The St. Scholastica volleyball team looks to continue its early season success as it travels to Augsburg this weekend to face off with the College of St. Benedict, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Gustavus Adolphus College, with a game to be determined.

Match Times:
Friday – St. Benedict – 2 p.m.
UW-Eau Claire – 6 p.m.
Saturday – Gustavus – 9 a.m.
TBD – 1 p.m./3 p.m.

Tournament Website

Last Action: The Saints traveled to Eau Claire and split two games, topping Bethel 3-0 and falling to UW-Eau Claire 1-3. Anna Zyvoloski (Sauk Rapids, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS (Minn.-Duluth)) led the way in both matches with 14 kills against Bethel and nine against UW-Eau Claire. Nikki Hughes (Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern HS) had 23 digs in the second match against UW-Eau Claire to lead the Saints.

St. Scholastica Saints (6-2)
The Saints have started off the season strong, taking six of eight matches, including five sweeps. After falling to UW-Eau Claire, the Saints are hungry for revenge going into their next tournament where they will face off again. Zyvoloski, a junior, has played outstanding to begin the season, leading the team with 102 kills and second on the team with 101 digs. The senior, Hughes, leads the team in digs with 109. At the setter position, the Saints are seeing production from two players. Junior Sarah Kurtovich (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) leads the team with 154 assists, but freshman Erika Birkeland (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) is right behind her with 123 assists of her own. Caitlin McKernon (Coon Rapids, Minn./Fridley HS) and Megan Windschitl (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS) are leading the team in blocks with 17 and 16 respectively.

St. Benedict Blazers (2-3)
The Blazers have a losing record on the season, but one of their victories was over a quality opponent in UW-Eau Claire. Two of the three losses have come to very quality opponents as well in Carthage (4-0) and Concordia-Moorhead (4-1, only loss to Carthage). St. Ben's has seen early success from young players, as freshman Alexa Rinde leads the team with 40 kills on the season and freshman Taya Kockelman leads the team with 79 assists. Sophomore Lexi Alm leads the team with 37 digs and sophomore Kendra Coleman and freshman Callie Neumann are tied for the team lead with seven blocks. The Blazers have just one senior and one junior, but are seeing a lot of potential and early season success from their young squad.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. St. Benedict: 14-5)
The Saints and Blazers last met in 2010 with the Blazers coming out ahead 3-1. Zyvoloski had 20 kills and Hardy added 11 in the Saints loss.

UW-Eau Claire Blugolds (3-3)
After dropping three of four at the UW-Eau Claire Labor Day Classic, the Blugolds bounced back and swept at home against Bethel and St. Scholastica. Sophomore Kelly Schuh and senior Laura Slinger lead the team with 59 and 54 kills respectively. Junior Emily Neave has done all of the setting for Eau Claire so far, as she has racked up 229 assists on the season. Senior Jenny Burzynski leads the team with 86 digs. Senior Liz Amici has 22 blocks on the season and junior Anne Satterlee has 19 of her own, far and away the top two on the team.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. UW-Eau Claire: 3-20)
The Saints and Blugold met recently in Eau Claire on September 6, with UW-Eau Claire winning 3-1. Hughes had 23 digs for the Saints in the match.

Gustavus Adolphus Gusties (3-1)
The Gusties are off to a good start, coming out of the Colorado College Tournament with three victories. Gustavus' only loss came in a close 3-2 match against the host team, No. 13 Colorado College. Senior Angela Ahrendt and junior Emily Phillips lead the team in both kills and blocks. Ahrendt has 67 kills and 12 blocks while Phillips has 56 kills and 14 blocks. Setter Malea Noennig has 138 assists so far on the season and a handful of players have 30 digs or more, with freshman Paige Breneman leading the way with 44.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Gustavus Adolphus: 7-15)
St. Scholastica and Gustavus last met in 2010 and the Saints topped the Gusties 3-1. Zyvoloski and Hardy led with 17 and 13 kills respectively. Kurtovich added 43 assists.