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This week
Augustana (10-7, 4-5 NSIC) stays at home this weekend hosting Minnesota State Moorhead (7-9, 5-4 NSIC) and Minnesota, Crookston (8-10, 3-6 NSIC). The Vikings welcome MSUM to the Elmen Center Friday at 7 p.m. and UMC Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Where to catch the Vikings this weekend
Fans can follow Augustana live this weekend by watching live stats at www.GoAugie.com or by viewing a video stream at www.GoAugie.com/webcast.
Last time out
Augustana dropped matches to a pair of top-25 ranked conference opponents last weekend. Then No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State swept Augustana 3-0 (25-15, 26-24, 25-19), recording 50 kills while allowing the Vikings just 35. Against then 19th-ranked Minnesota State, the Vikings won back-to-back sets after dropping the opening set, but it was not enough as MSU topped Augustana 3-2 (25-21, 25-27, 27-29, 25-16, 15-11).
Series records
MSU Moorhead and Augustana have met 20 times beginning in 1983, and the Vikings hold a 15-5 record over the Dragons. Augustana faced MSUM earlier this season in its final match at the MSU Moorhead Dragon Classic. Augustana had a 3-1 (25-21, 25-13, 21-25, 25-22) victory to finish the tournament undefeated. In 2010, the Vikings were swept by the Dragons on the road. Minnesota, Crookston and Augustana first squared off in 2003, and the Vikings lead the series 9-0. Augustana also took to the court against UMC at the MSU Moorhead Dragon Classic last month for a 3-0 (5-20, 25-11, 25-17) Viking victory.
Ashley Buckley is 4-2 in the series against MSUM and 6-0 against UMC.
Sophomore leadership
Holly Hafemeyer (Faribault, Minn.) leads the Vikings in three categories: kills, blocks and hitting percentage. Hafemeyer has recorded 184 kills (3.17 per set) and 69 blocks (1.19 per set) in 2011. The standout sophomore is hitting .313 and has made all 17 starts on the season.
Kayla Wallerich (Marshall, Minn.), another sophomore on Augustana's roster, also leads the team in three categories: digs, service aces and assists. She has had 205 digs (3.47 per set), 22 service aces (0.37 per set) and 315 assists (5.34 per set) while appearing in all 17 matches.
On the double
Kayla Wallerich (Marshall, Minn.) tallied 30 assists and 14 digs against Southwest Minnesota State and added a career-high 53 assists and 13 digs against Minnesota State to bring her season double-double total to five.
Fabulous five
Augustana had a combined defensive effort against Minnesota State as five Vikings recorded double-digit digs.
Lindsey Petersen (Elkhart, Iowa) led the team with 19 digs, but
Christine Bielski (Chaska, Minn.) (14),
Kayla Wallerich (Marshall, Minn.) (13),
Julia Witt (Hutchinson, Minn.) (12) and
Courtney Ysker (Windom, Minn.) (12) were all close behind.
Staying out of the slumps
When Augustana hit just .128 against Southwest Minnesota State last Friday, it was the lowest the Vikings have hit since Sept. 16 when Upper Iowa held the Vikings to a .127 hitting percent. These two hitting performances are the lowest of the season for Augustana. The Vikings managed a stronger performance the following afternoon against Minnesota State, hitting .199. The 60 kills and 58 assists Augustana racked up in its match against MSU ranks second to the 71 kills and 67 assists the Vikings tallied against Wayne State on Sept. 27.
September successes
Despite a rough start to begin October, the Vikings had many successes in September. Augustana held a 10-4 record last month and were 4-2 during conference action. The Vikings rode two four-match winning streaks and upset then No. 10 Wayne State. This weekend, Augustana will look to snap its three-match losing streak to get back to its winning ways.
Holding their own
The Vikings currently rank third in the NSIC in service aces with 1.24 per set and are fifth in the conference (conference matches only) in hitting percentage. Augustana is hitting .194 (417-169-1281) in NSIC matches.
History lesson
Augustana is in its 39th year of competition in 2011 and own an all-time record of 806-544-14. The Vikings have made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances with the last one occurring in 2008.
In twenty ten
Augustana finished seventh in the NSIC last season with a conference record of 10-10. The Vikings were 14-15 overall.
Dani Haley,
Grace Sanders and
Jordan Spatenka led the team in assists (970), digs (589) and kills (266), respectively, for the second consecutive season.
Coaches' corner
The 2011 season marks
Ashley Buckley's fourth as Augustana's head volleyball coach. Buckley has compiled a career record of 61-51 with the Vikings and is assisted by Kasey Nikkel, who is in her second season as a full-time assistant with the Augustana volleyball program. Also assisting Buckley is second-year graduate assistant coach Lisa Lunning and first-year volunteer coach Mitch Lunning.
What the coaches say
Augustana was picked sixth by the league coaches in the 2011 NSIC Preseason Poll released by the conference office. The Vikings received 106 points in the poll.
Rk Team (first-place votes) Points
1 Concordia, St. Paul (13) 169
2 Southwest Minnesota State (1) 146
3 Minnesota Duluth 143
4 Wayne State 142
5 Minnesota State 120
6 Augustana 106
7 Minnesota State Moorhead 93
8 St. Cloud State 81
Winona State 81
10 Northern State 55
Upper Iowa 55
12 Bemidji State 41
13 U-Mary 21
Minnesota, Crookston 21
Stay connected
It's easy to know the latest on Viking athletics. You can follow Augustana on its various social media outlets, including Twitter (twitter.com/GoAugie), Facebook (facebook.com/GoAugie) and YouTube (youtube.com/GoAugie). To learn more, visit GoAugie.com/stayconnected. For Augustana home broadcasts,
visit www.GoAugie.com/webcast.
Video webcasts
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and New Media Television have again teamed up to webcast each conference volleyball game in 2011. A complete broadcast schedule is available at www.northernsun.org.
Up next
The Vikings play three matches next week. First up for Augustana is Southwest Minnesota State on Tuesday. The Vikings will then travel Bismarck, N.D., on Friday to face U-Mary followed by Northern State on Saturday in Aberdeen, S.D. All three matches will begin at 7 p.m.
