GAME NOTES

Last Week: The University of Mary volleyball team dropped a pair of matches this weekend. U-Mary was swept by both Sioux Falls and #8 Southwest Minnesota State. SMSU is the fifth team ranked in the AVCA top-10 the Marauders have faced this season. Alexis Jacons lead U-Mary's offensive and defensive attacks with 16 kills and 12 digs. Janell Finkbeiner paced the Marauders offense with 42 assists. U-Mary will conclude its season at home as it hosts Wayne State on Friday and Augustana on Saturday.
 
This Weekend U-Mary will conclude its season as it hosts Wayne State College on Friday at 7 p.m. and Augustana College on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
Senior Night: Saturday's match will be Senior Night for three Marauders senior volleyball players. Alicia Ewen, Allison Opp and Emily Turkowski will all be playing in the final match of their careers. U-Mary's three senior will be recognized prior to the match.
 
The Records: WSC is 19-9 overall and 10-8 in conference play. The Wildcats have lost their last two contests in five sets against Northern State and MSU Moorhead. AC is 20-7 overall and 12-6 in conference play. The Vikings had a two game winning streak prior to losing to Southwest Minnesota State 3-1 on Tuesday. U-Mary is 4-21 overall and 1-17 in conference play. The Marauders have lost eight straight matches.
 
Earlier this year U-Mary was swept by both Augustana and Wayne State on the road.
 
History: U-Mary has lost seven straight times they have played Wayne State. Six of those seven times the Wildcats were ranked among the AVCA top-20. The last time U-Mary beat Wayne State was a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 20, 2008 in Bismarck. In nine meeting with the Vikings since 2008, the Marauders have not beat Augustana. 
 
Game Coverage: There will be a live video stream and stats of both matches. The stream is available at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/umaryportal#. Live stats can be found at http://216.235.170.75/livestats/volleyball/xlive.htm.
 
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"
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 five freshmen on 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 bolstered the 2013 lineup.
 
Youth Movement: U-Mary's top hitter, setter and defensive specialist are all freshman. Averaging nearly three kills/set Alexis Jacobs paces the Marauders offense in her redshirt freshman season. Assisting Jacobs has been true freshman Janell Finkbeiner, who is averaging 6.35 assists/set. Anchoring the defense for U-Mary is true freshman Alex Brown who is 3.43  digs/set. Jacobs is second on the team with 2.39 digs/set.

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. Jacobs is leading the team in kills and is second in digs. The redshirt freshman has recorded four double-doubles this season. 
 
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 .181. Adams is thid on the team averaging 1.69 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.
 
Serves Up: Clare Lulich and Alex Brown are #1 and #2 repspectively on the single in single season serve percentage since 2006. Lulich is serving at .983 and Alex Brown at.966.
 
Block Party: With just under two blocks/set, U-Mary is one of the top blocking team's in the conference. The Marauders 1.99 blocks/set average is their second best average since 2006. Paige Smith and Allison Adams are leading the blocking effort with .80 blocks/set each.
 
Block Solo: With four block solos against Winona State on Nov. 1, Allison Adams is one of just five U-Mary players to register four or more block solos in a match in the last eight season.
 
597: Allison Opp needs just three kills this weekend to become one of four players in the U-Mary NCAA era to reach 600 kills.
 
913: With a .913 reception percentage, Alicia Ewen is 8th on U-Mary's career list.
 
2281: Nearly 1,200 assists above the next on the list, Emily Turkowski is 19 assists shy of 2,300.
 
Coaches Poll: Despite vast improvement last season and returning six starters, the Marauders entered 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 impressive four teams in the top 25 in the country, including the #3 ranked Minnesota Duluth and #1 ranked and six-time defending National Champions Concordia University-St. Paul.
 
SCOUTING REPORTS
 
Wayne State: With a 14-6 conference record Wayne State finished 2012 in fourth place in the NSIC and ranked 18th in the country. This season WSC was tabbed to finish fourth again by the coaches. The Warriors return two second team All-NSIC performers from a year ago in senior OH Cori Hobbs and sophomore S Leisa McClintock. Hobbs is ninth in the conference with 3.44 kills/set and is hitting .179. Freshman OH Alyssa Fraudenorfer is third in the conference in hitting at .355 and is second on the team with 2.76 kills/set. McClintock has paced the offense averaging 10.84 assists/set. Averaging over 17 digs/set as a team, sophomore L Courtney VanGronigen and sophomore OH Katie Hughes are each averaging over four digs/set to anchor the Wildcats' defense. Wayne State is outhitting opponents .229 to .193 in conference play.
 
Augustana: With an 11-9 conference record Augustana finished 2012 in 8th place in the NSIC, but with a strong corps of returners were tabbed to finish 5th in 2013 in the coaches poll. Middle blocker Holly Hafemeyer represented the Vikings on the All-NSIC First Team in 2012. Hafemeyer is 4th in the NSIC with a .354 hitting percentage and second in kills with 4.34 kills/set. Teammate junior OH Courtney Yskeris, Augie's other top attacker, is seventh in the conference with 3.75 kills/set while hitting .197. Their success has been due largely to sophomore S Marissa Johnson, who is third in the NSIC with 12.30 assists/set. Defensively Hafemeyer is third in the NSIC with 1.05 blocks/set. On the season The Vikings are outhitting opponents .240 to .205.

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