SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- After a successful showing (3-1) at the Oredigger Classic in Colorado, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team is heading to Pittsburg, Kansas for the Gorilla Classic on Sept. 10-11. 

The Cougars will begin their tournament run on Friday, September 10 with two matches, including against host Pittsburg State at 2 pm and before a 7 pm match vs Truman State. On Saturday, USF plays St. Mary's University (TX) at 10 am and then faces off against Northwestern Oklahoma State University at 5:30 pm. 

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Oredigger Classic Recap
During its 3-1 opening weekend, USF opened with a five set win over Grand Valley State, 3-2 (25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 20-25, 15-12), a team receiving votes in this week's top-25 AVCA National Poll. In the win, All-Tourney selection Averey Yaksich had her best day at USF and set a school record with 30 kills in the match. She had a .300 hitting mark with her 70 attacks also her career-best. USF opened with two straight set wins before GVSU rallied to tie the match before the Cougars held on for a 15-12 win in the final set USF also had 12 kills on 25 attacks (career-best) from Jordan Kuper while senior Krista Goerger had six kills, 48 assists and 12 digs. Nicole Jacobson added nine kills, season-high four service aces and eight digs. TiaRose Nagami provided 21 digs as USF had 73 for the match. In the second match of the opening day, USF dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 22 Colorado Mesa (19-25, 19-25, 8-25). Yaksich led USF with nine kills while Kuper had seven.

USF had a 2-0 day on Saturday. USF took a 3-0 decision (25-18, 25-20, 25-16) over Midwestern State and then rallied from a set down to take a 3-1 win over Colorado Christian (22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-17). Against Midwestern State, USF rebounded as Yaksich led USF to a straight set victory with 16 kills on 26 attacks for a .423 hitting mark. She had three block assists and three digs.USF cruised to the win by outhitting MWSU by a .368 (42 kills, 14 errors on 76 attacks) to a .013 mark (24 kills on 78 attacks with 23 errors). Aside from Yaksich, USF had contributions all around. Byers had a solid match with nine kills on 13 attacks for a .538 hitting mark and Jacobson added eight kills and a .538 hitting mark while recording three service aces and three digs. In addition, Jordan Kuper had six kills and four block assists of the 16 recorded by USF. Goerger had 37 assists, two block assists and two digs.

In the second match against Colorado Christian, USF lost the opening set, 25-22 but then gained controlled and won the next three sets, 25-19, 25-15 and 25-17 to earn its third win of the weekend. In the match, which included 15 tie scores and six lead changes, USF used its .317 hitting mark, 14 blocks and the 13 aces to take control. In the victory, USF recorded its second most aces in the DII era with 13. Jacobsen, who 11 kills and nine digs, had two service aces. Senior Marlee Schneider had a career-high four while Goerger, who had 45 set assists, had three aces, three block assists and added 12 digs. Byers hit .667 with 14 kills on 21 attacks without an error and added two block assists. She had her seventh career double-digit kills match with the second most in her career (16, MSU Moorhead, 11-8-2019). Yaksich capped off her tournament with 14 kills on 33 attacks and added two service aces and 10 digs as she had a double-double, which was the ninth of her career.

Tourney Assessment -
Over the four matches,USF outhit opponents .254 to 217 and had 185 kills to 175 for opponents. In addition, USF had a 182-162 set assist advantage and a margin of 26-to-23 in service aces. Leading that effort was senior setter Krista Goerger, the career all-time set assist leader at USF. She had 152 this weekend and now has 2,549 in her career. Middle blockers and freshmen Jordyn Hamm and Jordan Kuper each had 13 blocks. Redshirt sophomore Nicole Jacobson had 34 kills (second on the team) with a team-best 10 service aces. Kuper had 33 kills, senior middle blocker Kenzie Byers added 27 and a team-best hitting mark of .377. USF finished with 174 digs (11.6 per match) with senior defensive specialist TiaRose Nagami supplying a team-high 55 or 3.67 per set.

Gorilla Classic - Breaking Down the Opponents
Pittsburg State
The Cougars will take on the Pittsburg State Gorillas for the very first time in school history on Friday. The Gorillas are coming into the match 2-2 on the season, after splitting the weekend at the Nova Southeastern Shark Invitational in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

Truman State
USF has played Truman State just one other time in program history, back in 2011. The Bulldogs hosted the match and they also took home the 3-0 victory over the Cougars. This season, the Bulldogs sit at 2-2 overall, after a split weekend at the Union University Tournament in Jackson, Tenn.

St. Mary's University (TX) 
The Cougars will face the St. Mary's Rattlers for the first time in program history on Saturday. The Rattlers are coming into the match 3-0, after a successful showing at the Oklahoma Christian Tournament. 

Northwestern Oklahoma State University 
USF has played the Rangers just one other time in program history, which dates back to 2015. At the neutral location in Kearney, Neb., the Cougars took home a 3-1 over the Rangers. NOSU is currently 0-4 on the season so far. 

Breaking Down the Cougars So Far
Leading the Cougars so far this season is senior outside hitter Averey Yaksich, who was named to the Oredigger Classic All Tourney-Team. A 2018 All-NSIC selection, Yaksich of Omaha, Neb., totaled 69 kills on 161 attacks for a .267 hitting mark through four matches. She averaged a team-best 4.6 kills and had four services aces with a team-best 78 points. In the opening match of the tourney, she helped USF to a 3-2 win over Grand Valley State with a career-best and program DII mark of 30 kills. She now has 588 career kills, which ranks ninth all-time at USF and just four from Abby Feyereisen (2015-19) at 592.

Over the weekend, Byers had a solid match with nine kills on 13 attacks for a .538 hitting mark and Jacobson added eight kills and a .538 hitting mark while recording three service aces and three digs. In addition, Jordan Kuper had six kills and four block assists of the 16 recorded by USF. Goerger had 37 assists, two block assists and two digs.

USF recorded its second most aces in the DII era with 13. Jacobsen, who 11 kills and nine digs, had two service aces. Senior Marlee Schneider had a career-high four while Goerger, who had 45 set assists, had three aces, three block assists and added 12 digs. Byers hit .667 with 14 kills on 21 attacks without an error and added two block assists. She had her seventh career double-digit kills match with the second most in her career (16, MSU Moorhead, 11-8-2019). 

Looking Ahead 
After the Gorilla Classic, the Cougars will head to Crookston, Minn. to offically begin NSIC league play. USF will play the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles on Friday, Sep. 17 at 6 pm. From there, they head to Bemidji State to face the Beavers on Saturday, Sep. 18 at 1 pm. 

The Cougars will host the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs for their home opener on Friday, Sep. 24 at 6 pm in the Stewart Center. On Saturday, Sep. 25, USF will host St. Cloud State at 2 pm in the Stewart Center.