WINTER PARK, FL – The University of Mary volleyball team (1-3) heads to Winter Park, FL, as they compete in the Rollins College Invitational from September 10-11.
UMary kicks off the tournament on Friday, taking on Georgia College at 11 am and Newberry College at 4 pm. The Marauders then take on the University of West Georgia at 9 am and Anderson University at 11 am on Saturday.
Last Time Out
UMary opened the 2021 season, competing in the Steel City Showcase. The Marauders won their opening contest 3-2 against Chadron State College. UMary then lost its next three games to Rollins (1-3), Colorado State University (0-3) and Fort Hays State University (0-3).
UMary dropped the first two sets (14-25, 23-25) but went on to win the next three sets (25-19, 25-19, 16-14), giving the Marauders a 3-2 win. UMary was down 14-13 to Chadron in the final set. The
Marauders rattled off three straight points to earn UMary its first win of the season.
Nehkyah Ellis recorded the winning kill off a
Kameron Selvig assist.
Junior
Kaia Sueker was named to the Steel City Showcase All-Tournament Team. Sueker had 57 combined digs in the Steel City Showcase tournament. She had three serve aces against CSU Pueblo.
About The Opposition
Georgia College begins the season with a 1-4 record. GC won its last game against Albany State University 3-0. Sophomore Ally Hall leads the Bobcats in kills with 64 on the season. Junior Lauren Talele leads GC in assists with 150. Sarah Mangan leads the Bobcats in total blocks as she has 16 with seven of them coming as solo blocks.
Newberry College enters the Rollins College Invitational with a 1-1 record. The Wolves lost their opening game to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke 0-3, before they defeated Winston-Salem State University 3-0. Newberry went 7-20 in 2019 and 4-6 in 2020.
The University of West Georgia has a 4-0 record to begin the year as UWG went undefeated in the Erskine Tournament. Junior Tierra White leads the Wolves in kills with 46. Sophomore Autumn Mayes is the team leader in assists with 139. Senior Kaylyn Buchanan leads UWG in blocks with 18.
Anderson University has opened the season with a 2-2 record. Senior Regan Duty leads the team with 46 kills. Madison Roy has the most assists for the Trojans with 178. Noelle Knutsen leads Anderson University with 14 total blocks.
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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