#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle volleyball will be back on the road this weekend as they make one of their longest conference road trips of the season. The Golden Eagles will head to Augustana and No. 1 Wayne State College this Friday and Saturday. The Golden Eagles wrapped-up a four match homestand on Tuesday night against No. 6 St. Cloud State, a match the Huskies would win. The Golden Eagles picked up their first conference win of the season against the University of Mary, a five-set thriller. Minnesota Crookston will look to knock off a pair of outstanding teams this weekend.

·   MORE OF MAYA. The exciting thing for the Golden Eagles is they should have an amazingly bright future. Jones had a pretty solid homestand where she averaged 13.5 kills per match, including 18 in back-to-back matches against Minot State and UMary. Jones has hit over .100 in five straight matches, including hitting above .265 in three straight matches. Jones also had just under 150 total attacks in four matches against opponents in the homestand. Jones continues to get better and better and she will look to continue her strong play on the road in tough environments.

• SPOOKY MONTH. October is typically one of the spookiest months of the year and it culminates with Halloween on the last day of the month. This month for the Golden Eagles will be spooky from an opponent's standpoint. Including Tuesday night against St. Cloud State, Minnesota Crookston will play a whopping four ranked opponents this month, all of which are ranked in the top-15. The Golden Eagles will play Minnesota Duluth, Concordia-St. Paul, Southwest Minnesota State and got the lucky draw of playing No. 1 Wayne State College twice, including their first match of November. The Golden Eagles have an awfully tough schedule, but the young Golden Eagles will learn a lot from this stretch.

·  CONSISTENTLY MARA. The Golden Eagles continue to get outstanding play from one of their two seniors, Mara Weisensel. Ever since she stepped foot on campus back in 2020, Weisensel has been about as consistent as can be. Weisensel is on pace to have an attacking percentage over .200 again this season, which would be back-to-back seasons amassing that clip. She would be the first Golden Eagle to do so since Kelsi Green did it back in 2015 and 2016. In fact, Green did it in three straight seasons. Weisensel is a veteran that the Golden Eagles will continue to look for to get them a big point.

·   GRIT AND GRIND.  In order to play a top-ten team solid, you're going to have to show some grit. That is exactly what the Golden Eagles did against the Huskies. There were plenty of long rallies and there were some balls hit that the Golden Eagles refused to see touch the floor. That grit turned into grind later on in the match, as the Golden Eagles were within one on two different occasions late in set three. The Golden Eagles are scrappy and will hopefully continue to be a tough out for every opponent left on their schedule.

·    GROWTH FROM MADI. The Golden Eagles seemingly have more weapons this season than they have had in previous seasons. Whether it is Weisensel, Jones, Audrey Cariveau, Emma Malek or the aforementioned Madison Carsten, the Golden Eagles could go to a number of targets to get them a point. Much like Jones, Carsten had a great first two matches at home against the Beavers and Marauders, finishing with 16 and 17 kills, respectively, in the two matches. On the year, Carsten has three double-doubles on the season, including a 23 dig performance against the Marauders. Minnesota Crookston will continue to go to Carsten this season and future seasons.

·   SET WITH MELBY. Dana Melby has been really solid this season at the setter position for the Golden Eagles. After switching from basketball to volleyball this season, it took a while for Melby to settle in at the setter position, but she is seemingly starting to learn the caveats of playing a tricky position. In the first match of the homestand, Melby finished with 41 assists and then followed that up with a career-high 55 against UMary. Melby has also been getting it done defensively, as she has five or more digs in all but one match this season and has five double-doubles on the season. Melby also leads the team with 14 service aces on the season.

• HIGH IQ. One of the things that makes Kailee Waasdorp so good in the back row is how well she knows volleyball. The freshman always seems to know where the ball is going to land and because of that, she is always there to dig the ball more often than not. Waasdorp leads the team with 243 digs and ranks in the top-100 nationally with digs and digs per set. It has been an outstanding start to the career of the West Fargo native.

·   36.08. 36.08 is the number of total attacks per set that the Golden Eagles have had this season. It is the only team category that they rank in the top-100 in and they rank fourth in that category in the NSIC. Minnesota Crookston would like to see some of those attacks turn into more kills.


Series Quick Look (Augustana)

• Augustana leads the all-time series 22-0
• The Vikings have swept the Golden Eagles in nine straight matches

Series Quick Look (Wayne State College)

• WSC leads 32-2
• WSC has won the last 26 matches
• The Golden Eagles last win came in 2004

Minnesota Crookston @ Augustana
Sioux Falls, S.D. / Elmen Center
Oct. 6
6 P.M.
Live Stats - https://goaugie.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live - https://nsicnetwork.com/goaugie/


Minnesota Crookston @ No. 1 Wayne State College
Wayne, Neb. / Rice Auditorium
Oct. 7
4 P.M.
Live Stats - https://wscwildcats.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live - https://nsicnetwork.com/wscwildcats/


#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

AUGUSTANA. Augustana has had the Golden Eagles number as of late. Although the Vikings got off to an 0-4 start, they have somewhat rebounded, coming into this weekend at 5-9. They have a huge win over a ranked opponent this season, a five-set victory on the road at No. 11 Minnesota Duluth. The Vikings could be a team to watch in the NSIC.

DOUBLE K. Kia Kriener is an attacker that the Vikings can rely on when they need a point. The graduate student from Okoboji, Iowa brings experience and athleticism to the Vikings. Kriener has more than 10 kills in all but three matches this season and is coming off a season-high 21 kills in a four-set loss to ranked Southwest Minnesota State. Kriener ranks in the top-10 in the NSIC in a number of categories including total attacks, kills and kills per set.

ATTACKS PER SET. On Friday night, fans could see a ton of attacks per set from both teams. Augustana ranks fifth in the NSIC, while Minnesota Crookston ranks fourth in that same category. There could be a ton of attacks from both sides this Friday night in the Elmen Center.

DIGS GALORE. It's another match where there will be two outstanding back row players for both teams. Kailee Waasdorp for Minnesota Crookston and Erika Bute for Augustana. The fifth year senior from Alton, Minn., is 14th nationally in digs per set and has more than ten digs in all but one match. Bute has dig numbers of 39, 32, 27 and 22, which she has done multiple times. Bute is one of the best in the NSIC

WAYNE STATE COLLEGE. The Wildcats are the best team in the nation and at this point, have to be one of the favorites to win the National title. The Wildcats have so many weapons on the attacking side and are outstanding in the back row. WSC is 15-1 on the season with their lone loss to No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul in non-conference action.

ALL WAYNE DOES IS WIN. Wayne State College is one of the most consistent programs in the nation. Scott Kneifl is in his 19th season at the helm of the Wildcats and he has brought WSC into traditional power status. Under the direction of the Nebraska native, the Wildcats have been to 12 NCAA tournament appearances and have won more than 20 matches in every season. The only thing missing is that elusive National title and the Wildcats are as good as anyone this season.

TERRIFIC TRIO. The Wildcats are the No. 1 team in the nation for a number of reasons and a big part is the trio of Taya Beller, Maggie Brahmer and Kelsie Cada. All three have over 170 kills on the season, while Brahmer and Beller each rank in the top five in the NSIC in total kills. The Wildcats rely on these three for offense and more often than not, they get it from them.


CREAM OF THE CROP. It's no shock that the top team in the nation is going to rank in the top-15 in the nation in a bunch of team categories. That is no different for Wayne State College. The Wildcats rank second nationally in hitting percentage and fourth nationally with a 93 percent winning percentage. WSC ranks 15th nationally in blocks per set, 21st nationally in assists per set and are a top-50 team in a number of different categories.