BURNSVILLE, MINN. – Playing in the nation's toughest NCAA Division II conference, a young, new-look University of Mary volleyball team will take to the floor led by sophomore outside hitter
Morgan Schnabel, the Marauders 2018 Northern Sun Player to Watch.
In the NSIC coaches' poll released today, the Marauders are slotted 14th in the league.
Schnabel, a sophomore standout for UMary, is a 6-0 outside hitter from Lehr, ND. She played in 27 of 29 matches as a true freshman, contributing 150.5 points throughout the 2017 season to rank second on the squad. Her average of 2.03 points/set and 1.86 kills/set was fourth-best among the Marauders.
Korie Lebada Tetzlaff looks to turn the program around in her first year campaign as Marauders head volleyball coach. Being a former NCAA Division I volleyball player, a professional volleyball player, and an assistant coach in the NSIC before arriving at UMary, Lebada Tetzlaff looks to share her wealth of knowledge with the very young Marauders. The team will feature ten underclassmen to go along with four juniors and just one senior.
Senior
Geovana Almeida, who averaged a team-leading 3.26 digs/set, will anchor the Marauders back line. Almeida will be looked towards for leadership by the young team as the only senior.
Sophomores
Natalia Cruz and
Madison Bergthold return to the Marauders for their sophomore year campaigns. Both had impressive freshman years. Cruz was second on the Marauders in kills (2.07/set) and points (2.25/set). Bergthold was second on the team in blocks as a freshman with .60/match.
Defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul is the coaches choice to repeat as Northern Sun champion. Southwest Minnesota State is picked second, followed in the preseason poll by Minnesota Duluth, Northern State, Wayne State, Augustana, Winona State, Upper Iowa, Sioux Falls, Minnesota State, St. Cloud State, MSU Moorhead, Minnesota Crookston, UMary, Bemidji State and Minot State.
In addition to Concordia winning the national title, the strength of the NSIC was displayed in the final AVCA poll of the year that featured three Northern Sun schools ranked in the top four of the country and three more in the top 22.
The Marauders will open their season on August 24 against Western State Colorado University at the MSU Moorhead Tournament. The UMary home opener will be on September 8 when the Marauders host Minnesota State University Moorhead.
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