Augustana volleyball libero Erika Bute and right side hitter Payton Rosendahl made the trip to the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, recently as two of the over 200 athletes attending the USA Volleyball Women’s National Team Open.

Bute was not new to the atmosphere of the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center as she took part in the U.S. Women’s National Team Open Tryout back in 2020. However, she had a familiar face join her this time around in Rosendahl.

“I was very comforted knowing that Erika had experienced it before and I asked her a million questions before we left and we actually ended up being roommates,” Rosendahl said.

The duo was even on the same court on the first day.

Of the over 200 athletes present, Bute and Rosendahl were two of three participants from the Division II level to attend the event. The other player from a Division II institution played at Tampa who the Vikings took to five sets in their preseason tournament. Tampa won the national championship this past season.

The two Vikings were getting recognition on the court for their skills and took pride in telling other players they were from a division II school.

The play of the Vikings at the Team Open was a confidence booster for the two and left them excited for their potential next year.

“It built higher expectations knowing that if Erika and I can keep up the way we did at the Team Open we should have these high expectations for Augie coming back next year,” Rosendahl said.

Rosendahl had high praises for the Team Open and the experience that it gives to the players in the event. 

“It would be cool to see more Augustana players go next year because I think it builds dreams and instills more belief in yourself to see the work that is put in from the players and know you can do that as well,” Rosendahl added.

Although the two Vikings are at different points of their career, they both got advice from Gold Medalist, Jordan Thompson, an American professional women’s volleyball player for the United States Women’s National Team.

In her high school days, Thompson played for Northern Lights which was the same club that Bute played for so the two were able to make a connection there.

Rosendahl had a different conversation with Thompson. The Creston, Nebraska, native finished her career with the Vikings this past fall and recently got accepted into the Olympic Management Institute in Rome, Italy. While pursuing her masters, she will also be playing volleyball in the European Leagues, something Thompson did after finishing her career at Cincinnati. 

Bute was also around for the conversation about playing overseas and shared that she also has aspirations of playing overseas after college.

Thompson was able to give the duo closure on the opportunities to play overseas and noted that it doesn’t quite matter where you played in college because a lot of players that look to play professionally overseas feel blinded and are unsure on where to start and how to make the next step.

“It was cool to see her (Thompson) trying to help bridge that gap and help out college players who want to keep playing,” said Bute.

The Vikings ended the season with an overall record of 19-11 while going 13-7 in the NSIC, making it to the NSIC Tournament semifinals. Bute averaged 4.68 digs, leading the team with 538 total digs, ranking her second in the NSIC. Rosendahl finished her final season as a Viking averaging 2.61 kills for a total of 290 kills. Both Vikings earned All-NSIC Second Team Honors this past season.

Rosendahl heads to Rome on August 18, while Bute returns for her senior season for the Vikings.