MATCH NOTES
This week: Augustana will look to pick up its first win against a ranked opponent this season on Tuesday when the Vikings travel to St. Paul, Minn., to take on No. 1 Concordia University, St. Paul at 7 p.m. On Friday, Augustana returns home to host St. Cloud State at 7 p.m. and CU on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. This will be the Vikings' first meeting this season against both teams.
Series records: Augustana is 1-10 in the series with CU. When the Vikings faced the then No. 1 Golden Bears last season, Augustana dropped both matches in straight sets. In 1982, Augustana first took on St. Cloud State and is now 38-21 in the series. On Sept. 29, 2009, SCSU came to Sioux Falls and was defeated 3-0. A month later, the Huskies hosted the Vikings and sought revenge with a 3-0 sweep.
Last week: Augustana had plenty of court time last week, going five sets in two of its three matches played. After dropping the first set to No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State, the Vikings battled back to win sets two and three before facing defeat in the final two sets. Augustana then recorded its fourth sweep of the season against an NSIC opponent in a 3-0 victory over U-Mary. A feisty Northern State came to Augustana last Saturday, pushing the Vikings into a fifth set and taking home a win.
NSIC Player of the Week: Grace Sanders (Lakeville, Minn.) dug up a team high 76 balls (5.85 per set) for Augustana last week to help the Vikings blank U-Mary and surge into two five set contests against No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State and Northern State. Sanders had her best match against Northern State, recording 31 digs in the afternoon. Her 5.85 digs per set was tops in the NSIC last week.
Raising the bar: Chantel Tengwall (Sioux Falls, S.D.) led the Vikings with a career-high 18 kills in Augustana's match against Northern State. The outside hitter posted 24 kills in the Vikings' three matches last week to hit .246.
Hooray for Haley: Another Viking recorded a new career-high in Augustana's match against Northern State.
Dani Haley (Owatonna, Minn.) handed out 65 assists in the five-set contest to round out the weekend racking up 150 total assists (11.54 per set). The setter also hit in double-figures last week, posting 13 kills. Haley contributed three service aces, 24 digs and two block assists during the three-match series.
Ranked: With five NSIC opponents in the AVCA Coaches Poll, the Vikings are used to facing ranked opponents. Augustana will face No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul twice this week. The Vikings are 0-6 against ranked opponents in 2010. ? ?
Conference standings: Augustana checks in at No. 7 in the latest NSIC standings. St. Cloud State is also tied for No. 7, while Concordia in No. 1.
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 48-41. 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 794-534-14. 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 this weekend's matches, the Vikings will be on the road for the final three matches left in regular season play. On Nov. 5, Augustana will play a 7 p.m. match against Upper Iowa followed by a 4:30 p.m. contest against Winona State on Nov. 6. Wayne State rounds off the schedule on Nov. 13 with a 4 p.m. match.
