For the first time in program history the University of Sioux Falls volleyball team will co-host a tournament at the Stewart Center. The NSIC Challenge will be co-hosted with Mayor's Cup rival Augustana College, with both schools hosting four matches Friday, Sept. 13 and Saturday, Sept. 14. Matches start at 11 a.m. each day, with the last match scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Admission for the tournament is $12 for a daily pass at each location. Youth K-12 are welcome to attend free of charge.
The Cougars will host Drury University at 2 p.m. on Friday in their 2013 home opener and follow that with a 7 p.m. match versus the South Dakota School of Mines.
Saturday's slate consists of a 2 p.m. match against the Griffons of Western Missouri State and USF will close out the weekend with a 7 p.m. tilt versus Northwest Missouri State.
The Cougars got off to a good start last weekend, posting an impressive 3-1 mark at the seventh annual Shark Classic in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Junior Emily Johnson hit the double-digit kill plateau in every match and finished the weekend with 43 stabs. While USF opened the season by dropping a tightly contested three-set match (25-19, 28-26, 27-25) to Findlay University, they rolled off three straight wins to improve to 26-29 in non-conference games until third-year head coach Joel McCartney.
One of those victories included a three-set sweep of Virginia State (25-8, 25-17, 25-8), who the Cougars disposed of in little more than an hour. Junior transfer Kate Hart tallied the best match of her young career, filling the box score with nine kills, three assists, six digs and five blocking assists. The Cougars shut-out the Trojans in blocks, 7.0-0.0 and held VSU to a -.127 attack clip.
After the NSIC Challenge, the Vikings open Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition by hosting Southwest Minnesota State on Thursday Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.
USF's NSIC Challenge Opponents
Drury University: Drury's volleyball Panthers have been tabbed for a fifth-place finish in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division in the preseason poll of league coaches. The squad picked up 59 total points. Coach Ashleigh Fitzgerald's Panthers return the majority of their key personnel from a squad that finished 16-17 overall last season and 8-10 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
Drury lost seniors Alex Smith, Kylie Inman and Lauren Dorris to graduation and it's Smith that will be the hardest to replace. A Second Team All-Daktronics Midwest Region and First Team All-GLVC selection, she led the Panthers and was second in the GLVC with 494 kills in 2012.
Returning for the Panthers is junior Sara Borneman, who stood second on the team with 431 kills and also chipped in 73 digs and 32 blocks with five blocking assists. Also back for her final collegiate campaign is senior middle hitter Amanda Watson, the team leader in blocks the past two seasons. She has racked up 135 total stuffs in her career.
Fifth-year head coach and former Ole Miss standout Ashleigh Fitzgerald signed six players in her 2013 recruiting class. They are Phylicia Hill, a 5-foot-9 middle/outside hitter, Bridget Justis, a 5-foot-4 liber; Maddie Halford, a 6-1 middle-blocker, Kaleigh Cole, a 5-9 utility player, Vicki Schimank, a 5-8 middle-hitter/opposite and Brooke Antenen, a 6-0 setter.
SDSMT: The South Dakota School of Mines struggled to a 12-19 overall record last year in their first season as an NCAA D-II independent program. Playing without a conference, the Lady Hardrockers spent most of the season on the road and played just five home matches.
The highlight of the season was the play of junior middle hitter Justine Blade, who was named the Co-Independent Collegiate Athletic Association's (ICAA) Player of the Year and earned ICAA first team honors. Blade averaged 3.53 kills and 0.95 blocks per set over 122 sets while hitting .346. She finished the season with 431 kills and 116 blocks and enters her senior season with 948 career kills. USF volleyball fans might remember Blade, as she posted three kills and six blocks in the SDSMT's 3-1 win against USF back in 2011.
SDSMT also returns a pair of ICAA volleyball second team honorees in senior outside hitter Janelle Strampe (355 kills, 58 blocks) and junior setter Carsyn Garcia (151 kills, 1,045 assists) along with sophomore Jena Kreuzer (210 kills). The Lady Hardrockers lost just their libero to graduation; libero and ICAA second team selection Rachel Pekarek (453 digs). Fifth-year head coach Tiffany McCampbell signed a quartet of true freshmen for the 2013 campaign: Kirsten Johnson, Hannah Redman, Karli Sanders and Mikkella Reese.
In terms of schedule, the bulk of the Hardrockers' opposition comes out of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Association (MIAA) playing six matches; four contests against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) members and Northern Sun Conference (NSIC) teams; two bouts against teams in the Sunshine State Conference; and one-match competition from the East Coast Conference, Heartland Conference and the Frontier Conference. The Lady Hardrockers will play 21 of 26 matches on the road.
Missouri Western State University was picked 10th in the MIAA preseason coaches poll. The Griffons, who finished the 2012 season with a 16-16 record, opened the season on Sept. 6 at the Pittsburg State University Invitational. The 2013 campaign is the first for interim head coach Marian Carbin, who starred at MWSU from 2002-05.
The Griffons return eight players who started at least 10 matches in 2012 and 11 players who played in 20 or more sets. The Griffons return honorable mention All-MIAA selections Stephanie Hattey (S/OH, 5-9, Sr., Kearney, Mo.) and Jessie Thorup (RS, 5-11, So., Olathe, Kan.).
Stephanie Hattey had a solid 2012 for the Griffons. A setter by trade, Hattey was forced to man the left pin for most of the season. She recorded eight matches with double digit kills, including a career best 15 stabs at Pittsburg State (11/9). She also had double digit sets in 28 of her 32 matches with a season-high 39 versus Central Oklahoma (10/13). Hattey was also solid on defense, posting double digit digs in 22 matches with a season high 24 in the Griffons' season finale. Hattey guided the Griffons to their most victories in a season since 2006 when they matched the 16-win mark. Hattey was second on the team with 243 kills, led the team with 656 set assists and was second with 369 digs.
Jessie Thorup had an outstanding rookie year, lead the Griffons with 274 kills and a 2.38 kills per set average. She also swung at a .230 clip, making just 109 errors on 718 attack attempts.
The Griffons went 16-16 overall in 2012, their best record since 2006. The 16 victories were the most under former head coach Cory Frederick as he had 11, 12, 14 and 16 wins the past four seasons. Frederick resigned as the MWSU volleyball coach this spring and former assistant Marian Carbin will begin her first year as the Griffon head coach. Carbin was on the bench as Frederick's assistant for the past four seasons.
The Northwest Missouri State volleyball team was ranked sixth in the MIAA Preseason Coaches poll.
With a roster of eight veterans, including five starters, head coach Amy Phelps and her squad are confident the Bearcats will top last year's record of 15-17 overall and 9-9 in the MIAA.
Northwest has the experience, the talent and determination that could propel the Bearcats to the historic success it achieved in 2010 when they made their first-ever appearance in NCAA Division II South Central Regional.
The 2011 season was about rebuilding on the foundation the 2010 team constructed. Outside hitter Mackie Keller, along with incoming freshmen Abby Graves, Brooke Bartosh and Bailey Vance, learned the rigors of the MIAA. They all returned last season and the Bearcats showed that fight late in the season when it won several key matches to earn a spot in the MIAA Tournament.
Northwest hits the volleyball court this season with several key players back that have established roles. Senior captains Keller (188 kills, 1.58 kills per set, 66 blocks in '12) and Bridget Hanafin (252 assists, 6.63 assists per set in '12) will lead the charge. Also returning for the Bearcats is senior libero and 2012 MIAA first team honoree Lori Beckman, who sett the single season record at Northwest for digs (716) and stands fourth on Northwest's all-time list for digs (1,488). Sophomore right-side hitter Brooke Bartosh represented Northwest on the Third Team lineup. She led the Bearcats with 361 kills to rank eighth in the MIAA..
