BISMARCK, ND – The University of Mary volleyball team (2-9, 0-3 Northern Sun) is ready to host their first home matches of the season. UMary welcomes #11 Winona State University (10-1, 2-1 NSIC) to the McDowell Activity Center on Friday, September 24, at 6 pm. The Marauders then host Upper Iowa University (8-4, 1-2 NSIC) on Saturday, September 25, at 11 am.

Ticket Information

Adult tickets are $10 while senior citizen and youth tickets (13-18 years old) are $5. UMary students and faculty with their MCard and youth 12 and younger are admitted free.

Follow Live

Fans unable to attend the event are encouraged to watch all UMary home games live online and free of charge at www.goumary.com/coverage.

Last Time Out

Four Marauders had double-digit kills in UMary's 3-1 loss to Northern State University (8-3, 3-0 NSIC). UMary dropped the first set to NSU 25-14. The Wolves would continue their good play in the second set as NSU won 25-19.

Kennedy Drewis (11 kills), Nehkyah Ellis (11 kills), Natalia Cruz (10 kills) and Bailey Harms (10 kills) helped lead the Marauders to a 25-21 third set win over NSU. The Wolves would take control in the fourth set, winning 25-13.

About The Opposition 

#11 Winona State University has begun the season with a 10-1 record overall and a 2-1 record in the NSIC. Senior Megan Flom leads the Warriors with 150 kills as she is number one in the NSIC with a .452 hitting percentage. Flom also is the team-leader in blocks with 32. Senior Bre Maloney is WSU's leading assist getter with 395. Senior Becca Pagel has a team-best 195 for the digs Wolves.

Upper Iowa University has an 8-4 record overall and a 1-2 record in the NSIC to begin the season. The Peacocks are led by sophomore Madelyn Rettler, who has a team-high 135 kills. Sophomore Nicole Pozorski leads UIU with 420 assists. Sophomore Zoe Semelroth is the Peacocks best blocker with 39. Leading UIU with 211 digs is senior Charisma Herr.

Stats To Watch

• Kennedy Drewis leads the team with 96 kills and is second on the team with 17 blocks.
• Natalia Cruz is second on the team with 83 kills. She also has 109 digs, 10 blocks and six aces.
• Kaia Sueker is the team leader in digs with 176. Sueker is 8^th in the NSIC in digs per set with 4.19.
• Kameron Selvig leads the Marauders in assists with 203 and is second on the team with 12 aces.
• Kaia Lill leads the Marauders with 15 aces and is second on the team with 99 assists. Lill ranks 7^th in the NSIC with 0.44 service aces per set.
• Nehkyah Ellis is third on the team with 108 digs and has nine aces. Ellis is 20^th in the NSIC in digs per set with 2.92.
• Emily Torborg leads the Marauders in blocks with 18 and is third on the team in aces with 10.

New Coaches

Former assistant coach Abby Pollart is returning to the University of Mary as the new Marauders head volleyball coach. Pollart spent the last two seasons as the head coach of the Central Community College (CCC) Raiders in Columbus, NE, from 2019-21. Pollart joined the Marauders as an assistant coach for a season in 2018-19 where she served as recruiting coordinator, oversaw academics, and assisted in fundraising, among other tasks.

Pollart named Bree Ackermann as her assistant coach for the 2021 season. Ackermann competed for four years at Wayne State College from 2014-2017 where she made the NSIC All-Academic Team three times. Playing as a libero/defensive specialist for the Wildcats, Ackermann appeared in 115 games. Ackermann began coaching at Scotus Central Catholic High School in Columbus, NE, where she served as the assistant volleyball coach and head junior varsity coach.

Returning Marauders

Senior Natalia Cruz returns as the Marauders 2021 Northern Sun Player to Watch. Cruz led the team in digs, digs per set, service aces and service aces per set in 2019. Cruz ranked 14th in the NSIC in digs with 3.98 per set.

Other notable returners include seniors Brittany Brusven and Bailey Harms. Bruvsen played in 12 sets in 2019 while recording 37 assists, averaging 3.08 assists per set. Harms was redshirted in 2019, but as a freshman in 2018 she played in 14 matches during her freshman campaign. She recorded 57 kills and 29 blocks. Harms averaged .66 blocks per set which were second on the team.

Junior Nehkyah Ellis returns to the Marauders after playing in 54 sets in 2019. Ellis was 2nd on the team with 1.81 kills per set, had the 2nd highest serve reception percentage of .930, and had 119 digs.

New Faces

Sophomores Kaia Lill, Laura Petik, Emily Torborg, Megan Kruschke, Kameron Selvig, Reagan Celaya, Olivia Dickerson and Maddie Cooper will all compete in their first full season as a Marauder. They were able to gain valuable experience as they were able to play four games in the spring 2021 season. Cooper was second on the team with 2.33 kills per set in the spring 2021 season and Celaya was third with 2.14 kills per set.

Other new additions include junior Kennedy Drewis who transferred from Iowa Western Community College after previously attending Division I Western Illinois University. Junior Kaia Sueker competed in the Cross Country and Track teams at UMary and was a member of the 2019 NSIC Cross Country Championship Team. Both were able to compete with the Marauders in the spring 2021 season.

The Marauders bring in six new freshmen, bringing new energy and excitement to the team. The freshman includes Kayla Lewinski, Elaina Lubeck, Robi Binagi, Alexandria Harper, Emma Toerber and Chloe Lieser will look to make an impact this season.

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