Women's Volleyball | 9/17/2025 1:45:00 PM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle volleyball continued their outstanding start to the season last weekend at the Maverick Invite, hosted by NSIC foe Minnesota State. The Golden Eagles finished the weekend 2-2, with a four-set win over former NSIC opponent Upper Iowa and a dominant sweep over Lake Superior State. The Golden Eagles fell to Chadron State and Quincy, both in straight sets. Their 6-2 start is one of the best in the Division II era and is a really nice head start for the Golden Eagles as they enter NSIC play. This weekend, the fun starts. Conference play begins for the Golden Eagles, who welcome in Wayne State College for their home opener and close out the weekend with Augustana. It should be a fun weekend in Crookston with a pair of elite programs coming to town.

·   ALL-TOURNEY TEAM. For the second time in her young career, redshirt sophomore Carizma Muth has made a non-conference tournament all-tournament team. Muth's first honor came last year at the Yellow Jacket Classic, hosted by Black Hills State. This year, she was named to the Maverick Invite all-tournament team after a stellar weekend. The Randolph, Wis., native finished with a pair of double-doubles against Upper Iowa and Chadron State, ending with a season-high 16 digs against the Eagles. Muth also hit .320 in a win over Lake Superior State, which is a season-high for her with more than 20 attacks. If the Golden Eagles get this Carizma on a nightly basis, they have to like their chances against a ton of opponents.

·   ONCE AN OPPONENT, NOW A COACH. This Saturday's match will feature a familiar foe for someone on the Golden Eagle bench. Kia Kreiner, is in her first season as an assistant coach for the maroon and gold and is off to a nice start to her coaching career, helping the Golden Eagles to a 6-2 record. This Saturday, the Golden Eagles welcome in Augustana, Kreiner's alma mater. The Iowan spent five seasons playing for the Vikings and finished her career with more than 500 kills her final two seasons playing for Jennifer Jacobs. In her second to last collegiate game, Kreiner finished with 18 kills and had an attacking percentage of more than .350 against the Golden Eagles in 2023, sweeping the maroon and gold.

·   ADRIENNE!  Freshman Adrienne Venditto got her first real run this past weekend at the Maverick Invite and made the most of it. The former Grand Rapids High School star was solid. Venditto played in just one set against Chadron State, but finished with three service aces in that set and also finished with a dig. The next day, the first year Golden Eagle saw time in all three sets against Quincy and finished with a career-high five digs. Venditto's versatility makes her a valuable player for the maroon and gold.

·  THE MIDDLE IS MALEK'S. If you were to make a list of consistent Golden Eagles through the first eight matches, the list would be pretty long, which is a good thing. One of the top names you'd see on that list is Emma Malek. The junior from Illinois has played in every match and every set this year and has yet to have a match with less than four kills. Malek finished with 11 kills on 20 total attacks, finishing with an attacking percentage of .450. She was just three kills shy of a career high in kills. Malek and Lexi Scharold have proven to be solid in the middle so far this season.

• MAKE THEM EARN IT. The Golden Eagles have done a lot of really good things this year and that includes the service line. Minnesota Crookston has 56 service aces on the season and do not have a match this season with less than five as a team. Also through eight matches, Minnesota Crookston has yet to have less service aces than their opponents in all but one match, which is also a very important number. Against the quality of opponents that Golden Eagles will see this year, Minnesota Crookston will have to continue to serve and serve receive at a high rate.

·   DEFENSE WAAS IMPRESSIVE. Kailee Waasdorp is having as good a season as any defensive specialist in the entire country. Through eight matches and two weekends, the junior from West Fargo still ranks among the top-five in digs per set (second) and digs (third) across the entire nation. Waasdorp already has three matches this season with 30 or more digs, which matches her career total already through eight matches. The Golden Eagles have one of the best defensive specialists in the entire nation and she wears No. 6 in a different colored jersey on most nights.

• WILT CHAMBERLAIN OR MADISON CARSTEN? Wilt Chamberlain leads the NBA all time with more than 960 double-doubles in his career. Madison Carsten is filling up the stat sheet, much like Chamberlain did in his career. Sure, it's a different sport, but a double-double is a double-double. The junior from Wadena, Minn., has six double-doubles already on the season, which is already just two shy of her career-high, which she set last season when she finished with eight. Carsten leads the NSIC in both attacks and attacks per set and sits second in total kills with 125. It's been a blazing start for the junior and she will look for continued success this weekend against two quality opponents on the other side of the net.

·   DEFENSIVELY SOUND. Minnesota Crookston has been outstanding getting back into their offense this season. The Golden Eagles, led by more than six digs per set from Waasdorp, currently lead the Northern Sun with more that 18 digs per set as a team, which also ranks in the top-15 in the entire country. Along with that, the Golden Eagles lead the NSIC with 523 total digs on the season, which also equates to total attacks per set, in which they have more than 40 per every set. In order to pull off some upsets in this league, defense stands at the forefront and so far, so good for the Golden Eagles.

Series Quick Look vs the opponents
Wayne State College Leads the all-time series 35-2 and rides a 29 match win streak
Augustana is 24-1 against the Golden Eagles all-time


How to Follow
Wayne State College @ Minnesota Crookston
Friday, Sept. 19
6 P.M.
Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Live Stats -- https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/

Augustana @ Minnesota Crookston
Saturday, Sept. 20
2 P.M.
Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Live Stats -- https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/

#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

WAYNE STATE COLLEGE. The Golden Eagles will undoubtedly see their stiffest challenge of the season this Friday night when the Wildcats come to town. The Wildcats once again are ranked in the nation at No. 17. The Wildcats are 6-2 on the year and look well on their way to being at the top at the NSIC once again.

ANY RELATION TO RAY? The NSIC has a long history of having some of the nation's best setters. So far this season, Molly Romano has seemingly continued that tradition. This season, the league has a number of outstanding setters and Romano is assuredly near the top of that list. The sophomore from Council Bluffs, Iowa ranks in the top 10 nationally in assists, but is fourth with her 309 total assists. Romano ranks sixth in the NSIC with over 10 assists per set. Romano has more than 25 assists in every match and is coming off a career best 52 in her last outing against Missouri Western.

PICK YOUR POISON. What helps Romano be so successful is the fact that Wildcats have a number of attackers that can get them a point at any given time. WSC has four attackers with more than 60 kills and three with more than 80 kills, led by sophomore Chloe Hanel and her 94 kills on the season. WSC has a number of attackers that can hurt opponents and that will be on display this Friday night.

AUGUSTANA. The Vikings and Golden Eagles have identical records heading into this weekend at 6-2. The Vikings already have three, five set wins this season and have won in three sets just once this season. The Vikings have multiple ways to win and will look to continue that this weekend as they make the Moorhead-Crookston trip.

MASSIVE NUMBERS FROM MAYA. Senior Maya Wente has been a really good player for a number of years for the Vikings. She has turned it up another notch this season for Augustana. Wente, the reigning NSIC Defensive Player of the Week, has 123 kills on the season, which ranks third in the NSIC and has more than 12 kills in all but one match this season. Oh yeah, Wente also leads the Northern Sun in total blocks with 40. It is going to be a challenge for every opponent to try and slow down the senior this season.

SHOW ME AN ACE. Saturday should be an outstanding battle at the service line. Saturday will feature two of the best serving teams so far through eight matches, Augustana ranks fifth in the NSIC with 1.94 aces per set, while Minnesota Crookston ranks once spot above them with exactly two aces per set. The match could very easily come down to what team wins the service line battle.