SIOUX FALLS - After a historic 2018 season, the University of Sioux Falls Women's Volleyball team was tabbed to finish 10th after receiving 114 points in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released on Monday, August 12 by the league office.
Northern State was listed as the favorite with 209 poll points and six first place votes. NSU was followed by Concordia-St. Paul with five place votes and Minnesota Duluth with four first place votes as they both finished in a second place tie with 203 poll points. Southwest Minnesota State was the only other team to receive a first place vote and had 170 poll points, which placed them fifth just behind fourth place Wayne State with 178 poll points.
USF, which is directed by ninth-year Head Coach Joel McCartney, had their best season in Division II in 2018 when they finished 20-10 overall, 14-6 in NSIC play, and advanced to the NSIC semifinals for the first time in school history. USF, which has made steady improvement since joining the league in 2012, return four players who made an impact in 2018.
Leading the team will be junior Avery Yaksich, who earned All-NSIC honors a year ago and was named USF's Player to Watch. Yaksich, who played in all but one set for the Cougars, finished the season with 298 kills, which ranked third on the team a year ago. She finished with 2.68 kills per set on 900 attacks and had 237 digs which ranked third on USF's squad. However, Yaksich's kills and digs totals represent the most by a returning player for USF. She finished with seven doubles (kills, digs) and had a season high 16 kills twice. Additionally, she had a season-best hitting percentage of .529 (10 kills on 17 attacks) as USF recorded a win over No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul on Oct. 27, 2018.
Aside from Yaksich, the Cougars also return key performers in seniors
Abby Feyereisen,
KaSandra Springer, and junior
Krista Goerger. Feyereisen, the team's top-returning attacker, finished 2018 with a .357 attacking percentage (186 kills on 403 attacks). Springer, who was USF's libero a year ago, collected a team-high 360 digs or 3.27 per match. Goerger had a breakout season in 2018 with 10.57 assists per set which ranked seventh in the league. Her total of 1,057 assists ranked sixth overall in the NSIC and she was second in the league with 0.45 service aces per set on 46 aces in 102 serves. Goerger had a career high six service aces against William Jewell, which was the second highest amount of aces in a match in USF Division II history.
USF will also look to Emporia State transfer, senior
Allie Maloney, who set a Hornet program single match dig record with 46 against Central Oklahoma. Maloney, a three-year starter at ESU, was also named to the All-MIAA team and "Defensive Specialist of the Week" in 2016 and 2018.
The Cougars will open on the road with two tournaments, beginning in Chadron, Neb., for the Best Western West Hills Eagles Classic on Sept. 6 and 7. The next weekend, a trip to Denton, Tex., is in store for McCartney's squad, including a matchup with Harding on Sept. 14. In 2018, Harding advanced to the Central Regional and knocked off the regional host Nebraska-Kearney in a five-set thriller.
After the two tournaments, USF will dive right into conference play to take on Minot State and U-Mary on the road. The Cougars will return to the Stewart Center for their home-opener with MSU Moorhead and conference preseason favorite Northern State coming to town on Sept. 27 and 28, respectively.
Also on the schedule for USF is an Oct. 12 matchup with the Central Region runner-up Concordia-St. Paul in St. Paul, Minn. Other matchups with Regional appearance teams include Minnesota Duluth in Duluth on Oct. 25, Southwest Minnesota State on Halloween at the Stewart Center, and a rematch with Northern State on Nov. 9 in Aberdeen, S.D.
The 2019 NSIC Volleyball season will begin with non-conference matches on Thursday, September 5 while the NSIC schedule begins Friday, September 20. The 2019 NSIC regular season champion will be determined by the 20-game conference schedule. The top eight teams will play in the single elimination NSIC Volleyball Tournament on November 22-24. All three rounds of the tournament will take place at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
