Throughout Spring Volleyball, GoAugie.com will take a look at the various position groups. The fourth and final installment of the Spring Report focuses on the libero/defensive specialist position.

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The Augustana volleyball returns only one from its libero/defensive specialist position from last year but does add one freshman into the position for next season.

"This spring we had one libero/DS on the team as we graduated two (Kathryn Nasby and Kaylea Ahrens)," head coach Jen Jacobs said. "Sophomore Kelsey Ruff had a great Spring season working specifically on serve receive and getting more comfortable running the defensive side of our game. We are looking forward to this fall where Erika Bute will join her in that position!"

The Bettendorf, Iowa native, Ruff saw action in 15 matches in her freshman season with the Vikings. She spent the past year learning from the seniors and showed improvement during the Spring season. Ruff has been working on not only being one of the top libero's but working on getting more familiar with running the defensive side of things as well. The sophomore had 23 digs in 29 sets played and had a season-high seven digs against Charleston last season.

Ruff adds great ball control which gives the team the ability to run the proper offensive plays. On the defensive side of things, she has been working on getting a touch on every ball and having a consistent serve receive.

The lone freshman in the libero core is Erika Bute. The 5'5 freshman is from Alden, Minn. and played at Alden-Conger high school. Bute had an impressive high school career tallying over 2000 assists and 1000 digs. The four-year letter winner and a two-year captain was also named All-Area Player of the Year her junior year.

Read past features below:
Part one: Pin Hitters (Thursday, April 25)
Part two: Middle Hitters (Monday, April 29)
Part three: Setters (Wednesday, May 1)