Aberdeen, S.D. – The No. 4 Northern State University volleyball team opens the 2019 NSIC Tournament tomorrow evening versus No. 19 Upper Iowa. The match is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. from the Sanford Pentagon.
QUICK HITS ON THE #4 NORTHERN STATE WOLVES
• Northern State enters the first round of the NSIC Tournament after winning their second straight NSIC Overall Championship and first out-right championship in program history
• The Wolves defeated Augustana and Wayne State last weekend to secure the crown and moved up three spots to No. 4 in the AVCA Top-25 Poll
• In addition, NSU is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Central Region Rankings behind Nebraska Kearney, moving up two spots from a week ago
• Not only did the Wolves win back-to-back titles, but seven student-athletes were named to the NSIC All-Conference teams (the most in program history) highlighted with
Laura Snyder earning Offensive Player of the Year honors
•
Jenna Reiff and
Ashley Rozell joined Snyder on the first team, while
Jaiden Langlie,
Morgan Baufield,
Peyton Ellingson, and
Sally Gaul earned second team accolades
• Rozell also grabbed post-season honors being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District(R) team for the third straight season
• Northern is hitting a national second best .294 this season, averaging 14.8 kills, 13.7 assists, 16.3 digs, 2.1 blocks, and 1.2 aces per set
• In addition to their attack percentage, NSU ranks top-5 in the nation in kills and assists per set
• They finished the NSIC slate leading the league in hitting percentage and opponent hitting percentage versus league opponents
•
Laura Snyder leads the team this season with 411 kills, averaging 4.11 kills per set with a .351 attack percentage
•
Jenna Reiff follows close behind with 356 kills over her own, averaging 3.56 kills per set
• The pair each tallied the 1,000th kill of their career this season and currently have 1,164 (Reiff) and 1,036 (Snyder)
•
Ashley Rozell surpassed the 5,000 career assist mark last weekend (5,056) and ranks fourth and ninth in the country averaging 12.13 assists per set with 1,213 total assists
•
Jaiden Langlie leads the Wolves defense with 459 total digs, averaging 4.59 per set, with 1,784 total in her career; the senior is the first player to surpass 1,500 career digs in the last 20 years
• Snyder and
Morgan Baufield lead the active players in net defense this season with 74.0 and 65.0 blocks respectively
MATCHING UP WITH THE #19 PEACOCKS
• Upper Iowa earned their way into the NSIC Tournament as the eight seed with a 20-8 record overall and 12-8 mark in the league
• The Peacocks up-set No. 5 Minnesota Duluth at home last Friday in five sets, sealing their place in the tournament
• The win propelled them up two spots from No. 21 the previous week in the AVCA Top-25 Poll
• UIU is hitting .261 this season, averaging 13.6 kills, 12.6 assists, 16.9 digs, 1.9 blocks, and 1.4 aces per set
• Anna Winter leads the offense with 404 total kills, averaging 4.30 per set and hitting .311 this season
• Sarah Johnson leads the team in efficiency with a .320 attack percentage, adding 164 total kills
• Carlee Ketchum has dished out 1,007 total assists, averaging 10.71 per set
• Haley Weepie leads the Peacock offense with 441 total digs, averaging 4.69 per set, while Johnson leads the team at the net with 94.0 blocks, averaging 1.01 per set
• Upper Iowa is led by head coach Aaron Nelson in his ninth season at the helm
LAST MATCH-UP
• The Wolves defeated the Peacocks 3-0 in mid-October from Wachs Arena
• NSU hit .432 in the match with 49 kills, 46 assists, 44 digs, 11 blocks, and two aces
•
Laura Snyder and
Jenna Reiff led the team with 13 and 12 kills respectively, each hitting above .300
•
Jaiden Langlie led the defense with 15 total digs, averaging 5.0 digs per set
• Northern is 18-4 all-time versus Upper Iowa and 10-1 under the direction of Aldridge
