pennatlantic.com.
Up next: After two consecutive weekends on the road, the Vikings will return home Oct. 22 and 23 to play U-Mary at 7 p.m. and Northern State at 4 p.m.
