SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Augustana volleyball returns to play this weekend at home in the Elmen Center with matchups against Minnesota State and Concordia St. Paul. This will be the first official week of NSIC play.
The weekend will be opened Friday at 6 p.m. against the Mavericks of Minnesota State followed by a Saturday matchup against No.3 ranked Golden Bears of Concordia St. Paul at 5 p.m..
Friday night's game will be SKOL Night where there will be a Culver's Concrete Mixer giveaway along with a surprise giveaway for AU students. Following Saturday night's matchup, there will be postgame autographs available on the court for Youth Volleyball Night.
Fans can catch the action at GoAugie.com/Live and on the GoAugie app, presented by CellOnly, found in the app store and on Google play.
Minnesota State
The Mavericks have started their season off with a 1-7 record with their last win being against Black Hills State during opening weekend (3-1). This past weekend they faced off at the UINDY Invitational in Indianapolis where they went 0-4 in all four contests against Ashland, Missouri-St. Louis, Indianapolis, and Grand Valley State.
The Minnesota State offense is led by junior Sophie Tietz. Tetiz leads the team in kills with 54 (.179). On the defensive side, sophomore Toryn Richards leads the Mavericks in total digs with 68 averaging 2.83 a set.
Concordia St. Paul
The No.3 Golden Bears of CSP have started their season off with a 7-1 record with their last win being against No. 4 MSU Denver. Concordia St. Paul is coming off their one and only loss to NSIC opponent No. 14 Wayne State (Neb.) where they were swept 3-0 this past weekend at the Colorado Premier Challenge.
The CSP offense is led by junior Jasmine Mulvihill with 141 kills (.280) and 159 points. On the defensive side, sophomore Emma Schmidt leads the Golden Bears in total digs with 102 averaging 3.40 a set.
Last season Augustana defeated Concordia St. Paul in the first round of NSIC Tournament play (3-1) after falling to the Golden Bears in early regular season play (3-1). Prior to the beginning of the season, CSP was tabbed as the preseason favorite by the NSIC coaches.
The Vikings
Augustana wrapped up its home opener at the Augustana Volleyball Classic hosted in the Sanford Pentagon this past weekend, stretching to an 8-0 record. The Vikings went 4-0 against South Dakota Mines (3-2), Truman State (3-2), and NSIC opponents MSU Moorhead (3-0) and Northern State (3-0). Both contests against NSIC foes were nonconference matches.
Erika Bute earned the nod as the NSIC's Defensive Player of the Week after she averaged 6.31 digs per set and added five service aces.
The Vikings offense is led by senior Kate Reimann with 97 kills (.167) and 119.5 points. She is followed by senior Maddy Guetter with 91 kills (.198) and 115 points, both Vikings are tied with the team-high of 18 aces on the season.
Defensively, senior Piper Asche leads the Vikings with 34 blocks averaging 1.10 a set. Senior libero Erika Bute leads AU with 163 digs averaging a mighty 5.26 a set. Bute's total digs rank her 17th in the nation while her digs per set put her 24th in NCAA Division II.
One Last Thing
Four Vikings have accumulated at least 50 kills or more so far this season. Reimann's 97 kills lead the way for Augustana. Additionally Maddy Guetter (91), Kia Kriener (82) and Piper Asche 57) and Jolie Stecher (50) have also attained 50 or more kills.
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