Match Notes
This week: Augustana (9-7, 5-2 NSIC) is on the road this weekend to meet up with a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents. The Vikings face No. 3 Southwest Minnesota State (14-2, 6-1 NSIC ) on Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 16 Minnesota State (11-4, 3-4 NSIC) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Series records: Friday's meeting between Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State marks the 46th meeting in a series that dates back to 1974. The Vikings are 26-18-1 in the series but have lost seven consecutive matches to SMSU since 2005. Augustana is 30-24 against Minnesota State. Nov. 24, 2009, was the last time the Vikings faced the Mavericks, and MSU won in five sets by scores of 19-25, 25-21, 16-25, 25-13, 6-15.
TV-on Midcontinent: Friday's match against Southwest Minnesota State will air live on Midco Sports Network (Midcontinent Communication, Channel 26). Tom Nieman and Al Bahe will provide the commentary. ?
Last week: Augustana went 1-2 last week, first falling to No. 2 Wayne State (3-0), snapping a four-match winning streak, before picking up a 3-1 win against Bemidji State. The Vikings then squared off against No. 1 Minnesota Duluth last Saturday and took the Bulldogs to five sets but couldn't pull out a win losing, 25-16, 23-25, 27-25, 25-27, 13-15.
Aces wild: Christine Bielski (Chaska, Minn.) put together an impressive performance from behind the service line last Friday against Bemidji State. The freshman aced a career-high five balls, the highest by any Viking this season. Kayla Wallerich (Marshall, Minn.) followed close behind with four aces in the match. With numbers like these it's no wonder Augustana is ranked No. 1 in the conference for aces per set.
Settin' records: A new season-high was set for Dani Haley (Owatonna, Minn.) on Saturday against Minnesota Duluth. She had 47 assists in the afternoon to bring her total for the three-matches last week to 116 (9.67/per set). Haley's career-high for assists sits at 50 and was set Sept. 12, 2009, against Southwest Minnesota State.
Double trouble: Watch out for Brianna Erickson (Gurnee, Ill.), who has now recorded three double-doubles for the Vikings after racking up 14 kills and 11 digs against Minnesota Duluth last weekend. Erickson's other double-double records were set Sept. 4 against Slippery Rock and Fort Lewis recording 11 kills with 13 digs and 12 kills with 13 digs, respectively. In Augustana's three matches last week Erickson had 29 kills (2.42/per set), 34 digs (2.83/per set) and 14 blocks (1.17/per set).
Ranked:?Both of the Vikings' opponents this week are ranked in the latest AVCA national poll. Southwest Minnesota State is ranked No. 3, while Minnesota State is No. 16. Augustana is 0-3 against ranked teams this season. ?
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 46-36. 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 792-529-14. 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 the Penn Atlantic Network. Fans wanting to follow the action can go to the following link: www.pennatlantic.com.
Up next: The Vikings will remain on the road Oct. 15 and 16 against Minnesota State Moorhead at 7 p.m. and Minnesota, Crookston at 4 p.m.
