SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana University volleyball team will be making their 15th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 1 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Vikings, who have an 8-14 all-time NCAA Tournament record, will take on the University of Nebraska-Kearney in the first round. The Vikings and Lopers will open the 2016 tournament, with the first serve scheduled for noon.
 
First Serve
• This is Augustana's 15th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament, their first since 2008
• The Vikings are 8-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Their last win came in 2006 against Nebraska-Omaha in St. Paul, Minn.
• Tahlyr Banks is seven digs away from breaking the single-season digs record of 617
• The Vikings are one of six NSIC teams in the NSIC Tournament
• Augustana is 4-1 this season against the AVCA Top-5, UNK is ranked No. 2
• Augustana's 26 wins are the program's most since winning 30 in 2000
• The Vikings have improved by 8-wins from 2015 to 2016
 
Series History
vs University of Nebraska-Kearney
• Augustana trails in the all-time series 6-7
• In neutral site matched the series is tied 3-3
• Augustana has lost the last five meetings
• The Vikings have not won a set against the Lopers since they met in 2008 in the NCAA Quarterfinals
• This is the second time the two programs have meet in St. Paul, Minn. UNK won the first meeting back in 2008
• This will be the third meeting in the NCAA Tournament. They met in 1994 and 2008. Augustana lost both matches in 5-sets
 
The Last Time They Played
• Augustana vs Nebraska-Kearney: August 21, 2012, in Hilo, Hawaii; UNK defeated Augustana 3-0 (21-25, 19-25, 24-26)
 
A Look at Nebraska-Kearney
• UNK is 35-1 this season. Their lone loss came against Washburn on Oct. 7, 3-1 in Topeka, Kan.
• The Lopers are making their 18th straight NCAA Tournament and are 27-20 all-time in the tournament
• Kearney has made the Elite Eight five times in history, their most recent in 2005. In 2005 the Lopers were national runner-ups
• UNK is on a 3-match losing streak in the NCAA Tournament. Just one of those losses came to an NSIC school. They fell in 5-sets to SMSU in 2014
• UNK and Augustana have three common opponents this season: U-Mary, St. Cloud State and Black Hills State. Neither team dropped a set to their common opponents
• The Lopers 35 wins this season is the 26th 30+win season in program history
• UNK swept the MIAA post season honors: Annie Wolfe won Player of the Year, Mackenzie Puckett won Freshman of the Year and Rick Squires won Coach of the Year
• The Lopers had three 1st Team All-MIAA selections: Wolfe (OH), Tara Ziegelbein (MB) and Lindsey Smith (S). They also had three 2nd Team All-MIAA selections Kaitlynn Thomas (OH), Puckett (MB) and Ellie McDonnell (L)
• The Lopers have two players with over 300 kills: Wolfe (354) and Kendall Schroer (302). Ziegelbein is just seven kills away from 300
• Ziegelbein is the only Loper with over 100 blocks, she has 108. Puckett has 99 blocks
• UNK is 30-6 in the first set of matches this season and 35-1 in the second set of matches
• They have only played in 8, 4-set matches and just 1, 5-set match this season
• UNK has outscored opponents 889-591 in the first set and 909-573 in the second set
 
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 a 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 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 eighth nationally in assists per set average at 11.71
• Sykora ranks 12th in Division II in total assists with 1,311
• Bailey Koch ranks 41st nationally in blocks per set average at 1.09
• Koch also ranks 36th in Division II in total blocks with 123 on the year. She is No. 1 in the NSIC in total blocks
• Tahlyr Banks ranks 41st nationally in digs per set average at 5.30
• Banks also ranks 33rd in Division II in total digs with 610
• Koch ranks 14th nationally in hitting percentage at .378
• Courtney Place leads the team in kills with 375
• Three Vikings have at least 200 kills: Place (375), Koch (291) and Brittany Cech (205). Hanna Justesen is one kill away from 200
• Banks is seven digs away from breaking the single-season digs record of 617. She will pass Cathy Bates who did it back in 1988 in 165 sets. Banks has only needed 115 sets so far
• Augustana is 23-8 in the first set of matches and 26-5 in the second set
 
Augustana in the Rankings
• Augustana stayed at No. 7 in this week's AVCA Top-25 for the fifth straight week
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 poll a total of 215 times of the possible 397 polls. Only Central Missouri has been ranked in every AVCA Poll.
• Augustana trails North Dakota State by just one week for the eighth spot for most weeks ranked in history
• The Vikings 215 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 321
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-10 for nine 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, 78 times. That is the 22nd most top-10 rankings in Division II history
• Augustana earned the No. 6 seed in the 2016 NCAA National Volleyball Tournament
• The last time Augustana and UNK met in the NCAA Tournament was in 2008. The Vikings were ranked 22nd and UNK was ranked No. 9