#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle volleyball will see a quick turnaround this weekend. To open up 2023, they left on Wednesday morning for Marquette, Mich., played four matches and got back on Saturday around 9:30 P.M. This weekend, the Golden Eagles will see a similar schedule, except they will have their transportation by air, as opposed to bus. The maroon and gold will head deep into the heart of Texas; Odessa to be exact. The 1-3 Golden Eagles played very well at times at the UP Open, but came away with one win. The Golden Eagles will look to finish the job in four matches in Texas, starting with host school Texas Permian Basin on Thursday at 4 P.M.

·   THE WAAS. The Golden Eagles played really good volleyball last weekend. One person that stood out was freshman Kailee Waasdorp. 'Waas' was outstanding, playing in her first career collegiate matches. The West Fargo native didn't take long to adjust to the speed of the game, finishing with 19 digs in the four set loss to Northern Michigan. It didn't take long for number six to upstage her Thursday performance, finishing with a wild 31 digs in the four set win over Lake Superior State, the most by a Golden Eagle since Katie Lienemann finished with 39 in 2019. Waasdorp ended the weekend with 71 digs and it might not be long until she is setting a new career-high.

• NEW SPORT, NO PROBLEM. It would probably shock a lot of people when we say that a year ago, Dana Melby was preparing for a different sport on the hardwood: basketball. Fast forward a year later and Melby has taken the reins of setter and has run with it. The redshirt freshman from Gonvick, Minn., was solid this past weekend, finishing with 99 assists and 33 digs. Melby had two double-doubles on the weekend, finishing with 25 assists and 12 digs against Northern Michigan and 35 assists and 13 digs against Lake Superior State. The Golden Eagles might have found their setter of the future and she was trying to put a ball in a basket in 2022.

·  CONSISTENCY. This past weekend, the Golden Eagles started five freshmen in all four matches in the UP Open. The one 'upper classman' that did start? That would be Audrey Cariveau. The Kevil, Kent., native joined the five freshmen in the starting rotation and was solid. The sophomore finished with 34 kills, which led the team through four matches. To go along with the team lead in kills, she also leads her team in kills per set and points per set. Cariveau will be looked upon this season and she got off to a good start this past weekend.

·   NOT HARD FOR CARSTEN.  It's not that the game of volleyball is easy, because it is not, but Madison Carsten made it look like a fairly simple game this past weekend. Sure, there were some bumps and bruises for the Wadena native, but there were also a lot of highlights. The freshman finished with 31 kills, not far behind the team lead, while also playing all six rotations. Carsten finished with 117 total attacks and has the highest hitting percentage on the team with over 90 total attacks. Carsten hit a career-high .303 in the win against Lake Superior State.

·    DON'T ASK WEI. Mara Weisensel may not have started in two matches this past weekend, but she made a heck of an impact. In the Golden Eagles first match against Northern Michigan, the Golden Eagles turned to the reliable Weisensel. Weisensel finished with seven kills on just 17 total attacks, as well as a block. She then followed that up with an even better match against Lake Superior State, finishing with nine kills on 21, good for a season-high .333 attacking percentage. Weisensel hit above .200 in three of the four matches and she will look to continue that great play this weekend in Texas where she will be relied upon as a vested veteran.

·   THAT'S A GOOD SIGN. It is a very small sample size, but one thing that head coach Nick Meseck has to love is the opponent hitting percentage. Through four matches, opponents are hitting just .189 against the Golden Eagles and that number is inflated due to Michigan Tech hitting an outstanding .300 against the maroon and gold in their last match on Saturday. Through their first three matches on Thursday and Friday, the Golden Eagles forced a whopping 62 attacking errors, which is the most in a three game span since last season when they forced 65 in three matches against MSU Moorhead, Northern State and Minot State. If the Golden Eagles can limit their opponents to an attacking percentage like that, they should love their chances to be very competitive this season.

• WALK THE LINE. The Golden Eagles were at a huge advantage this weekend at one of the important parts of the game this past weekend; the service line. Although they finished with just 14 service aces on the weekend, they had just 30 serving errors, compared to 39 by their opponents. The Golden Eagles will look to continue their strong servicing this weekend.

·   MJ. Highly touted freshman Maya Jones hardly came off the floor this past weekend. Jones was solid in almost every rotation, evident by her 28 digs on the weekend, highlighted by a career-high 12 in her very first match on Thursday night against Northern Michigan. Jones has a huge right-handed swing, which was on display on Friday against Lake Superior State, where she finished with a career-high 10 kills on 31 total attacks, which tied a career-high. When Jones gets comfortable on the right side, it could be a long day for some NSIC opponents this season.

Weekly Schedule
Minnesota Crookston @ Texas Permian Basin 
Sept. 7 / 4 P.M.

Minnesota Crookston vs St. Mary's
Sept. 8 / 11 A.M.

Minnesota Crookston vs University of the Southwest
Sept. 8 / 3 P.M.

Minnesota Crookston vs Eastern New Mexico
Sept. 9 / 9 A.M.


Series Quick Look (Texas Permian Basin)
These two programs have never met


Series Quick Look (St. Mary's University)
The Golden Eagles won the last matchup in 2013 in four sets

Series Quick Look (University of the SW)
These two programs have never met

Series Quick Look (Eastern New Mexico)
These two programs have never met

How to Follow
Live Stats - https://utpbfalcons.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary

Watch Live ($) - https://lonestarconferencenetwork.com/utpb/



AVCA Division II Poll

1. West Texas A & M (41)
2. Concordia-St. Paul (3)
3. Wayne State College
4. Tampa
5. St. Cloud State
6. MSU Denver
7. Minnesota Duluth
8. Missouri-St. Louis
9. Cal State San Bernardino (2)
10. Nebraska-Kearney
11. Southwest Minnesota State
12. Barry
13. West Florida
14. Colorado Mesa
15. Northwest Missouri State
16. Cal State Los Angeles
17. Washburn
18. Wingate
19. Regis
20. Chaminade
21. Alaska-Anchorage
22. Western Washington
23. Central Washington
24. Cal Poly Pomona
25. Harding

#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

TEXAS PERMIAN BASIN. The Falcons are off to an impressive 3-1 start on the season, falling to Angelo State to wrap-up their tournament in San Angelo, Texas last weekend. This is their second straight season starting out the season by winning three out of four matches to open up the regular season.

GTG. 'GTG' obviously stands for go to Gloria. That was seemingly the answer last weekend for UTPB. The Falcons leaned on their senior from Corpus Christi, Texas, including in their five-set win over Henderson State, where she finished with 21 kills on over 65 total attacks. Her next highest kill total was seven. She leads her team in kills through four matches, so she will be at the top of the scouting report this weekend for the Golden Eagles.

ST. MARY'S. The Rattlers are 2-2 on the season, but fell to the number one team in the nation, West Texas A & M, in three sets last weekend. St. Mary's took the defending national champions to the brink in sets two and three, falling 22-25 and 26-28, respectively. Unlike the other three opponents this weekend for the Golden Eagles, they have played the Rattlers before, a four-set win in 2013 for the maroon and gold.

A WALL AT THE NET. Josie Disponette may not have dynamic offensive numbers, but she has been outstanding on the other side of the net. The senior from Kentucky has 11 kills on the season, which ranks 20th in the Lone Star Conference. She and Dallasstar Johnson have combined for 21 total blocks on the season.

UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTHWEST. The Mustangs have already played in five matches and are 0-5 heading into this weekend, including a loss to Texas Permian Basin earlier this season. These two programs have never met, so one of the teams will be looking for win number one in the all-time series.

EASTERN NEW MEXICO. The Greyhounds will head into this weekend with a 1-3 record on the season, with their lone win a clean sweep of West Alabama. They did have a pair of heartbreaking losses in five sets to Western Colorado and Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Greyhounds will look to reverse their fortune this weekend.

MAKE NO MISTAKES. Mikaela Garvin will look to continue her outstanding offensive output this weekend against the Golden Eagles. The senior from San Antonio didn't make very many mistakes this past weekend, finishing with 54 kills, which puts her in the top five in the Lone Star Conference. Garvin opened up her season with 19 kills against Western Colorado and followed that up with 17 against Southwestern Oklahoma State and 12 against West Alabama. Garvin will be a tough person to defend this weekend.