MATCH NOTES
This week: Augustana's (14-14, 10-9 NSIC) regular season will conclude on Friday with a road match against No. 3 Wayne State (25-3, 16-3 NSIC) slated for 7 p.m. The original match time was scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday but has since been moved. The match will be the second meeting this season for the two teams.
Series records: Augustana has a long history with Wayne State dating back to 1977. The Vikings are 20-10-1 in the series against the Wildcats with the 10th loss for Augustana occurring earlier this season. The Vikings hosted then No. 2 WSC on Sept. 28, falling in three sets by scores of 25-23, 25-22, 25-12.
Last week: Augustana went undefeated last weekend, winning both of its matches on the road. Last Friday, the Vikings took down Upper Iowa 3-0 before traveling to Winona State and picking up a 3-1 victory over the Warriors.
Fierce freshman:?Holly Hafemeyer (Fairbault, Minn.) led the Vikings' offense last weekend. She put down a total of 25 balls (3.57 per set), posting 15 of those kills against Winona State. Hafemeyer did her damage while only committing four errors in the two matches to hit .344.
Can you dig it?: Grace Sanders (Lakeville, Minn.) was just shy of shattering her career-high record of 32 digs last Saturday when she recorded 30 digs against Winona State. Sanders also came close to setting a new personal record earlier this season when she tallied 31 digs against Northern State. She has 563 digs (5.74 per set)?in 2010.
Shining setter: In Augustana's seven sets last weekend,
Dani Haley (Owatonna, Minn.) had 90 assists, averaging 12.86 assists per set. Haley led all players with 50 assists against Winona State to go along with four kills, six digs, one service ace and three blocks. The junior added 40 more assists against Upper Iowa and another four kills. Haley hit .400 during the weekend and didn't commit a single error.
Killin' it: Jordan Spatenka (Owatonna, Minn.)?has racked up more kills than any other Viking this season. She has recorded 263 kills (2.80 per set). Spatenka notched a season-high 18 kills against Colorado Mines on Sept. 3. Last weekend, Spatenka finished the two matches with 13 kills.
Seniors: Augustana's two seniors,
Brianna Erickson (Gurnee, Ill.) and
Chantel Tengwall (Sioux Falls), have made significant contributions to the success of the Vikings this season. Erickson set a new career-high last weekend, hitting .591 against Upper Iowa with 13 kills and no errors. Other career-highs Erickson set this season were 15 kills, 41 attacks, three service aces and nine blocks. Tengwall has also been a tremendous leader for the Vikings, recording a career-high 18 kills and 47 attacks against Northern State earlier this season. ?
On the road:?Augustana's road record improved after its two wins last weekend. The Vikings are now 5-6 on the road with wins against U-Mary; Northern State; Minnesota, Crookston; Upper Iowa; and Winona State. ? ?
Conference standings:?Augustana checks in at No. 7 in the latest NSIC standings. Wayne State is No. 3 with a 16-3 conference record.
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 51-43. 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 797-536-14. 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.
