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This week
After posting a 6-2 record during the non-conference season, Augustana will open its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference season Friday night against Upper Iowa (6-3 overall) in Fayette, Iowa, at 7 p.m. The Vikings will then travel to Winona State (5-3 overall) for a 4 p.m. match in Winona, Minn.
Last time out
The Vikings had a perfect 4-0 weekend at the MSU?Moorhead Dragon Classic, defeating Minnesota, Crookston, Minot State and St. Cloud State all 3-0 before topping MSU Moorhead 3-1 to close out the tournament.
Series records
Augustana holds a 4-0 lead in the series with Upper Iowa. All four meetings have been under head coach
Ashley Buckley, and the Vikings had a pair of 3-0 wins over the Peacocks in 2010. The Vikings are 18-1 all-time against Winona State. Augustana's only loss to the Warriors was in the two team's first meeting in 1979. Buckley is 4-0 against WSU.
Big time blockers
Holly Hafemeyer (Faribault, Minn.) and
Brooke Lewko (Lakeville, Minn.) are both among the top 10 in blocks for the NSIC (all matches) to help the Vikings earn a spot at No. 2 in the conference with 64.5 total blocks (2.48 per game). Hafemeyer has had 34.0 total blocks this season and Lewko has recorded 19.0.
Diggin' it
Augustana had three last weekend that were about even defensively.
Christine Bielski (Chaska, Minn.) led the team, recording 55 digs (4.23 per set) in the Vikings' four matches. She dug up a career-high 24 balls in the Vikings' match against MSU?Moorhead.
Lindsey Petersen (Elkhart, Iowa) and
Kayla Wallerich (Marshall, Minn.) weren't far behind, tallying 49 (3.77 per set) and 47 (3.62 per set) digs of their own, respectively.
Offensive breakout
Jordan Spatenka (Owatonna, Minn.) led Augustana's offense last weekend with 49 kills. The total included the 14 kills she smashed against St. Cloud State while committing no errors to hit a career high .519 in the match.
On the double
Lindsey Petersen (Elkhart, Iowa) and
Kayla Wallerich (Marshall, Minn.) each tallied the first double-doubles of the season last weekend. Petersen recorded one double-double against MSU Moorhead with 13 kills and 20 digs. Wallerich tallied three double-doubles. Her first of the weekend came while playing Minnesota, Crookston when she had 26 assists and 14 digs. The next two double-doubles came the following day when the Vikings played St. Cloud State and MSU Moorhead. Wallerich collected 31 assists and 10 digs against SCSU?and added a career high 47 assists and 16 digs against MSUM.
Streakin'
The Vikings are riding a four-match winning streak after their victories last weekend. If Augustana can pick up a win against Upper Iowa it will be the first time Augustana has had more than four wins in a row since the 2008 season when the Vikings won eight straight matches.
Vikings find talent for 2011
Head Coach
Ashley Buckley brings back a team in 2011 that includes three new additions. The Vikings welcome 6-foot right side hitter
Mikayla Gallagher (Ramsey, Minn.); 5-7 defensive specialist
Julia Witt (Hutchinson, Minn.), and 5-9 outside hitter
Courtney Ysker (Windom, Minn) to the roster. Gallagher played varsity as a sophomore, junior and senior and led her team to a 23-8 record in 2010, recording 262 kills, 123 digs, 54 aces, 41 blocks and 24 assists. Witt was a three-year letterwinner and led her team in digs during three consecutive seasons to pick up all-conference honorable-mention accolades as a junior. Ysker was a three-time Class A All-State first-team selection and a three-time All-Southwest Conference honoree while also helping guide her team to the state title as a sophomore.
Coaches' corner
The 2011 season marks
Ashley Buckley's fourth as Augustana's head volleyball coach. Buckley has compiled a career record of 57-46 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.
Viking airtime
Augustana volleyball contests will air three times on Midco Sports Network in 2011. MidcoSN can be found on Channel 26 or 623 for Midcontinent Communications cable subscribers.
Oct. 25 Concordia University, St. Paul at Augustana
Nov. 4 Upper Iowa at Augustana
Nov. 5 Winona State at Augustana
History lesson
Augustana is in its 39th year of competition in 2011 and own an all-time record of 802-539-14. 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.
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
Augustana plays at home for the first time in 2011, hosting U-Mary on Sept. 23 ( 7 p.m.) and Northern State on Sept. 24 (3 p.m.).
