UP NEXT FOR NORTH DAKOTA: This week, the Fighting Sioux head out on a three-match Texas roadswing ... On Thursday, Oct. 13, the Sioux will take on the Houston Baptist Huskies, who are currently undefeated in Great West Conference play ... On Saturday, Oct. 15, UND will face Texas-Pan American, and the following day, the team will step onto the court to tackle first time opponent Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in non-conference action.
LIVE FROM TEXAS: Check FightingSioux.com for links to live stats.
SERIES HISTORY ... HOUSTON BAPTIST
SERIES OPENER: North Dakota opened the series against Houston Baptist with a 1-3 loss to the Huskies at the Bryant National Transitional Tournament in Smithfield, R.I., on Nov. 14, 2008.
REMEMBER LAST TIME: On Nov. 11, 2010, the Fighting Sioux tied a then single-season school record by picking up its 12th straight win after defeating Houston Baptist, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-19) ... Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Ellen Krueger (Lakeville, Minn.) both had double-doubles in the victory as the Sioux offense hit .232, while the defense held HBU to just a .132 attack percentage ... It was Smed's 13th double-double of the season as she put down 11 kills and registered a team-high 17 digs ... Krueger's double-double was her sixth as she had a match-high 32 assists and also added 11 digs.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES (16-5, 3-0 GWC): Picked to finish third in the 2011 Great West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, Houston Baptist finished the 2010 season with a record of 17-13 overall and a 7-5 in the league to finish fourth ... The Huskies stepped into the conference season holding a record of 12-5 ... HBU opened GWC play with 3-1 victories over NJIT (Sept. 29) and Chicago State (Oct. 1) ... The Huskies posted a five-set win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christ ( Oct. 6) before tallying a road sweep over Texas-Pan American (Oct. 8) ... Heading into this week's matches, HBU is led by Heather Leaverton, who is averaging 2.87 kills/set ... Victoria Weatherly has posted a team-high 647 assists and Courtney Whittleman has landed 20 service aces ... On defense, Jasmine Casey leads the team with 164 digs (2.69/set) and Jollie Graf has recorded a team-high 62 blocks, including 15 solo stops ... The Huskies and Utah Valley currently sit as the only two undefeated teams in the Great West ... Houston Baptist is coached by Kaddie Platt, who is in her 16th season at the helm of the Huskies.
SERIES HISTORY ... TEXAS-PAN AMERICAN
SERIES OPENER: North Dakota's trio of Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.), Amanda Polzin (Hutchinson, Minn.) and Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) keyed an overpowering offensive attack as the Fighting Sioux rolled to a 3-0 sweep of Texas Pan-American on Sept. 19, 2009 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center ... Trefz and Smed each had a match-high 12 kills, while Polzin added 10 to pace a Sioux offense that connected on a .303 attack percentage ... The UND defense was equally as stout, holding the visitors to .067 attack percentage ... Megan Langseth had 34 assists for the Sioux and Lindsay Vortherms had a team-high 10 digs.
REMEMBER LAST TIME: North Dakota advanced to the championship match of the 2010 Great West Conference Tournament with a straight-set victory over Texas-Pan American on Nov. 20, 2010 ... Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) posted her 14th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 12 digs. She was joined in double-figure kills by senior Erin Joki (Grand Rapids, Minn.) and Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.), who each had 11 in the contest ... Smed, a first team All-Great West honoree, led the defensive effort that saw four Sioux players register at least eight digs and held UTPA to a .053 attack percentage (29k-23e-113a) ... Erica Turner (Andover, Minn.) had 12 digs, while Taylor Bohannon (Inver Grove, Minn.) added nine and Courtney Halvorson (Oklee, Minn.) contributed eight.
SCOUTING THE BRONCS (5-15, 1-2 GWC): Picked to finish fourth in the Great West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, Texas-Pan American finished the 2010 season 9-22 overall and 4-8 in the league to finish fifth ... The Broncs stepped into the GWC schedule with a 3-13 record after picking up three-set sweeps over Morgan State (Sept. 17) and Universidad Autonoma De Nuevo Leon (Sept. 20) ... UTPA opened conference play with a 3-2 win over Chicago State (Sept. 29), but then fell to NJIT 0-3 two days later ... The team picked up a 3-2 non-conference victory over Prairie View on Oct. 3, but followed with a loss (0-3) to Houston Baptist ... Prior to taking on the Fighting Sioux, the Broncs will face the undefeated Utah Valley Wolverines ... UTPA is led by Ijanae Holman, who is averaging 2.41 kills/set and 2.29 digs/set ... Shauna Miller has recorded 449 assists and Juri Franzen has posted a team-high 18 service aces and 258 digs ... Sarah Davis leads the team with 47 blocks, including four block solos ... Texas-Pan American is coached by Brian Vale, who is in his first season at the helm of the Broncs.
SERIES HISTORY ... TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
SCOUTING THE ISLANDERS (9-13, 1-5 SLC): Picked to finish ninth on the 2011 Southland Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished the 2010 season 12-18 overall and 5-11 in the league to finish fifth ... Before hosting the Fighting Sioux, the Islanders will face Nicholls (Oct. 13) and Southeastern Louisiana (Oct. 15) ... TAMCC is led by Brooke Alverson, who is averaging 2.36 kills/set ... Logan Bourque has tallied 765 assists (9.22/set) and Michah Nolan has 21 service aces ... Nolan also leads the defense with 417 digs (5.02/set) and Alverson leads the team with 65 blocks, including 10 solo stops ... Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is coached by Tony Graystone, who is in his third season at the helm of the Islanders.
NOTING THE SIOUX (15-4, 2-1 GWC): Selected by the league's coaches to win the 2011 Great West Conference title, North Dakota finished the 2010 season 25-5 overall and 12-0 in the league to win both the regular season and tournament title ... After falling to Utah Valley 1-3 in the GWC opener (Oct. 1), the Fighting Sioux bounced back with three straight sweeps. All on their home court, the Sioux toppled NJIT (Oct. 6), Chicago Sate (Oct. 8) and Minot State (Oct. 10) ... Heading into its Texas road trip, North Daktoa is led by senior outside hitter Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.), who has recorded 195 kills (2.95/set) and 27 aces ... Redshirt freshman setter Nikki Husfeldt (Andover, Minn.) has totaled 687 assists for an average of 10.25/set ... Defensively, the Sioux are led by senior libero Taylor Bohonnon's (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) 240 digs (3.43/set) and senior middle blocker Tia Russell's (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) 84 total blocks (10 solo ... North Dakota is coached by two-time Great West Conference Coach of the Year Ashley Hardee (62-15), who is in his third season.
ON A NATIONAL SCALE: Due to North Dakota's transitional status, the Fighting Sioux are not included in the NCAA Division I national rankings. However, if they were, the Sioux would have a few things to brag about.
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UND would be ranked No. 10 with an average of 2.94 blocks per set*.
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UND would be tied with five other teams (Texas A&M, Louisville, Michigan, North Carolina, and Michigan State) with a .778 winning percentage*.
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With a average of .42 aces/set* senior outside hitter
Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.) would be tied at the No. 48 spot with Utah Valley's McKenna Tait.
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With an average of 1.24 blocks/set*, senior middle blocker
Tia Russell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) would be listed No. 43 on the national list.
* Through matches Oct. 9
RECORD REWIND: The University of North Dakota volleyball program holds a 567-688-3 (.451) record all-time since the first game was played on Sept. 22, 1976. Under head coach Ashley Hardee, UND is 62-15 (.805).
PROTECT AND SERVE: All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 194-183 (.515) when it comes to defending their own court ... The Sioux are just six wins away from their 200th home victory.
LET'S GET BETTY TO RUMBLE: North Dakota is 58-29 (.667) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004 season. Under head coach Ashley Hardee, UND is 26-2 (.929).
Click the PDF link above to view the complete game notes release ...
- Go Sioux -
