SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Winners of seven in a row and ranked ninth in the country, the Augustana volleyball team welcomes the number one ranked team in Southwest Minnesota State for a top-ten matchup Thursday night in the Elmen Center.

With the Bash At The Beach volleyball tournament getting cancelled due to Hurricane Irma over the weekend, Augustana (8-1, 0-0) quickly changed plans and elected to play in the Lindenwood Challenge in St. Charles, Mo. The Vikings are coming off a weekend where they went undefeated which includes a victory over challenge-host Lindenwood in Augustana's first five-set thriller of the season.

"I always talk about the senior leadership on this team," head coach Jennifer Jacobs said. "That's what last week came down to, channeling adversity and playing well. I'm really proud of all the girls."
The Mustangs (8-0, 0-0) won four matches over the weekend at the Colorado Premier Challenge in Denver, where SMSU knocked off then top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul, 3-1, Saturday night.

"We're really excited to play them," Jacobs said. "They are a great team and are coming off of a huge win, and it's going to be a dog fight. With so many ranked teams in the NSIC we have to expect that every night."

Senior setter Alex Banker had a season-high 48 assists in the Vikings final match vs. Illinois Springfield and tallied 188 assists on the weekend. The Omaha, Neb. native added two double doubles with 47 assists and 12 digs vs. Lindenwood to go along with her career high 48 assists and 15 digs vs. the Stars. Banker is averaging just over 10 assists per set.

Courtney Place tied her career high with 21 kills vs. Illinois Springfield. The junior outside hitter added a double-double (18 kills, 21 digs) in the Vikings win over Lindenwood. Place leads Augustana with 114 kills on the season.

Libero Tahlyr Banks continued her stellar career with the Vikings over the weekend. Her 88 digs increased her total to a team-leading 149 digs on the young season.

Outside Hitter Taylor Reiss and setter Megan Larson are the reigning NSIC Players of The Week after each had electric performances over the weekend for the Mustangs.

Reiss, who was selected as the NSIC preseason Player of The Year, had 18 kills in SMSU's win over Concordia-St. Paul. The junior with 1,000 career kills had double figure kills in all four matches over the weekend and was named the Colorado Premier Challenge MVP.

Larson averaged 13.29 assists per set over the weekend, and became the all-time leader in assists in the Mustangs' win Friday night over Ferris State.

Augustana is 28-29-1 all-time against Southwest Minnesota State. The two squad's split in 2016 with both matches taking five sets.