SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The seventh ranked Augustana volleyball team will be on the road for the final time during the regular season this weekend. The Vikings will travel to North Dakota to play the University of Mary and Minot State. First serve against U-Mary is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday while the Vikings match on Saturday against Minot State is scheduled for 6 p.m.
 
First Serve
• The Vikings go into this weekend having never lost to either opponent. They have combined for a perfect 22-0 record against U-Mary and Minot State
• The Vikings have been ranked in top-5 for six straight weeks
• This will be the second meeting of the year against U-Mary and Minot State. Augustana swept both meetings earlier this year
• Anna Sykora moved into 10th on the career assists list with 1,806 at Augustana. She passed Jenna Lago who had 1,178 between 2004-07
• Courtney Place is the first Viking since 2014 to reach 300 kills in a season
• Tahlyr Banks is five digs away from entering the top-10 for digs in a season. She currently has 505
 
Series History
vs U-Mary
• Augustana leads the all-time series 14-0
• The Vikings are 5-0 when they play in Bismarck, N.D.
• Augustana has swept U-Mary in 13 straight matches
• U-Mary's lone set win was in the very first meeting back in 1990
vs Minot State
• Augustana leads the all-time series 8-0
• This is just the second time the two have played in Minot, N.D. Augustana won both meetings in Minot 3-0
• The programs first meeting came back in 1977
• Augustana has swept Minot State five times. The last came back in Sept.
 
Last Time They Played
• Augustana vs U-Mary: Sept. 30, 2016 in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Augustana defeated U-Mary 3-0 (25-19, 25-18, 25-19)
• Augustana vs Minot State: Oct. 1, 2016 in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Augustana defeated Minot State 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-22)
 
A look at U-Mary
• U-Mary enters the weekend with a 9-16 overall record and a 4-12 record in the NSIC
• They have lost four straight matches six of their last seven
• Since winning the first set against Minnesota State back on Oct. 21 the Marauders have lost 12 straight sets
• They were on the road last weekend against Winona State and Upper Iowa
• Last time against the Vikings U-Mary was led by Thayna Silva who had 11 kills
• Two of U-Mary's players reached double-digit digs, Alex Brown and Elise Baumann
A look at Minot State
• Minot State enters the weekend with a 5-20 overall record and a 0-16 record in the NSIC
• Last season Minot State was 0-20 in the NSIC and are currently on a 36 conference match losing streak
• Minot State was on the road last weekend against Upper Iowa and No. 6 Winona State
• This will be the third consecutive week that the Beavers have played a team in the AVCA Top-10
• They have played seven matches against teams ranked in the Top-5. It will be nine after Saturday
• Last time we played the Beavers were led by Emily Falldorf and Ianelle Nagy who each had nine kills
• On defense they were led by Cindy Pelo who had 16 digs
• Minot State is one of the youngest rosters in the NSIC with eight freshmen and two sophomores
• The?Beavers only have two upper classmen, both of whom are seniors
 
Augustana In the Rankings
• Augustana is ranked 6th in the first Central Region Rankings
• Augustana stayed at No. 7 in this week's AVCA Top-25
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 poll a total of 212 times of the possible 394 polls. Only Central Missouri has been ranked in every AVCA Poll.
• Augustana trails North Dakota State by just four weeks for the eighth spot for most weeks ranked in history
• The Vikings 212 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 318
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-10 for six 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, 75 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 13-3 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
• Augustana ranks first in the NSIC in total kills (1,372), total assists (1,294) and total digs (1,705)
• They rank sixth nationally in total kills and rank fourth 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 ranks 12th nationally in assists per set average at 11.46
• Sykora ranks fifth in Division II in total assists with 1,077
• Bailey Koch ranks 37th nationally in blocks per set average at 1.13
• Koch also ranks 21st in Division II in total blocks with 107 on the year. She is No. 1 in the NSIC in total blocks
• Tahlyr Banks ranks 46th nationally in digs per set average at 5.20
• Banks also ranks 26th in Division II in total digs with 504
• Koch ranks 18th nationally in hitting percentage at .373
• Augustana's strength of schedule this season is ranked as the 106th toughest in the nation
• The Vikings opponent win/loss this season is 272-243 for a .528 winning percentage
• Winona State's strength of schedule is 109th
 
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