SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana University volleyball team will be on the road this weekend for two matches that will begin to change the landscape of the NSIC standings. The Vikings will take on Upper Iowa and No. 7 Winona State with each team jostling for position in a crowed conference.
 
First Serve
• Augustana is ranked sixth in the AVCA Top-25. This is their third straight week being ranked in the AVCA Top-10
• Augustana and Winona State will battle for the second time this season. The two teams met in the final match of the Augustana Invite at the Sanford Pentagon. WSU won 3-0
• The Vikings 17-2 record is their best start to a season since 2000
• Anna Sykora set a career-high in assists with 55 against No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul. This was her third time setting a career-high this season
 
Series History vs Upper Iowa
• Augustana owns a 10-2 record in the all-time series against Upper Iowa
• The two teams first met back in 2008 in a match the Vikings took 3-0
• Augustana has never lost two matches in a row in this series
• The Vikings have won four straight matches in the series
• Augustana is 6-0 in matches played in Sioux Falls and 4-2 in matches played in Fayette, Iowa
 
Series History vs Winona State
• Augustana is 21-7 all-time against Winona State
•The series is tied 3-3 when the two teams play in Winona, Minn.
•The Vikings have lost two in a row and three of the last four in the series
• After losing the first ever meeting in 1979, Augustana won 18 straight matches. Their streak was ended in 2011 when the lost 3-1
• Since 2011 Augustana is 3-9 in the series
• The last three meetings have involved at least one of teams being ranked in the Top-25
 
 
Last Time They Played
• Augustana vs Upper Iowa: Nov. 14, 2015 in Fayette, Iowa; Augustana defeated UIU 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-13, 25-18)
• Augustana vs Winona State: Sept. 10, 2016 at the Sanford Pentagon; Winona State defeated Augustana 3-0 (20-25, 27-29, 18-25)
 
 
A Look at Upper Iowa
Upper Iowa enters the weekend with a 9-9 overall record and a 3-6 record in the NSIC. The Peacocks have had one of the toughest conference schedules this season. They opened the conference season with Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota State, Winona State and Minnesota Duluth. In those four matches the Peacocks won just one set against Winona State.
After their tough start they won back-to-back matches against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State. They have lost their last two matches to Southwest Minnesota State and University of Sioux Falls.
The Peacocks are led by Alisha VanderWoude who has a team-high 139 kills and a kills per set average of 2.21. She also leads the team in blocks with 36.
 
A Look at Winona State
Winona State enters the weekend with a 15-3 overall record and a 6-3 record in the NSIC. They are also 3-0 at home this year. The Warriors began the conference season with a win over Minnesota State before being swept by Concordia-St. Paul.
Their three loses this season have come against the top teams in the conference in CSP, Minnesota Duluth and Southwest Minnesota State. They took SMSU to five sets last weekend.
The Warriors are being led offensively this season by Taylor Goar who has 220 kills. Goar has a kills per set average of 3.86. Defensively they are led by Maria Wrage who has 53 blocks.
 
Augustana in the Rankings
• Augustana remained at No. 6 in the AVCA Top-25 Poll
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 poll a total of 209 times of the possible 391 polls. Only Central Missouri has been ranked in every AVCA Poll.
• Augustana passed Grand Valley State for ninth in total number of weeks ranked in the AVCA with 209. They trail North Dakota State by just seven weeks, who has been ranked the eighth most times.
• The Vikings 209 appearances in the AVCA Poll is the 9th most all-time. The only NSIC team to have more appearances is Minnesota Duluth, who have been ranked the third most times with 315
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-10 for three straight weeks
• Augustana's highest rank in school history was second back on Dec. 5, 2000
• The Vikings have had a lot of success in program history and it shows with the number of top-10 rankings the program has earned. Augustana has been ranked in the top-10, 72 times. That is the 22nd most top-10 rankings in Division II history
• The Vikings are sitting in second-place in the NSIC with an 8-1 conference record
 
Augustana Statistically
• Augustana has the second most kills in the country with 1,017. They trail only Newman University who has 1,045
• The Vikings have the seventh most team digs in the country with 1,291
• Augustana has the fifth most team assists in the country with 953
• Anna Sykora ranks 10th in the country in assists per set with an average of 11.55
• Sykora ranks fouth in Division II for total assists with 783 on the year
• Bailey Koch ranks 78th in the country for blocks per set with an average of 1.03
• Tahlyr Banks ranks 31st nationally in digs per set with an average of 5.37
• Banks ranks 10th nationally in totally digs with 384
• Augustana is one of just 19 schools in Division II to have two loses or less
 • Sykora ranks fourth in the NSIC in assists per set average at 11.74
• Koch ranks eighth in the NSIC in hitting percentage with a .372 percentage
• Koch also ranks first in total blocks with 44 in conference play and second in blocks per set average at 1.29
 
When Playing AVCA Top-25 Opponents
• In 2016 Augustana is 4-2 against team's ranked in the AVCA Top-25
• The Vikings are 3-1 against the AVCA Top-5 in 2016
• Over the last two season's the Vikings have complied a 7-11 record against teams ranked in the AVCA Top-25. During that time Augustana is 4-7 against the AVCA Top-5