SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The seventh-ranked Augustana volleyball team will be on the road this weekend. The Vikings will travel to Bemidji State on Friday and Minnesota-Crookston on Saturday. First serve against the Beavers is scheduled for 7 p.m. with the match against the Golden Eagles scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
First Serve
• Tahlyr Banks moved to 3rd all-time on the Augustana career digs list against No. 1 Minnesota Duluth with 26 digs. The night before against St. Cloud State she moved to 5th all-time with 14 digs
• Augustana earned their first win over the No. 1 team in the AVCA since 2002 when they swept West Texas A&M
• Anna Sykora set a career-high in assists with 57 against No. 1 Minnesota Duluth
• Augustana earned their 20th win of the season against UMD. It's their first season with 20 wins since 2013
• The Vikings improved to 4-1 on the year against teams in the AVCA Top-5
 
Series History
vs Bemidji State
• Augustana is 20-3 all-time against the Beavers
• The Vikings are 6-0 at home and 5-1 on the road
• Augustana has won the last 8 match-ups including a sweep last season
• Their last loss in the series was back in 2009. The Vikings lost 2-3 in Bemidji
vs Minnesota-Crookston
• Augustana is 14-1 all-time against the Golden Eagles
• The Vikings are 6-0 at home and 6-1 one the road against UMC
• Augustana has won the last three matches, two by sweeps
• Their last loss came in 2013. They lost 3-0
 
Last Time They Played
• Augustana vs Bemidji State: Oct. 10, 2015 in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Augustana defeated BSU 3-0 (25-7, 25-15, 25-23)
• Augustana vs Minnesota-Crookston: Oct. 9, 2015 in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Augustana defeated UMC 3-0 (25-17, 25-21,25-15)
 
A Look at Bemidji State
Bemidji State enters the weekend with a 7-16 overall record including a 3-11 record in the NSIC. The Beavers are 3-3 at home and 0-8 on the road. The Beavers lost all three matches last week with two being on the road.

Prior to their weekend skid, the Beavers had won two in a row with wins against Minot State and U-Mary. Against teams ranked in the AVCA Top-25 the Beavers are 0-5. They will also play No. 8 Wayne State on Saturday.

They are led by Jessica Yost who leads the team kills with 325. She also ranks fourth in the NSIC in total kills. On the year Yost has a 3.92 kills per set average to go along with her .261 hitting percentage. She has 18 assists and 11 aces. On defense Yost has a team-high 252 digs and is averaging 3.04 digs per set. She also has 47 total blocks. Yost is also a starter on the Beaver Softball team. She had a 2.80 ERA with 185 strikeouts last season.

A Look at Minnesota-Crookston
Minnesota Crookston enters the weekend with a 9-13 overall record including a 5-9 record in the NSIC. They are 4-2 this season at home and 1-8 on the road. Last weekend the Golden Eagles went 0-2 against USF and Southwest Minnesota State. Before that they had won three straight.

In 2016 the Golden Eagles have only won one set against a ranked opponent. Their lone set win against a ranked team was against Northern State back on Oct. 7. They lost that match 3-1.

UMC is led by Maggie Perrel who has 250 kills this season. She is the only Golden Eagle with at least 200 kills. Perrel also has 16 assists and 12 aces on the offensive side. She is third on the team in digs with 185. She has earned 13 total blocks.
 
Augustana in the Rankings
• Augustana dropped to No. 7 in this week's AVCA Top-25
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 poll a total of 211 times of the possible 393 polls. Only Central Missouri has been ranked in every AVCA Poll.
• Augustana trails North Dakota State by just five weeks for the eighth spot for most weeks ranked in history
• The Vikings 211 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 317
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-10 for five 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, 74 times. That is the 22nd most top-10 rankings in Division II history
• In the NSIC Standings Augustana is tied for fourth with Winona State. Both teams are 11-3 in the conference but WSU holds the tie break with the head-to-head conference win
• If the Conference tournament were to start today Augustana would be the fifth seed

Augustana Statistically
• Anna Sykora is ranked 11th in the country in assists per set this season with an average of 11.47. The NSIC currently has six in the top-11, including the top-5 averages.
• Sykora is tied for fourth in Division II for total assists with 888. Her 998 assists is the most in the NSIC this season
• Bailey Koch is ranked 32nd nationally in blocks per set with an average of 1.14 blocks per set
• Koch is also tied for 17th nationally in total blocks with 100. She has the most blocks of anybody in the NSIC
• Tahlyr Banks is ranked 38th nationally in digs per set average at 5.27
• Banks ranks 16th in Division II in total digs with 474. She leads the NSIC in total digs
• Koch is also ranked 22nd in Division II in hitting percentage. She has a hitting percentage of 0.364 on the year
• Courtney Place is ranked 66th in Division II in total kills. She has earned 291 kills this season
• Sykora's 57 assists against No. 1 Minnesota Duluth are the 19th most in a 4-set match this season. The most assists in a 4-set match are 65 by Nebraska-Kearney's Lindsey Smith
• The Vikings have the 21st best winning percentage in Division II. They have won .833 percent of their matches this season
• Augustana ranks eighth nationally as a team in assists per set at 13.34. They also rank fourth nationally as a team in total assists at 1,201
 
When Playing AVCA Top-25 Opponents
• In 2016 Augustana is 5-4 against team's ranked in the AVCA Top-25
• The Vikings are 4-1 against the AVCA Top-5 in 2016
• Over the last two season's the Vikings have compiled an 8-13 record against teams ranked in the AVCA Top-25. During that time Augustana is 5-8 against the AVCA Top-5