SIOUX FALLS – Opening the 2017 season, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball hosts the Country Inn & Suites Invitational on Friday, Sept. 1 and Saturday, Sept. 2 at the Stewart Center. The Cougars will play four matches over the span of two days to start their season, hosting the tournament for the second consecutive season.
 
This Week's Schedule

• Friday, Sept. 1, 2 p.m.: USF vs. Black Hills State
• Friday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.: USF vs. Fort Hays State
• Saturday, Sept. 2, 11:30 a.m.: USF vs. William Jewell
• Saturday, Sept. 2, 7 p.m.: USF vs. Arkansas-Fort Smith

*** A full schedule for the 2017 Country Inn & Suites Invitational can be found HERE.
 
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Watch live
For all USF Volleyball home matches and all Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contests, watch the Cougars live on Stretch Internet at USFCougars.com/watch. Live stats will be available for all matches. Links to home match live stats are available at USFCougars.com/livestats while links to all road match live stats are available on the USF Volleyball schedule at USFCougars.com.
 
Cougars picked seventh in NSIC preseason poll
Tying for their highest preseason projections in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, USF Volleyball was picked to finish seventh in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll, which was released just before fall camp started. The Cougars collected 146 points in the poll, their highest total since joining the league in 2012.  The seventh-place billing ties their place in the 2014 preseason poll.
 
Reigning national champion Concordia-St. Paul was picked as the league favorite, collecting 10 first-place votes and 218 points. Southwest Minnesota State earned three first-place votes, placing them second overall, Minnesota Duluth received two first-place nods for third place and Augustana picked up the final first-place vote to put them in fourth.
 
Barfnecht named preseason player to watch
After an impressive sophomore campaign, right-side hitter Bria Barfnecht was named USF's player to watch in the preseason release. A 5-foot-10 junior from Delano, Minn., Barfnecht heads into her junior campaign with the second-highest attack percentage, second-most blocks, and third-most kills among returners for the Cougars. She connected on 248 kills (2.36 per set) at a .279 attack percentage last season. Defensively, Barfnecht was extremely impressive from her right-side position, blocking 84 total attempts, third on the Cougars last season and just 18 behind the middle blockers. In her career, she has 451 kills with a .273 attack percentage and 162 total blocks. Barfnecht had a blistering start to the season when she earned tournament MVP honors for the 2016 Country Inn & Suites Invitational with 39 kills on a .370 attack percentage and 12 total blocks.
 
Rockeman and Scott round out talented junior trio
As the youngest players to earn all-conference honors as sophomores last season, Makenna Rockeman and Lexi Scott begin their junior seasons as the anchors of USF's bid for a second straight trip to the NSIC Tournament and fourth in five years. A 6-foot outside hitter from Broomfield, Colo., Rockeman was a workhorse for the Cougars, taking a third of the attack attempts and finishing with a team-high 402 kills. Her 3.83 kills per set and 4.45 points per set ranked third in the deep NSIC.  She picked up 208 digs, highest among returners for the Cougars, and she posted six double-doubles. Rockeman figures to record her 1,000th kill as a junior after posting 719 in her first two seasons and her name is already littered throughout the USF Division II record books.
 
A 6-foot-1 middle blocker from Prinsburg, Minn., Scott has been a force in the middle for the Cougars, splaying in every match over the past two seasons. In her sophomore season that earned her second-team All-NSIC honors, Scott posted 303 kills at a .363 clip, which ranked her sixth in the NSIC and 20th in NCAA Division II. Complementing her offense, she returns as USF's top net defender, recording 102 total blocks, including a team-high 16 solo stuffs. Her 0.97 blocks per set ranked fifth. Scott earned NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors for just the second time since the Cougars joined the league. Entering her junior season, Scott has 452 kills at .285 attack percentage, which ranks third in USF's Division II era. She is fourth in the USF annals with 189 total blocks and her average of 0.98 blocks per set is second only to former standout and current USF Volleyball graduate assistant Jordan Calef.
 
Leader of the Pride: McCartney closing in on milestones
USF Volleyball head coach Joel McCartney enters his seventh season at the helm of the program. Building a competitor in the NSIC, the top Division II volleyball conference, McCartney has built a 97-95 record in his time at USF. In 20 years of coaching collegiate volleyball, he owns a 444-253 record, and a six-year stint at NCAA Division I Winthrop earned him a spot in the Winthrop Hall of Fame. McCartney has taken the Cougars to the NSIC Tournament – top eight teams in the standings qualify – in three of five years as members of the conference. In 2016, he led the Cougars to an upset of No. 1 Minnesota Duluth on the road. He has coached players to five All-NSIC honors and a pair of NSIC Player of the Week awards. McCartney is assisted by his wife and associate head coach Andrea McCartney, and graduate assistant Jordan Calef.