SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- After a solid start to the 2021 season, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team has high spirits as they focus on their home-opening weekend, which includes matches against No. 19 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (8-3, 1-2-0 NSIC) on Friday (Sep. 24) at 6 pm and No. 20 St. Cloud State (8-3, 3-0 NSIC) on Saturday (Sep. 25) at 2 pm in the Stewart Center. 

After a strong preseason and a 2-0 sweep on the first weekend of NSIC play, the Cougars are looking forward to hosting their first opening weekend of NSIC play since 2019. USF, which sits at 7-4 on the season and 2-1 in league play, is led by senior outside hitter Averey Yaksich, who leads the team with 160 kills so far on the year. Reigning NSIC Setter of the Week Krista Goerger also helps lead the Cougars on offense, with 366 assists already on the season thus far.  

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USF vs Minnesota Duluth
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USF vs St. Cloud State
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NSIC Play So Far
The Cougars are off to a strong start in league play, opening the season with a 2-0 weekend sweep over Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji. On Tuesday, USF battled but fell to No. 8 Wayne State (9-2, 2-1 NSIC), 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-22) on Tuesday (Sept. 22) in Wayne, Neb. The Cougars are currently sitting in a tie at fifth place overall in the NSIC after the first weekend of league play. 

Breaking Down Opponents
#19 Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs are 8-3 overall on the season so far and 1-2 in the conference. UMD opened league play hosting Wayne State and took a 3-1 loss at home, and they went on to lose to Augustana the next day, also a 3-1 match decision. As a team, the Bulldogs are hitting .226 on the season, with 540 kills on 1,451 attempts and are averaging 13.5 kills per set. UMD is averaging 1.8 service aces per set, 16.2 digs per set, and 2.2 blocks per set as a unit. Individually, the Bulldogs are led on offense by Cianna Selbitschka with 176 kills so far this year, while Madison Gordon is the set assist leader so far with 435. Selbitschka also leads UMD in service aces with 21. On defense, Sydney Lanoue has 186 digs for the Bulldogs, while Grace Daak leads the charge on the net with 50 blocks so far. 

#20 St. Cloud State
The Huskies are 8-3 overall this season so far, and 3-0 in NSIC play. SCSU opened league play on a 3-0 win streak, after defeating Augustana (3-2), Wayne State (3-1), and Bemidji State (3-1). As a team, the Huskies are hitting .260 on the year, with 544 kills on 1,371 attempts and are averaging 13.6 kills per set. SCSU is averaging 1.6 service aces per set, 14.7 digs, and 2.5 blocks per set. Individually, the Huskies are led by Kenzie Foley on offense with 141 kills so far this season. Foley also leads the team in digs on the defensive end, with 117. Maddy Torve has a team-high 442 assists on the year, while Abigail Groeneweg leads with 14 service aces. Phebie Rossi holds down the net for the Huskies on defense, with 49 blocks so far this season. 

Quick Look at Sioux Falls
As a team, USF is hitting .264 on the season, which ranks fourth in the NSIC. The Cougars, which are led individually by Jordyn Hamm (14th in the NSIC) with a .295 hitting mark, have 500 kills on 1,214 attempts and are averaging 12.8 kills per set. Senior Averey Yaksich, who ranks seventh all-time at USF in kills, is fourth in the NSIC with 4.10 kills per set with 160 kills across 39 sets for a .269 hitting mark, which ranks second on USF. She leads USF in scoring at 181.5 points. The Cougars are averaging 11.67 assists per set, 2.2 aces (84 total), 1.4 errors, 12.5 digs, and 1.7 blocks per set. Krista Goerger, who was recently named the NSIC Setter of the Week, has 366 set assists and a program-best 2,762 in her career. She ranks 10th in the NSIC at 9.38 assists per set. Nicole Jacobson leads the Cougars in service aces with 19 and she is second on the team with 2.49 kills per set with 92 on 268 attacks.. Jacobson ranks third in the lead at 0.51 aces per set and her teammate Marlee Schneider is fourth with 15 aces in 31 sets for 0.48 per set.  On defense, TiaRose Nagami leads the Cougars with 130 digs (12th in the NSIC) on the year, averaging 3.51 per set. On the net, Jordan Kuper leads the Coo with 28 blocks, for an average of .72 blocks per set. 

Looking Ahead 
After the home opening weekend, the Cougars are heading back on the road to take on Northern State and Minnesota State University Moorhead on Oct. 1-2. On Friday (Oct. 1) USF heads to Aberdeen, S.D. to face the Northern State Wolves at 6 pm. From there, they head to Moorhead, Minn. to take on the MSUM Dragons Saturday (Oct. 2) at 3:30 pm.