MATCH NOTES
This week: The Augustana volleyball team (8-5, 4-0 NSIC) will look to expand on its four-match winning streak with a three-match homestand this week. The first match in the series is scheduled for Tuesday against No. 2 Wayne State at 7 p.m. The Vikings will then square off against Bemidji State on Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 1 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Series records: Augustana and Wayne State have faced each other 30 times since 1977. The Vikings lead the series 20-9-1. However, the Wildcats had the upper hand in 2009, beating the Vikings 3-0 on Sept. 25 and 3-1 on Nov. 10. Augustana is 13-3 against Bemidji State, with one of the three losses occurring on Oct. 2 last season. Along with the loss, the Vikings also had a 3-1 victory against BSU in 2009. Augustana trails 7-17 in the series record against a dominant Minnesota Duluth. The last victory the Vikings had against UMD was in 2008 when Augustana topped the bulldogs 3-1.
Last week: Augustana continued its winning streak last weekend on the road topping U-Mary (3-0) and Northern State (3-1).
Settin' up for success: Dani Haley (Owatonna, Minn.) totaled an impressive 43 assists last weekend against Northern State to record a new season high. The previous evening Haley had 35 assists against U-Mary to give her 78 for the weekend. This brings her total number of assists to 351 for the season. Haley also recorded eight kills, three services aces, five digs and one block last weekend.
Amazing Grace: It's no wonder
Grace Sanders (Lakeville, Minn.) continues to be one of the leaders in the NSIC with 244 digs tallied so far this season. The libero averages 5.67 digs per set. Not only has Sanders seen success on defense, but she also leads the Vikings in service aces with 12. Sanders posted two aces in last weekend's victories.
Freshman file: The Vikings have seen great things from
Lindsey Petersen (Elkhart, Iowa) this season. Last weekend, she recorded the highest hitting percentage on the team (.308), tallying 13 kills in Augustana's two matches. Her .221 hitting percentage for the season ranks No. 1 on the team and she is tied for the lead spot in kills with Jordan Spatanka with 121. Peterson has also had 10 service aces, which puts her runner up to Sanders.
Viking victories: Augustana is now 4-0 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. This marks the best start the Vikings have had since joining the NSIC in 2008. The last time the Vikings won their first four matches to start conference action was in 2002 when Augustana was part of the North Central Conference and had a 5-0 record before falling to No. 15 North Dakota.
Ranked:?The Vikings will face two ranked opponents this week. Minnesota Duluth is ranked No. 1, while Wayne State is No. 2 in the latest AVCA National Poll released Monday. ?
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 45-34. 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 791-527-14. 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: On Oct. 8 and 9 the Vikings will be back on the road, first traveling to Marshall, Minn. to play No. 3 Southwest Minnesota State at 7 p.m. Then Augustana will be in Mankato, Minn. for a 3 p.m. match against No. 13 Minnesota State.
