GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The University of North Dakota volleyball team will be back in action at home on Saturday as the Sioux will look to sweep a home-and-home series with SeattleU. UND took both matches on its recent trip to the Pacific Northwest, including a 3-2 decision from the Redhawks on Tuesday. The match is set for a 7 p.m. start at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Live stats and video streaming of Saturday's match with SeattleU will be available at www.FightingSioux.com.
SIZING UP THE REDHAWKS: The match with the Redhawks is the back end of a home-and-home series with SU. The teams played for the first time on Tuesday in Seattle with the Sioux taking a 3-2 decision from the Redhawks on their home court.
SeattleU is off to a 3-12 start with four of those defeats coming against Top 25 programs, including No. 4 Washington. The Huskies are one of nine schools to sweep the Redhawks this season. SU is 2-9 away from their home court in 2009.
The Redhawks will look to snap a five-match losing streak on Friday night against South Dakota before they travel north for the match with the Sioux on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Kaytlyn Dill led the Redhawks with 19 kills in the setback to the Sioux. She had seven of those kills in the third set that SU won 25-21. Dill currently ranks second on the team in kills with 109, while Cristin Richards leads the way with 160. Richards had 14 kills against UND as the Sioux defense limited SU to just a .080 attack percentage.
ROLLING THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST: It was a fast, yet rewarding trip out to the state of Washington this past week as the Sioux picked up a pair of non-conference wins against SeattleU (3-2) and Gonzaga (3-1). Both matches were of the roller-coaster variet, but UND managed to find a way to win both and improve to 9-5 on the campaign.
The two road victories also extended the team's overall win streak to four matches, equaling its best stretch of the season after UND won its first four out of the game and captured the Best Western Sycamore Classic.
Sophomore Devin Trefz led the Sioux in kills during both matches, registering 17 against the Redhawks and 13 against the Zags. Senior Britta Hanson added 16 kills on a .519 attack percentage (16k-2e-27a), while also totalling seven blocks vs. SeattleU. She had 10 total blocks (nine block assists) against Gonzaga to post her third double-digit block effort of the season.
Senior Lindsay Vortherms had 20 digs in the victory over Gonzaga to move into second place on the UND career charts in that category with 1,503.
HOW SWEEP IT IS: UND swept both Houston Baptist and Texas-Pan American to open its Great West era in resounding fashion. The Sioux rallied to win the first set from Houston Baptist, 27-25, in Thursday night's match before rolling through the next five sets to knock off the Huskies and Broncs both by the score of 3-0. Sophomore Devin Trefz led the Sioux offense with 25 kills in the two matches, while classmate Annika Smed added 16 kills and 19 digs.
BETTY BE NICE: With their sweep of Houston Baptist on Thursday, the Fighting Sioux have now won all six home-openers at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center and have won eight home-openers overall. Last season, UND posted a 7-1 record on their home court. Early in the season, the team reeled off 11 consecutive set victories before that streak was snapped on Nov. 8 against South Dakota.
BETTY ATTENDANCE MARK FALLS: It stood for just over a year, but the record for UND volleyball attendance at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center was eclipsed on Thursday. The 2009 Fighting Sioux home opener had 508 spectators in the building as the record crowd was treated to a sweep of Houston Baptist. The old mark of 500 was set on Sept. 10 of last year when the Sioux also swept its opposition - Valley City State. The Sioux fans poured in again for the sweep of UTPA as nearly 1,000 fans watched UND blank both Great West opponents.
FAST START: For first-year head coach Ashley Hardee, the 5-2 start to his UND coaching career was only topped by interim head coach Kari Peterson in 2008. In 1986, Lisa Kissee also posted a 5-2 start to her Fighting Sioux coaching career. Peterson's club won its first 12 matches of last year's campaign to mark the best start by a first-year coach.
NO WORRIES: One thing head coach Ashley Hardee will not have to worry about in his first year at UND is sending out an inexperienced squad. All six starters plus libero Lindsay Vortherms return from the 2008 team that won 24 matches, swept 16 opponents and posted the top turnaround in program history. Vortherms is part of a quartet of returning seniors that have combined to play in more than 300 matches and 1,000 games during their Fighting Sioux careers.
CONFERENCE CASUALTIES: Through their opening 14 matches, UND has defeated teams from seven different conferences and one independent. Those victories have come over teams from the Great West (HBU), Mid-American Conference (Akron), the Summit League (UMKC), the Missouri Valley Conference (Indiana State), Ohio Valley (SIU-Edwardsville), West Coast (Gonzaga) and the Big Sky (Montana State). SeattleU is an independent.
TREFZ IS THIRD SIOUX IN FOUR WEEKS TO EARN WEEKLY GREAT WEST HONOR (Sept. 22): Trefz helped the Fighting Sioux to a pair of sweeps in their inaugural Great West Conference matches last week en route to earning league Offensive Player of the Week honors. She combined for 25 kills in victories over Houston Baptist and Texas-Pan American. Against the Huskies on Thursday, Trefz had a match-high 13 kills in front of a record crowd at the Sioux Center of 508. She added 12 kills and four digs in the 3-0 victory over the Broncs and has reached double figures in all 12 of UND's matches. After ranking second on the Sioux in kills a season ago, Trefz currently leads the team with 196 kills (3.84/set) and has reached double figures in the kill department in all 14 matches. She has led the team in kills in 13 of the 14 matches and had a season-high 21 vs. Montana State (Sept. 5).
HANSON COLLECTS GREAT WEST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS (Sept. 15): Senior middle hitter Britta Hanson was named the Great West Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 15. Hanson earned her second consecutive all-tournament team honor after finishing the Montana Invitational with 27 kills and a .286 attack percentage (27k-12e-52a). Hanson also added 23 total blocks, incuding five solo blocks to move into sixth place on the UND career charts in both total blocks (358) and block assists (291). This is the third Great West weekly honor for Hanson in her career. She earned the award twice as a junior last season.
SEVENTH TO 2,000: Senior setter Megan Langseth earned a spot on the all-tournament team at the Best Western Sycamore Classic after leading the Sioux with 141 assists in the four-match event. With her total, she became just the seventh player in school history to surpass the 2,000-plateau in career assists. Through 12 matches this season, Langseth has 456 assists and has collected at least 30 helpers in 11 of those contests. She had a season-high 55 in the four-set victory over Montana State (Sept. 5). Langseth, who collected 1,134 assists during the 2008 campaign — a total that was the eighth highest in single-season history at UND — now has 2,427 for her career. With a strong finish to her senior season, she could become just the fourth Fighting Sioux player in school history to surpass the 3,000-assist mark for a career.
VORTHERMS NAMED GREAT WEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (Sept. 1): Vortherms finished the four matches with 79 digs, including a season-best 28 in a four-set victory over UMKC. Her 79 digs moved her into fourth place on the career list at UND with 1,340. Vortherms registered at least 15 digs in each match as the Sioux picked up wins over Indiana State (3-0), the Kangaroos (3-1), SIU-Edwardsville (3-0) and Akron (3-1).
ONE MORE TO PASS: Libero Lindsay Vortherms nearly set the single-season digs record by posting 543 digs last season, just 14 shy of the top mark set by Jill Effhauser in 2002. With 15 digs against Dickinson State (9/1), Vortherms became the 13th member to surpass the 1,000-dig mark for a career. With 242 digs through 14 matches this season, Vortherms has vaulted her way to the second spot on the career list with 1,503 and is now only 91 digs shy of tying the all-time record held by Mindy Sutter (1985-88) at 1,594. She combined for 35 digs during the week at SU and Gonzaga.
DOUBLE THREAT: It should come as little surprise that sophomore Annika Smed leads the team with three double-doubles through 14 matches. One of the more versatile players on the team, Smed is the only Sioux player to surpass the 100-platuae this season in kills (139) and digs (154). Those figures rank second on the team, respectively. She has reached double figures in digs in eight of the team's last nine matches.
