SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana University volleyball team will hit the road this weekend as they open their 2016 season in the Lewis University Flyer Festival in Romeoville, Ill., Sept. 2-3.

The Vikings first match of the season will be against Wisconsin-Parkside at 10:30 a.m. followed by a battle versus No. 3 Palm Beach Atlantic at 5:30 p.m. Palm Beach Atlantic was last season's national runner-up, losing to Wheeling Jesuit 3-0 in the championship match. On Saturday Augustana will close out the Flyer Festival with matches against Michigan Tech and Central Washington on Sept. 3.
First Serve
• Augustana will compete in the Lewis University Festival for the first time in program history when they travel to Romeoville, Ill. Sept. 2-3
• Last season Augustana opened the year in Topeka, Kan. at the Washburn Invitational where they went 3-1. There lone loss in last year's opening season tournament came at the hands of tournament host, Washburn. In the Vikings loss to Washburn junior Tahlyr Banks set a school record with 50 digs in the five-set match. Banks' 50 digs was the most in D2 in
2015 and ranks 17th all-time in Division II history. Click here for D2 Record Book.
• Over the past three seasons the Vikings own a 10-2 record in season opening tournaments.
The past two season's Augustana has gone 3-1. Augustana's last losing record at an early season tournament was back in 2010 when Augustana went 1-3 at the Oredigger Classic in Golden, Colo.
 
Augustana in the Rankings
• Augustana enters the 2016 season unranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-25 Preseason Poll. The last time Augustana opened the season ranked in the preseason top-25 was in 2009 when they opened the year ranked 22nd.
• The Vikings have been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 poll a total of 203 times of the possible 385 polls. Only Central Missouri has been ranked in every AVCA Poll.
• Augustana currently trails Grand Valley State in total number of weeks ranked by just five and North Dakota State by 13 weeks.
• The Vikings 203 appearances in the AVCA Poll is the 10th most all-time. The only NSIC team to have more appearances is Minnesota Duluth who have been ranked the third most times with 309.
• 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 shows with the number of top-10 rankings the program has earned. Augustana has been ranked in the top-10 69 times. That is the 24th most top-10 rankings in Division II history. They are just one top-10 ranking away from tying UC San Diego and North Alabama
• For more AVCA Top-25 Poll Information click here.
• In 2015 the Vikings were ranked for a total of 10 weeks. Their 2015 AVCA debut came after a 7-1 start to the season and a 4-0 record at the Augustana Showcase. The Vikings debuted at No. 25 on Sept. 24, 2015
• In the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll the Vikings were picked to finish sixth with 169 points. This marks the second straight season the Vikings were picked sixth in the NSIC Preseason Poll
 
Augustana Statistically
• Last season Tahlyr Banks was one of the best defensive specialist in all of Division II. Banks finished the year with the 44th best mark in D2 in digs per set average with an average of 5.27 digs per set
• With a group of excellent setters last season the Vikings used a 4-2 system led by Anna Sykora and Alex Banks. The Vikings ended the 2015 campaign with the 17th best assists per set average at 13.16 assists per set. The team had 1,421 total
• Augustana was 25th last season in team hitting percentage at .237. The Vikings had 1,491 kills on 4,053 attempts
• The team used their good hitting percentage to also boast the 26th best kills per set average at 13.81 kills per set
• In the Northern Sun Conference the Vikings finished sixth in hitting percentage (.237), fifth in team assists (13.41) sixth in kills per set (14.07), block per set (1.97), fifth in service aces per set (1.34) and second in digs per set average (16.91)
• Junior Ashley Wilson was one of the best at servicing in the NSIC a season ago as she finished fifth in services aces average (0.30). She had a total of 24 aces last year
• Banks was one of the best in the conference a year ago finishing second in digs per set and third in total digs with 569
 
Fresh Faces
Second Year head coach Dan Meske welcomes seven new student-athletes to the Vikings roster in 2016. Meske hit the recruiting trail hard in his first season as a head coach in 2015 and picked up letters of intent from five freshman: Sophia Terwilleger, Kassidy Lommori, Mearah Miedema, Jessica Simon and Payton Rosendahl. He rounded out his first-ever class with two Division I transfers in Hanna Justesen from George Washington and Courtney Place from the University of North Dakota
 
What Returns in 2016
Augustana returns a group of talented individuals poised to take the next step in Meske's system. Returning to the court for the Vikings will be Anna Sykora, Kelsey Kaufmann, Brittany Cech, Kaylea Ahrens, Tahlyr Banks, Alex Banker, Ashley Wilson, Dani Magdzas, Lauren Waite and Bailey Koch who sat out the 2015 season as a redshirt. Banks and Wilson each earned All-NSIC Second Team honors in 2015
 
Unfamiliar Foes
During the Lewis Volleyball Festival the Vikings will be taking on four teams that they are fairly unfamiliar with. The Vikings are a combined 6-6 against their first four opponents. Augustana has played both Wisconsin-Parkside and Michigan Tech five times and Palm Beach Atlantic and Central Washington once. Augustana owns a series winning record against Palm Beach Atlantic (1-0) and Michigan Tech (3-2) while holding losing series records against Wisconsin-Parkside (2-3) and Central Washington (0-1).
 
The Last Time They Played
    Vikings vs Wisconsin-Parkside: November 4, 1994; Augustana defeated
    Wisconsin-Parkside 3-0 in Sioux Falls
    Vikings vs Palm Beach Atlantic: August 24, 2007; Augustana defeated Palm
    Beach Atlantic 3-0 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
    Vikings vs Michigan Tech: September 7, 2012; Augustana defeated the
    Huskies 3-1 at Black Hills State
    Vikings vs Central Washington: September 13, 2008; Augustana lost to
    Central Washington 1-3 in St. Paul, Minn.
 
 
Home Court Advantage
After struggling at home in 2014 with a record of 9-5 the Vikings made it a mission in 2015 to own their home court as the posted an impressive 11-3 record. Two of those home loses came to No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul and No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State. In conference matches at the Elmen, the Vikings were 7-3 while in non-conference matches the Vikings were a perfect 4-0.
 
Fifth-Set Struggles
The fifth-set of matches were unkind to the Vikings in 2015 as Augustana went 0-5 in five-set matches. In the five set matches Augustana faced Concordia-St. Paul twice, they were ranked third and first nationally, No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State, No. 14 Washburn and MSU Moorhead. The only match at home was against Concordia on Senior Day.