This Week: The Marauders will conclude a four game home stand as they host St. Cloud State Friday Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. and #2 Minnesota on Saturday at 6 p.m. Both games will be played at the McDowell Activity Center.

Lending a Hand: Admission for the Marauders game Friday against the Huskies will be free. Instead U-Mary will be accepting free will donations for the Wayne, Neb. tornado relief fund. Last week an EF4 tornado struck the town of Wayne leaving a 19 miles long by 1.38 miles wide path of destruction.

 

History: Since 2006 U-Mary is 3-6 overall against SCSU and 2-6 in conference play. The Marauders and Huskies split last season, with each team winning at home. In the same time frame U-Mary is 0-8 against UMD, all of which were NSIC contests. The Bulldogs were ranked no lower than #16 for all eight meetings including being in the top five each of the last four.

 

Game Coverage: There will be a live video stream of both matches as well as live statistics available at http://www.goumary.com/schedule.aspx?path=wvball

 

Social Media: You can also follow along with U-Mary volleyball in-game and general U-Mary updates on Twitter at @umarysports. Be sure to follow the Marauders Facebook page as well at "Marauder Athletics"

 

Next Week: The Marauders will finish their four game homestretch next weekend as they host St. Cloud State University and second ranked University of Minnesota Duluth.

Veteran Leadership: The Marauders have a wealth of experience returning six starters and a total of 10 letterwinners. Of those 10 letterwinners U-Mary boasts a total of seven juniors and seniors. The Marauders seniors include DS Alicia Ewen, OH Allison Opp and S Emily Turkowski.

 

Captains: The Marauders announced that senior Emily Turkowski, junior Morgan Dake and sophomore Alexis Jacobs have been selected as U-Mary's 2013 team captains.

 

Fresh Faces: U-Mary has added five freshmen to their roster for the 2013 season. Rachel Astrup (MB, 6-0, Bozeman Mont./Bozeman HS), Alexandra Brown (Libero, 5-6, Minneapolis, Minn./Blaine HS), Janell Finkbeiner (S, 5-9, Ramsey, Minn./Elk River HS), Ashley Koppinger (OH, 5-7, Minot, N.D./Our Redeemer's HS) and Brianna Pernsteiner (MB, 6-1, Eagan Minn./Eagan HS) have all committed to play for the Marauders and will bolster the roster in 2013.

 

Setting the Table: Being the primary setter a year ago and averaging nearly eight assists/set, Emily Turkowski has some help this season as she has teamed with freshman Janell Finkbeiner to set the offense. Finkbeiner is averaging 5.18 assist/set and Turkowski 3.48. Both have been in double-digits in 10 of U-Mary's 14 matches.

Jacobs: After a promising start to the 2012 season, Alexis Jacobs sustained a season-ending injury in the first weekend of the season. The redshirt freshman and Bismarck native is a vital part of U-Mary's attack this season. So far Jacobs is leading the team with 2.85 kills/set and is second with 2.19 digs/set.

 

Adams: Allison Adams came on strong as a freshman leading the team in hitting, but struggled to find her stroke as a sophomore. The 6-0 junior appears to be back to her freshman form leading the team hitting .203. Adams is fourth on the team averaging 1.55 kills/set

 

Dake Watch: With the announcement of the NSIC preseason coaches' poll, U-Mary junior outside hitter Morgan Dake was tabbed as the Marauders' player to watch. Dake started 19 of 23 games for U-Mary last season and led the team with a .204 hitting percentage. Dake finished fourth on the team with 117 kills and was third with 46 blocks. Six of those 46 blocks came in a career night against Winona State on Sept. 21. The junior from Bakersfield, Calif. last year was named to the NSIC All-Academic Team and was elected as U-Mary's Female Strength Athlete of the Year.

 

Block Party: The Marauders are fifth in the NSIC with 2.02 blocks/set. With 1.02 blocks/set, Paige Smith is fourth in the conference. Lauren Boldt (0.71) has also been key to the blocking attack.

 

Coaches Poll: Despite vast improvement last season and returning six starters, the Marauders enter 2013 picked to finish last. U-Mary finished ahead of both Minot State and Bemidji State for 13th place in the NSIC in 2012. With six-time defending champion Concordia-St. Paul picked to finish first for the 10th consecutive season, the NSIC looks to be among the top volleyball conferences in the country again this season.

 

Beat the Best to Be the Best: The Northern Sun is the premiere volleyball conference in the country. The NSIC is not only strong up top, but also boasts a depth of talented teams. With the release of the latest AVCA Coaches Poll the NSIC has an incredible four teams in the top 15 in the country, including the #2 ranked Minnesota Duluth and #1 ranked and six-time defending National Champions Concordia University-St. Paul.

 

BEHIND THE NUMBERS (All career rankings since 2006)

 

4: Emily Turkowski and Alexis Jacobs have each recorded four aces against Alabama-Huntsville on Sept. 14 in a 3-2 win. Four aces marks new career-highs for Jacobs and it is the just the second time since 2006 that two Marauders have had four or more aces in the same match. With 0.39 aces/set, Turkowski is ninth in the conference.

 

19: Jacobs' 19 kills against Sioux Falls is the highest match total of any active U-Mary player and the most a Marauders player has had since 2010.

 

65: Career service aces for Turkowski which ranks second just six behind Laci Martha's 71.

 

98: Turkowski and Allison Opp are tied with the fifth most matches played. Both should break the century mark this weekend.

125: Career blocks for Paige Smith in just 134 sets. Smith ranks tops among U-Mary players with 0.93 blocks/set.

 

183: Career blocks for Allison Adams, who is second on the career list.

 

199: With a career .199 hitting percentage, Morgan Dake is third on U-Mary's career list.

 

580: Opp has the highest career kill total of active U-Mary players and is fifth on the career list.

 

600: On Sept. 7 Morgan Dake became one of just two players since U-Mary left the NAIA in 2006 to hit .600 or better in a match with at least 20 attempts. Dake had 14 kills to just two errors on 20 attempts.

 

942: Defensive Specialist Clare Lulich ranks her second in service percentage on U-Mary's career list.

 

2266: Career assists for Turkowski who has more than double the next person on the career list since U-Mary left the NAIA in 2006. Kristin Collins is a distant second with 1,088.

 

SCOUTING REPORTS

 

SCSU: Finished 2012 in 12th in the NSIC with a 6-14 record (10-18 overall). The Huskies were picked by NSIC coaches to finish 13th this season. St. Cloud State is 4-3 in conference play (10-5 overall). St. Cloud is 10th in the NSIC in both hitting percentage (.195) and opponents hitting percentage (.235). The Huskies are led by their 2013 NSIC Player to Watch, Ellie Dietzen. A 6-2 senior middle blocker,  Dietzen is hitting an .340 in NSIC contests while averaging 2.96 kills/set. Utilizing two primary setters, the Huskies are paced by junior Erin Ohlemann's 9.6 assists/set. Brianne Starmer, a sophomore defensive specialist, anchors the back line with 4.6 digs/set, third most in the conference.

 

UMD: One of the top programs in the country over the last decade, Minnesota Duluth finished in a three-way tie for first place in the NSIC in 2012 with a record of 18-2 (30-3 overall). Receiving a first place vote in the 2013 coaches poll, the Bulldogs were picked to finish second. So far UMD is 6-1 in conference play (16-1 overall), with their loss coming to the current #1 team Concordia-St. Paul. Minnesota Duluth is second in the conference with in both hitting percentage for (.296) and against (.149). The Bulldogs are led by two-time reigning AVCA 1st Team All-American and 2013 NSIC Player of the Year, OH Kate Lange. The 6-1 senior is leading the NSIC with 4.57 kills/set while hitting near the top of the conference at .315 in conference play. Sophomore Ashley Hinsch controls the Bulldogs offense with 12.39 assists/set, the second highest average in the NSIC. Junior Julie Rainey solidifies UMD's defense leading the NSIC with 5.87 digs/set.

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