SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The NSIC tournament gets underway on Wednesday night with No. 4 Augustana playing host to No. 5 Winona State at 7 p.m. This will be the third meeting this season between the two programs, the first inside the Elmen Center.
 
First Serve
• Augustana is hosting their first NSIC Tournament match since 2013. They lost 3-0 to Northern State
• Augustana is the No. 4 seed in the Tournament, Winona State is the No. 5 seed
• They are playing in the NSIC Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time since playing in 2012 and 2013
• The Vikings were the seven seed last season and lost 3-2 at Southwest Minnesota State
• Augustana is 0-3 all-time in the NSIC Tournament. They were swept by
Concordia-St. Paul and?Northern State before earning their first set wins last season against SMSU
• Anna Sykora was named NSIC Setter of the Week after averaging 13.5 APS
 
Series History
vs Winona State
• Augustana is 21-8 all-time against Winona State
• The Vikings have lost the last three meetings
• In the last 10 meetings Augustana is 3-7
• When the match is played in Sioux Falls the Vikings are 8-2
• Winona won the first ever match-up back in 1979 but Augustana won the next 18 matches
• Before their 5-set loss on Oct. 15, the Vikings had lost six straight sets to the Warriors
• This will be the fifth straight matchup that Winona State is ranked
• When Winona State is ranked in the AVCA Top-25 Augustana is 1-3 against them
 
The Last Time They Played
• Augustana at Winona State: October 15, 2016 at Winona, Minn.; Winona State defeated Augustana 3-2 (17-25, 25-19, 25-19, 19-25, 11-15)
 
A look at Winona State
• Winona State enters the NSIC tournament with a 25-4 overall record. They went 16-4 in the NSIC
• They are on a 1-match losing streak after losing the last match of the season 3-0 to Minnesota Duluth
• Before their loss to the Bulldogs, Winona State had won 10 in a row
• Against AVCA Top-5 teams Winona State is 0-4
• Against teams in the AVCA Top-25 the Warriors are 4-4
• Winona State is 2-0 against Augustana this season
• The Warriors are 10-3 on the road this season, and 7-3 in NSIC road matches
• Winona State has outscored opponents 698-528 in the first set
• The Warriors are led by Taylor Goar who has 351 kills this season
• Three different Warriors have over 260 kills and six have over 100 kills
• Last season Winona State upset No. 4 Northern State 3-0 in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. The win kept NSU out of the NCAA tournament despite the Wolves being 25-4 overall and ranked in the top-5
• Winona State then beat No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State in St. Paul 3-2 to advance to the NSIC Championship
• In the NSIC Championship Winona State lost to No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul 3-1
 
Wednesday Promotions
• The first 100 students at Wednesday postseason match will get into the match for free
• Coach Meske will also be buying pizza for students that attend the game. The pizza will be available while supplies last
 
When Playing AVCA Top-25 Opponents
• In 2016 Augustana is 6-4 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 9-13 record against teams ranked in the AVCA Top-25. During that time Augustana is 5-8 against the AVCA?
Top-5
 
Augustana Statistically
• Augustana's win over MSU Moorhead was the program's 300th career conference victory
• Augustana ranks first in the NSIC in total kills (1,592), total assists (1,497) and total digs (1,942)
• They rank eighth nationally in total kills and rank sixth nationally in total assists
• Anna Sykora's career-high 57 assists against No. 1 Minnesota Duluth was the 20th most assists in a 4-set match this season
• Sykora had 52 assists in a 3-set win over MSU Moorhead. Her 52 assists are the most in the 3-set match in Division II this season
• Sykora ranks ninth nationally in assists per set average at 11.65
• Sykora ranks third in Division II in total assists with 1,258
• Bailey Koch ranks 39th nationally in blocks per set average at 1.10
• Koch also ranks 30th in Division II in total blocks with 120 on the year. She is No. 1 in the NSIC in total blocks
• Tahlyr Banks ranks 44th nationally in digs per set average at 5.29
• Banks also ranks 29th in Division II in total digs with 587
• Koch ranks 16th nationally in hitting percentage at .378
• Augustana's strength of schedule this season is ranked as the 120th toughest in the nation
• The Vikings opponent win/loss this season is 315-292 for a .519 winning percentage