CHICAGO - For the second straight season, the Fighting Sioux volleyball team will be spectators on the opening day of the Great West Conference Tournament hosted by Chicago State. Top-seeded UND earned that right after capturing its second consecutive regular season title, doing so this time with a perfect 12-0 record.

The Sioux will watch the quarterfinal match between No. 4 Houston Baptist (17-12, 7-5 GWC) and No. 5 Texas-Pan American (8-21, 4-8 GWC) on Friday to learn who they will play in the first semifinal on Saturday. UND swept both the Huskies and Broncs in the home-and-way matchups this season. The Sioux have swept HBU and UTPA in all four previous meetings as Great West Conference foes.

GREAT WEST TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Game 1: No. 4 Houston Baptist vs. No. 5 Texas-Pan American - 2 p.m.

Game 2: No. 3 South Dakota vs. No. 6 NJIT - 4:30 p.m.

Game 3: No. 2 Utah Valley vs. No. 7 Chicago State - 7 p.m.

Game 4: No. 1 North Dakota vs. Winner of game 1 - 2 p.m.

Game 5: Winner of Game 2 vs. Winner of Game 3 - 4:30 p.m.

Game 6: Championship Match - 12 p.m.

MEDIA COVERAGE: The semifinal match between the top-seeded Fighting Sioux and the winner of the No. 4 Houston Baptist/No. 5 Texas-Pan American match will be broadcast live on www.FightingSioux.com. The first semifinal will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Volleyball SID Ryan Powell will handle the play-by-play duties for all UND matches at the tournament. Sunday's championship match is slated for a 12 p.m. start.

PERFECTION: The Fighting Sioux volleyball team capped its perfect run through the Great West Conference regular season slate by picking up a pair of sweeps in the Lone Star State last week.  UND moved to 11-0 with a straight-set victory over Houston Baptist on Thursday (Nov. 11) and completed the 12-0 campaign with a sweep of Texas-Pan American on Saturday (Nov. 13). The Sioux joined eight other Division I schools that hold perfect records in their respective conferences through play on Nov. 14. UND has now won 21 straight GWC regular season matches dating back to last season.

    

STREAKING SIOUX: The victory over the Broncs in the regular-season finale not only capped a perfect record in Great West play, but it was also the club's 13th straight victory, establishing a new single-season record for consecutive wins. The old record of 12 straight victories occurred twice, the first time was to open the 2008 season and the second came last season when the Sioux closed out the campaign with 12 straight triumps. The all-time record for consecutive wins stands at 15 after this year's team won its first three matches of the season. UND could tie that mark with two wins at the Great West Conference tournament.

SWEEPING SUCCESS: The Fighting Sioux volleyball team has a knack for beating opponents in straight sets. For the second straight year, nine of their victories in Great West play came via the sweep. In the past two years, UND has swept Chicago State, Houston Baptist, NJIT and Texas-Pan American in all four meetings with those respective teams. The Sioux have also swept South Dakota in two of their four victories over the Coyotes. Utah Valley, the No. 2 seed at the upcoming tournament, is the only league team to have not been swept by the Sioux. The Wolverines have also dealt UND its only loss in league play, beating the Sioux in Orem last October. The Sioux have won 21 straight in league play since that setback.

BETTY BE KIND: Since moving up to the Division I ranks, the Fighting Sioux have posted a 23-2 record on their home court at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND posted a 7-1 record in 2008 and went unblemished at home for the first time in program history in 2009, posting an 8-0 record in Grand Forks. This season, the Sioux went 3-1 at the North Dakota Classic in late August, dropping only a five-set match to a Drake team that is currently 21-7 overall. The setback to the Bulldogs snapped a school record 11-match home winning streak. The Sioux returned to “The Betty” on Oct. 2 and started what ended up being a perfect 6-0 home record in GWC action. 

SIOUX SEND OUT SENIORS WITH SECOND STRAIGHT GREAT WEST TITLE: The Fighting Sioux volleyball team sent out its senior duo in championship fashion on Nov. 6, defeating NJIT in straight sets at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. UND's 11th straight victory clinched the outright Great West regular season title for the second straight campaign. Senior Erin Joki led the way for UND with 13 kills as the offense hit .380 and had 47 kills in the team's fourth straight sweep of the Highlanders. Fellow senior Courtney Halvorson added two digs, a kill and an ace as UND's captains closed out their home careers with a 23-2 record at 'The Betty' over the last three seasons. 

FANS SHATTER ATTENDANCE MARKS: A record crowd of 1,038 showed up to watch UND knock off South Dakota, 3-1, on Oct. 14 at “The Betty”.  It was the second straight year that the Dig Pink match set an attendance record (891 vs. NJIT, 10/23/09). However, that was not the record which was broken. The old mark of 1,000 fans was established on Senior Day (Nov. 14, 2009) a season ago when UND clinched the outright Great West title with a 3-2 victory over the Coyotes. The  mark was set three diffent times during the 2009 season when UND was a perfect 8-0 record on its home court. The 2010 season has been a great year for attendance as well. The Sioux established seven of the top 10 all-time attendance marks in 2010 as the club reeled off a 9-1 record at “The Betty”.

HISTORY MAKERS: With their sweep of Chicago State on Nov. 4, the Fighting Sioux reached the 20-win plateau for the third straight season, marking the first time that has been done in program history. The 2008 team went 24-8 in the first season of the Division I transition and second-year head coach Ashley Hardee has posted a 43-11 (22-6 in 2009) record in his brief stint in Grand Forks.   

KEEP IT UNDER .200: The Sioux have posted a 19-2 record this season when their opponents hit under .200 for a match. The best defensive effort of the season actually came in the season-opening sweep of San Jose State when the Spartans hit -.013 (18k-19e-78a). On the contrast, when teams do hit .200 or better, UND is just 4-3 on the campaign. For the season, opponents are hitting just .145 overall and just .132 in league play against the Sioux defense. 

SIOUX TOP SEVERAL GREAT WEST TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL STATS: With the GWC regular season completed, the Fighting Sioux volleyball team found its name on the top of a number of statistical categories as did a number of UND players. The Sioux offense was the top hitting team with a .271 attack percentage in league play and a .231 mark in overall play. The squad also topped the charts in kills with 14.45/set in GWC action and 13.54/set overall. The UND defense was also a chart-topper as that unit held opponents to a league-best .137 attack percentage in overall matches and led the league in blocks/set with 2.19 in GWC matches and 2.50 in overall play. Senior captain Erin Joki was the top attacker in league play, hitting a blistering .366 (134k-37e-265a) in GWC matches. Redshirt freshman Ronni Munkeby led that category in overall matches with a .303 (104k-32e-238a) clip. True freshman Ellen Krueger topped the charts in assists/set, posting an 11.55 mark in overall matches and a 10.53 mark in league play. Krueger's attackers also benefitted from her play as three Sioux ranked in the top six in the league in kills/set.

TREFZ BECOMES 13th MEMBER OF UND'S 1,000-KILL CLUB: Junior Devin Trefz became the 13th member of UND's 1,000-kill club with her third kill of the match against Chicago State on Nov. 4. The history-making kill occured in the second set as the Sioux would go on to sweep the Cougars. Trefz finished with eight kills in the contest and has put together three consecutive 300-plus kill seasons during her time at UND. She currently has 333 kills on the season and needs 36 more to reach her career-high of 368 set last season as a sophomore.  Trefz ranks third in the league with a 3.30 kills/set average.

COLLECTIONS AGENT: Junior Annika Smed has registered a career-high 13 double-doubles this season, moving past her total of 10 she set as a sophomore in 2009. Smed is also closing in on another 300-kill, 300-dig season. With 318 digs already collected, she enters the Great West Tournament needing only four kills to reach that distinction. Smed is also closing in on a career milestone as she only needs four digs to become the 13th player in program history to reach 1,000 for a career. Senior Courtney Halvorson became the 12th player to join that list earlier this season. Smed is one of the few six-rotation players on the club and her time on the court is paying dividends for the Sioux. She ranks second on the team in both of those categories. She has reached double figures in kills in 18 matches and reached that same plateau in digs 17 different times. Smed ranks among the top five attackers in league play with a 2.99 kills/set average.

SWAT PARTY: Junior Tiara Russell and redshirt freshman Ronni Munkeby have emerged as the top blocking duo in the Great West Conference this season. Russell ranks second in the league with a 1.07 blocks/set average, while Munkeby is close behind in fourth at 1.00/set. Munkeby has increased that average in GWC games to a 0.97/set average, which ranks second among league players. Russell has collected 107 total blocks on the season, while Munkeby has 65.

  

KRUEGER RISING: North Dakota is the top attacking team in the Great West Conference and the trio of UND hitters currently ranked in the top seven in kills/set have benefitted from the improved play of true freshman Ellen Krueger. Pressed into the full-time starting role, Krueger has flourished of late and leads all GWC players with a 10.53 assists/set average. In league play, she also tops that list with an 11.55 assists/set average. The Lakeville, Minn., native posted a career-high 57 assists in a 3-2 victory over Utah Valley, helping the Sioux hit .305 as a team. She has eight 40-plus assist matches to her credit and has also collected five double-doubles and even earned the leagues' defensive player of the week honor on Oct. 18.

MILESTONE DIG: With her final dig in the sweep of South Dakota on Sept. 25, senior captain Courtney Halvorson registered the 1,000th dig of her UND career. Halvorson currently leads the Sioux with 296 digs on the season, bringing her career total to 1,045.

JOKI, MUNKEBY SHARE GREAT WEST WEEKLY ACCOLADES: Redshirt freshman Ronni Munkeby became the sixth different Sioux player to earn a Great West weekly honor and senior captain Erin Joki claimed her second after league officials announced last wee's recipients on Tuesday. Munkeby shared the defensive honor with Houston Baptist's Courtney Whittleman, while Joki shared the offensive honor with the Huskies' Isis Gardner. For Munkeby, it is her first career accolade, while Joki now has three and is the first UND player to double-up on weekly honors this season. 

KRUEGER BECOMES FIFTH SIOUX TO EARN WEEKLY LEAGUE HONORS:  When doling out weekly defensive awards, a setter is usually not the first candidate for conference officials to consider. But, when someone in your league turns in an all-around performance like the one Ellen Krueger put together for the Fighting Sioux on Oct. 14 against rival South Dakota, thinking outside the box can be justified. And, that is exactly what happened when GWC officials named Krueger their Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 19. The true freshman had a career-high 15 digs and added three block assists in the 3-1 victory over the Coyotes as UND built a two-game cushion on the rest of the Great West teams.

JOKI TABS GREAT WEST WEEKLY ACCOLADE: Senior Erin Joki was the fourth Fighting Sioux player to earn a weekly honor from the Great West when league officials named her the Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 5. Joki led UND with 17 kills in a 3-1 victory over Utah Valley (Oct. 2). The 17 kills equaled Joki's career-high that she set earlier this season in a home match against Gonzaga (Aug. 28). 

RUSSELL COLLECTS GREAT WEST WEEKLY DEFENSIVE HONOR: Junior Tiara Russell became the second Sioux player to earn Great West Defensive Player of the Week honors this season, league officials announced on Sept. 28. UND opened league play with a sweep of South Dakota as Russell and the Sioux defense limited the Coyotes to a .073 hitting percentage. Russell had seven total blocks, including five in the pivotal second set that the UND dominated (25-13). 

SIOUX SWEEP FIRST GREAT WEST WEEKLY HONORS: Senior libero Courtney Halvorson and junior outside hitter Devin Trefz were both honored on Aug. 30 by the Great West, as league officials announced their first volleyball weekly honors of the 2010 season. Halvorson collected the first weekly accolade of her career, being named the defensive player of the week, while  Trefz earned her second offensive player of the week honor.

STAMP IT: Two long winning streaks came to a close with a setback to Drake on Aug. 28, but both will go down in program history as all-time bests. The Sioux saw their overall winning streak reach 15 games by opening the Classic with three straight victories and their home-court winning streak reached an impressive 11 matches.

* Both streaks dated back to the beginning of the 2009 season

WHAT'S BACK: Second-year head coach Ashley Hardee has seven letterwinners back from his 2009 Great West Championship club and three starters from that unit. Returning all-conference performers are junior outside hitters Devin Trefz (368 kills) and Annika Smed (308 kills). Senior Erin Joki also returns to her right side position as she was one of five different Sioux players to earn a Great West weekly accolade in 2009. Joki was fourth in kills (176) and fifth in total blocks (54) on the team. Senior Courtney Halvorson, a defensive specialist for most of her career, will move into the libero spot vacated by UND's all-time digs leader Lindsay Vortherms. Junior Tia Russell will also get more of an opportunity to play in the middle after the departure of senior middle blocker Britta Hanson, who finished on a number of top 10 career lists after a four-year career at UND. Also returning to the back row is junior defensive specialist Taylor Bohannon, who ranked fifth on the club in 2009 with 140 digs.

WHAT'S NEW: The setter position that was held down by 2009 Great West Setter of the Year Megan Langseth will be occupied this season by a true freshman. Both Nikki Husfeldt and Ellen Krueger have been battling for that starting spot throughout fall camp and have both seen extensive action during the early portions of the schedule. Transfers Lisa Parlich (Colorado State) and Kaci Miller (San Jose State) add length to the club and will provide depth for the middle, as will redshirt freshman Ronni Munkeby. The true freshmen duo of Caitlin Schumacher and Erica Turner could also see action on the back row as defensive specialists.

FIRST YEAR SUCCESS: UND head coach Ashley Hardee was one of five first-year head coaches at the Division I level to win at least 20 games in 2009. Hardee joined Arkansas State's Justin Ingram (22), Austin Peay's Mike Johnson (22), Illinois' Kevin Hambly (26) and UC-Irvine's Paula Weishoff (22) in that club.  His. 786 winning percentage (22-6) trailed only Hambly's tally of .813 (26-6).