BISMARCK, ND –The University of Mary volleyball team (3-11, 0-5 Northern Sun) ends their five-game homestand with games against Wayne State College (10-2, 4-1 NSIC) and Augustana University (8-5, 3-2 NSIC). UMary hosts WSC on Friday, October 1, at 6 pm and AU on Saturday, October 2, at 2 pm.

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
The Marauders swept their rival Minot State University (0-11, 0-5 NSIC). UMary jumped off to a 7-1 lead in the first set as Nehkyah Ellis had served three aces. The Marauders would win the set 25-17 on an Emily Torborg ace.

The second set went back and forth, with it being tied 18-18. The Marauders would go on a 7-1 run, with the winning point coming on a Kameron Selvig ace.

UMary would come out dominant in the third set as the Marauders grabbed an 8-1 lead. UMary kept the momentum going, winning the set 25-17 on a Bailey Harms kill assisted by Kameron Selvig.

About The Opposition 
Wayne State College has begun the season with a 10-2 record while going 4-1 in the NSIC. Sophomore Kelsie Cada is the Wildcats leading attacker with 135 kills on a .235 hitting percentage. Sophomore Rachel Walker leads the team with 402 assists. Leading WSC with 124 digs is freshmen Alaina Wolff. Freshman Taya Beller leads the wildcats in blocks with 38.

Augustana University comes into the game with an 8-5 record while going 3-2 in the Northern Sun. The Vikings leading attacker is junior Maddy Guetter, who has 139 kills. Senior Avery Thorson has 489 assists, which puts her 4^th in the NSIC. Junior Erika Bute is AU's leader in digs with 245. Sophomore Callie Hohenhaud is second in the NSIC with 57 blocks.

Race to 1000
Natalia Cruz is close to hitting an incredible milestone. Cruz currently sits at 989 digs for her career, just 11 shy of 1,000. Cruz looks to join Alex Brown (1566) and Kendra Hobbs (1465) as the Marauders to hit 1000 digs in the NCAA era.

Stats To Watch

• Kennedy Drewis leads the team with 112 kills and is third on the team with 20 blocks.
• Natalia Cruz is second on the team with 105 kills. She also has 122 digs and 14 blocks.
• Kaia Sueker is the team leader in digs with 210. Sueker is 7^th in the NSIC in digs per set with 4.12.
• Kameron Selvig leads the Marauders in assists with 250 and is second on the team with 15 aces.
• Kaia Lill leads the Marauders with 18 aces and is second on the team with 171 assists. Lill ranks 8^th in the NSIC with 0.41 service aces per set.
• Nehkyah Ellis is second on the team with 130 digs and has 14 aces. Ellis is 20^th in the NSIC in digs per set with 2.83. She also ranks tied 19^th in the NSIC with 0.30 service aces per set.
• Emily Torborg leads the Marauders in blocks with 25 and has 14 aces. Torborg is tied with Ellis in the NSIC with 0.30 service aces per set.

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, 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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