Aberdeen, S.D. --- The South Dakota Mines volleyball team comes off of a weekend tournament in which they went 3-1 at the Yellowjacket Invitational hosted by MSU Billings. Starting Thursday, they are back at it, participating in another tournament in which they will play four games. The Hardrockers take on Minnesota State University Moorhead on Thursday at 3:00 p.m., followed by Northern State University, and New Mexico Highlands University on Friday at 11:30 a.m., and 4:30 p.m. The weekend is finished off with a matchup against Augustana University at 11:30 a.m., Saturday morning.
*All game times are in central time.
Series History
vs. Minnesota State Moorhead
- The Hardrockers have faced off with the Dragons six times
- MSU Moorhead has gotten the better of South Dakota Mines, winning five of the all-time matchups.
- South Dakota Mines defeated MSU Moorhead for the first time in their most recent matchup on 9/4/21.
- In that matchup, the Hardrockers won 3-0 and were led by Emma Grimm with 11 kills, Kiley Metzger with 20 assists, and Addie Stanley with 19 digs.
vs. Northern State
- Northern State and South Dakota Mines have met 5 times in the past, with the Wolves winning all 5 matchups. This is the first matchup between South Dakota Mines and St. Mary's University.
- The series has all Northern State, thus far with them winning 15 of the 16 total sets played, however, the Hardrockers have a great chance to turn that around this weekend.
vs. New Mexico Highlands
- This will be the sixth all-time meeting between the volleyball programs at South Dakota Mines and New Mexico Highlands.
- The Cowgirls have won 3 of the previous 5 matchups, in a series that began in 2015, and was most recently played in 2019.
- South Dakota Mines won the most recent matchup on 9/27/19 in three sets, winning all three by a score of 25-21.
vs. Augustana
- Although it has been since 2016, since the last matchup, the Vikings are another program that the Hardrockers have had trouble with in the past, and look to rectify this weekend.
- Augustana has won all three of the previous matchups between these two squads.
Gold Nuggets
- The Hardrockers had a great weekend in Billings, defeating Bemidji State, MSU Billings, and MSU Moorhead, but falling to St. Marten's.
- Dejah Behrend had 28 kills, and 11 blocks to land a spot on the All-Tournament team in Billings.
- Shyann Bastian also earned a spot on the team, recording 63 assists as well as 51 digs on the weekend
- The South Dakota Mines defense was phenomenal last weekend and is near the top of the RMAC in every defensive category.
- The Hardrockers are 2nd in the RMAC in opponent hitting percentage, allowing just a .080% success rate on opposing attacks. South Dakota Mines is second in the conference in opponent kills per set, allowing 10.07, and are leading the conference in digs per set at 19.64 which is 1.64 more than the team currently in second.
Scouting Report
Minnesota State Moorhead
- The Dragons started their season at the Yellowjacket Invitational hosted by MSU Billings and came out of the weekend with an 0-4 record.
- Amanda Carlson leads the team in kills with 52, is second on the team in digs with 47.
Northern State
- The Wolves are #19 in the country in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll.
- Northern State opened last week with some difficult competition, playing in the Washburn Invitational, where three of the opponents they faced were ranked in the AVCA top 25.
- The Wolves defeated William Jewel, and #25 Rockhurst but fell to #18 Harding, and #8 Washburn.
- Northern State has a balanced attack with 3 women over 40 kills in Natalia Szybinska, Sally Gaul, and Taylor Buckley.
- Keri Walker has 176 Assists already on the season.
New Mexico Highlands
- The Cowgirls enter the weekend with a 1-3 record after taking on Southern Nazarene, Central Oklahoma, UT Tyler, and defeating Southeastern Oklahoma State in the Southeastern Classic this past weekend.
- New Mexico Highlands is led by Lisi Langi with 14 kills, Elena Rivera with 28 digs, and Soliel Gandara with 47 assists.
Augustana
- The Vikings started their season out 2-2 in the Tampa Volleyball Classic, falling to Northwest Missouri State and Tampa while defeating Ashland, and Illinois Springfield.
- Augustana, like the rest of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, did not play a 2020 season, but had a 20-10 record in 2019 and return much of that roster.
- The Vikings are led offensively by 4 women with 30+ kills, and 6 with 24 or more.
- Avery Thorson is their setter, and she has 163 assists thus far.
- Defensively, they are led by Erika Bute with 82 digs, and Callie Hohenhaus with 25 blocks.
