SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana volleyball team will be at home this weekend for another huge weekend in the NSIC. The Vikings will host the Huskies of St. Cloud State Friday night at 7 p.m. and No. 1 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
First Serve
• Augustana suffered their fourth loss of the season with Tuesday's loss to No. 9 Wayne State. This is Augustana's first losing streak of the year
• Bailey Koch set a career-high in blocks against Upper Iowa with 8
• When the Vikings host Minnesota Duluth it will be their ninth match this season against a ranked opponent and their fifth against a team ranked in the top-5
• As a team Augustana is averaging 14.08 kills per set
• Sophia Terwilleger earned her first career ace at Upper Iowa
• The Vikings are 5-1 this season in matches played at the Elmen Center. Their lone loss was to No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul
 
Series History
vs St. Cloud State
• Augustana leads the all-time series 44-21
• At home Augustana is 22-1 against SCSU
• The Vikings are currently on an 8-match winning streak in the series
• The last loss to SCSU was Sept. 29, 2009, a match we lost 3-0. Before that loss Augustana had won the previous 19 meetings
• Augustana's last two wins against SCSU were 3-1
• This will be the first time since 2014 that the two teams have played in Sioux Falls
vs Minnesota-Duluth
• Minnesota Duluth leads the all-time series 9-32
• When the match is played in Sioux Falls the Vikings are 3-10
• UMD?has won the last four meetings
• Augustana's last win came on Oct. 12, 2013 when UMD?was ranked No. 3
• This is just the second time that the two schools have met that UMD?is ranked No. 1 in the country. Last time UMD?was ranked first was 2010. UMD?won 2-3
• This will be the first meeting in Sioux Falls since Sept. 26, 2014
 
Last Time They Played
• Augustana vs St. Cloud State: Oct. 17, 2015 in St. Cloud, Minn.; Augustana defeated SCSU 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-23)
• Augustana vs Minnesota Duluth: Oct. 16, 2015 in Duluth, Minn.; UMD defeated Augustana 1-3 (16-25, 12-25, 25-22, 11-25)
 
A Look at St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State enters the weekend with a record of 8-12 overall and 3-8 in the NSIC. The Huskies had a five-match NSIC losing streak early in the season but had to play Minnesota Duluth, Winona State and Concordia-St. Paul. St. Cloud State played No. 1 Minnesota Duluth on Tuesday. The Huskies were swept in the match and have now been swept in two consecutive matches. SCSU has five players with at least 100 kills this season. Macy Weller leads the team with 196. Eight Huskies have at least 14 blocks. Micah Nier leads the team in blocks with 46.
 
A Look at No. 1 Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs have had an incredible 2016 season, boasting the only perfect record in Division II at 20-0. On their way to a perfect record the Bulldogs have beaten five ranked teams, included an upset of No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul on the road.  In those matches against ranked teams UMD has swept two of them, Cal State San Bernadino and?Northern State.
Minnesota Duluth played St. Cloud State on Tuesday, a match which they won 3-0. The Bulldogs have swept five consecutive opponents and 15 on the season. The Bulldogs have two players with over 200 kills this season. Makenzie Morgen and Sarah Kelly each have 209. The Bulldogs have spread their blocks around with six players having at least 27 and two of those having over 64.
 
Weekend Promotions
• Friday night against St. Cloud State Augustana students can enter into a raffle for a chance to win a $20 Cherry Berry Self-Serve Yogurt Gift Card. Be sure to have your student-ID so you can enter.
• Be sure to wear pink Saturday afternoon against No. 1 Minnesota Duluth. If you wear pink to the match you will get a $5 ticket.
 
Augustana in the Rankings
• Augustana dropped to No. 8 in this week's AVCA Top-25
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 poll a total of 210 times of the possible 392 polls. Only Central Missouri has been ranked in every AVCA Poll.
• Augustana trails North Dakota State by just six weeks for the eighth spot for most weeks ranked in history
• The Vikings 210 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 316
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-10 for four 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, 73 times. That is the 22nd most top-10 rankings in Division II history
• In the NSIC Standings Augustana dropped to a tie for fourth with Winona State after Tuesday's loss to No. 9 Wayne State
• If the Conference tournament were to start today Augustana would be the fifth seed as Winona State has the tie break
• The Vikings have a one-match lead over Northern State who is in sixth and a two-match lead over Wayne State who is in seventh
 
Augustana Statistically
• Augustana leads the NSIC in team kills, team assists and team digs
• The Vikings ranks ninth in the nation in both team kills and assists while they rank 18th nationally in total digs
• Minnesota Duluth ranks 93rd in kills, 92nd in assists and 244th in digs. They also rank 216th nationally in team aces
• Augustana enters the weekend with a team hitting percentage of .246 while Minnesota Duluth enters with a .303 average
• Anna Sykora ranks 14th in Division II in assists per set average with an average of 11.32
• Sykora also ranks 7th in Division II in total assists with 860
• Bailey Koch ranks 43rd in Division II in blocks per set average at 1.10
• Koch also ranks 21st nationally in total blocks with 85
• Tahylr Banks ranks 39th in Division II in digs per set average with an average of 5.25
• Banks also ranks 18th nationally in total digs with 415
• Koch ranks 27th in Division II in hitting percentage at .359
• According to NCAA Statistics the Vikings have had the 92nd toughest schedule in Division II
• Augustana's opponent win/loss record to date is 181-156
 
When Playing AVCA Top-25 Opponents
• In 2016 Augustana is 4-4 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 compiled a 7-13 record against teams ranked in the AVCA Top-25. During that time Augustana is 4-8 against the AVCA?Top-5