UP NEXT FOR NORTH DAKOTA: The Fighting Sioux will look to defend their four-match winning streak against Chicago State as they host the Cougars in Great West Conference action on Saturday afternoon. The match is set to begin at 5 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
LIVE FROM GRAND FORKS: Links to live stats and a live audio/video webcast for both matches are available on FightingSioux.com, the official home of North Dakota athletics.
SERIES HISTORY ... CHICAGO STATE
SERIES OPENER: On Oct. 23, 2009, North Dakota picked up a then-school-record sixth straight sweep, blanking visiting Chicago State 3-0 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center ... Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) registered her team leading sixth double-double of the season with match-highs in both kills (11) and digs (13) ... Nine different Fighting Sioux players tallied a kill in the contest as the home team dominated that category 43-10 ... UND equaled its season-high attack percentage with a .330 clip (43k-13e-91a), while holding the Cougars to just a -.089 (10k-18e-90k) mark ... The Sioux established a season-high with 12 service aces as Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.) led that effort with a career-high seven ... Megan Langseth (Alexandria, Minn.) equaled her career-high with four. Langseth also added 31 assists in the victory.
REMEMBER LAST TIME: On Nov. 4, 2010, the Fighting Sioux clinched a share of the Great West Conference regular season title after sweeping Chicago State at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. The 10th straight win for the Sioux allowed the reigning champs to remain unbeaten in league play. The victory also pushed UND to the 20-win plateau for the third straight season, which is a first in program history ... Erin Joki (Grand Rapids, Minn.) led all players with 14 kills on just 21 swings to equal her career high hitting percentage of .667. Joki had seven of her kills in the final set as the Sioux swept the Cougars for the fourth straight time ... Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.) each added 10 kills in the victory as the Sioux hit .396 for the match, while holding CSU to a -.038 clip.
NOTING THE COUGARS (1-18, 0-3 GWC): Picked to finish sixth on the 2011 Great West Conference Coaches Poll, Chicago State finished the 2010 season 0-33 overall and 0-12 in the league to finish seventh ... On Aug. 30, the Cougars snapped a three-year, 94-match losing streak with a road sweep over Judson ... Chicago State opened the GWC schedule with losses to Texas-Pan American (2-3) and Houston Baptist (1-3), the then fell this past weekend to Utah Valley (0-3) ... Leading the Cougar offense is Sydney Van Munster with 126 kills (2.07/set) and Emily Kramolisch with a team-high 310 assists (5.08/set) and 16 service aces (0.18/set) ... Defensively, Mysta Townsell has 263 digs (4.31/set) and Van Munster has totaled 21 blocks, including nine solo stops ...Chicago State is coached by Bob Eskew, who is in his second season at the helm of the Cougars.
NOTING THE SIOUX (13-4, 1-1 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 picking up an exciting sweep over former North Central Conference rival South Dakota State at home (Sept. 27), UND's seven-match winning streak came to an end as it fell to Utah Valley 3-1 in the GWC opener last Saturday ... The Fighting Sioux tallied their first GWC win of the season after sweeping the visiting NJIT Highlanders for the fifth straight time ... Offensively, the Sioux are led by senior outside hitter Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.), who has tallied 183 kills (2.90/set) and 27 service aces (0.43/set) ... Senior outside hitter Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) has recorded 149 kills (2.37/set) and redshirt freshman Nikki Husfeldt (Andover, Minn.) leads the team with 630 assists (10.16/set) ... Defensively, senior libero Taylor Bohannon (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. tops the team with 203 digs (3.17/set) and senior middle blocker Tia Russell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) has registered a team-high 80 blocks, including 10 solo stops ... North Dakota is coached by two-time Great West Conference Coach of the Year Ashley Hardee (60-15), who is in his third season.
ON A NATIONAL NOTE: While in transition towards full NCAA Division I status, the Fighting Sioux are not included in the national rankings. However, if they were, the team would be ranked ninth with 4.92 blocks/set and 43rd with a .750 winning percentage. In addition, sophomore middle blocker Lisa Parlich (Delavan, Wis.) would be ranked 45th with an average of 1.21 blocks/set.
IN IT TO WIN IT: The Fighting Sioux are nearing their 200th home victory, but no matter if they win out both the regular season and the Great West Conference Tournament, the Sioux will have to wait until 2012 to celebrate ... UND tallied its 100th home win on Oct. 6, 1995 with a 3-2 (15-13, 15-5, 6-15, 9-15, 17-15) victory over Minnesota State in a North Central Conference match ... The 1995 team was coached by Nancy Clark (1993-95), who finished her tenure at UND with a 38-58 career record.
RECORD REWIND: The University of North Dakota volleyball program holds a 565-688-3 (.450) record all-time since the first game was played on Sept. 22, 1976. Under head coach Ashley Hardee, UND is 60-15 (.800).
PROTECT AND SERVE: All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 192-183 (.512) when it comes to defending their own court ... The Sioux are just eight wins away from their 200th home victory.
LET'S GET BETTY TO RUMBLE: North Dakota is 56-29 (.659) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004 season. Under head coach Ashley Hardee, UND is 24-2 (.923).
Click on the PDF link above to view the complete game notes release ...
- Go Sioux -
