Volleyball News

Morningside head volleyball coach Sara Horn has announced the names of 15 additions that will join the Mustangs next season.

Kelsey Ackerman, a 5-10 outside hitter from Rock Rapids, Iowa. Ackerman is a senior at Central Lyon Community High School, where she was a second-team All-Siouxland Conference performer as a senior when she had 171 kills and 164 digs for averages of 2.04 kills and 1.95 digs per game. She completed 282 of 307 serve attempts for 91.9 percent with 44 aces and had eight solo blocks and 36 block assists for an average of 0.52 blocks per game.

Ackerman also received second-team all-conference honors as a junior when she had 191 kills for an average of 2.55 kills per game. She completed 212 of 239 serve attempts for 88.7 percent with 39 aces and averaged 1.10 digs and 0.64 blocks per game.

Becca Anderson, a 5-10 outside hitter from Milford, Neb. Anderson is a senior at Milford High School, where she was a four-year starter and amassed 1,223 career digs and 684 career kills for the second highest dig total and third highest kill total in Milford history.

She topped Milford with 255 kills and 479 digs for averages of 2.93 kills and 5.51 digs per game as a senior en route to honorable mention Class C-1 all-state honors from the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal-Star. Anderson, who also earned first-team All-Southern Nebraska Conference honors, completed 315 of 337 serve attempts for 93.5 percent with 51 aces.

Whitney Benson, a 5-11 middle blocker from State Center, Iowa. Benson is a senior at West Marshall High School, where she had 184 kills and 153 digs for averages of 2.16 kills and 1.80 digs per contest. She also averaged 0.41 blocks per game and completed 165 of 178 serve attempts for 92.7 percent with 17 aces.

Lydia Brandt, a 6-1 outside hitter from Lakefield, Minn. Brandt is a senior at Jackson County Central High School, where she was an All-Southwest Conference performer this past season. She had 220 kills and 115 blocks for averages of 2.56 kills and 1.34 blocks per game and completed 55 of 59 serve attempts for 93.2 percent with six aces.

Paige Carney, a 6-0 outside hitter-middle blocker from Ames, Iowa. Carney is a senior at Ames High School, where she slammed 114 kills for an average of 1.52 kills per game and had 13 solo blocks and 50 block assists for an average of 0.84 blocks per game. She had 51 digs and completed 107 of 113 serve attempts for 94.7 percent with six aces.

Rian Kirby, a 5-10 outside hitter from Gretna, Neb. Kirby is a senior at Gretna High School, where she helped lead the team to a runner-up finish at this past season’s Class B Nebraska state tournament. Kirby earned honorable mention Class B all-state honors from both the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal-Star in addition to honorable mention All-Eastern Midlands Conference laurels after she amassed 223 kills and 282 digs for averages of 2.19 kills and 2.76 digs per contest. Kirby had 38 ace serves and finished her career with 132 ace serves for the second highest total in Gretna history.

Katie Kuck, a 5-8 defensive specialist from Council Bluffs, Iowa. Kuck is a senior at Council Bluffs Saint Albert High School, where she earned third-team Class 2A all-state honors from the Iowa Girls Coaches Association this past season. Kuck made the all-state tournament team after she led the 2A field with 48 digs, including a 32-dig performance in Saint Albert’s opening round 3-2 victory against West Branch.

Kuck had season’s totals of 384 digs and 110 kills for averages of 3.52 digs and 1.00 kills per game. She completed 293 of 314 serve attempts for 93.3 percent with 23 aces.

Kaitlynn Madsen, a 6-0 middle blocker from Galva, Iowa. Madsen is a senior at Ridge View High School, where she received first-team All-North Division Western Valley Conference honors this past season after she pounded 258 kills for an average of 2.80 per game. Madsen also had 75 blocks and 73 digs for averages of 0.82 blocks and 0.79 digs per contest to go along with 13 ace serves.

She was also a first-team All-North Division Western Valley Conference performer as a junior when she led the team with 261 kills for an average of 2.56 per game. Madsen completed 317 of 341 serve attempts for 93.0 percent with 39 aces and had 80 digs and 65 blocks for averages of 0.78 digs and 0.64 blocks per game.

Alexis Nee, a 5-3 defensive specialist from Auburn, Neb. Nee is a senior at Auburn High School, where she received honorable mention Class C-1 all-state honors from the Omaha World-Herald following her senior campaign. She also received Auburn’s Player of the Year and Best Defensive Player awards. Nee led Auburn with 423 digs for an average of 4.65 digs per game and ranked among the team leaders with 44 ace serves.

Morgan O’Malley, a 5-7 setter from Yutan, Neb. O’Malley is a senior at Yutan High School, where she dealt 1,401 assists over the past two seasons. She received second-team Class C-2 all-state honors from the Omaha World-Herald and honorable mention all-state recognition from the Lincoln Journal-Star in addition to first-team All-East Central Nebraska Conference laurels as a senior. O’Malley dealt 632 assists for an average of 7.3 per game. She also had 161 digs for a norm of 1.87 per contest to go along with 95 kills and 62 ace serves.

O’Malley was also an Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal-Star honorable mention all-stater and earned second-team all-conference honors as a junior when she set school records with 45 assists in a match against Twin River and with 769 assists for a season. She also had 201 digs, 51 kills, and 26 ace serves.

Mollie Richardson, a 5-7 setter-defensive specialist from Onawa, Iowa. Richardson is a senior at West Monona High School, where she earned first-team South Division All-Western Valley Conference honors this past season. She led West Monona with 284 assists for an average of 3.46 per game. Richardson completed 296 of 303 serve attempts for a team-high 97.7 percent with 40 aces.

Jordan Rump, a 5-7 defensive specialist from Omaha, Neb. Rump will join the Mustangs with sophomore eligibility as a transfer from College of Saint Mary. She was an outside hitter for the Flames and had 15 kills and 27 digs in 23 games for averages of 0.65 kills and 1.17 digs per contest during the 2012 season.

Rump is a 2012 graduate of Omaha Roncalli Catholic High School, where she earned honorable mention All-River Cities Conference honors as a senior.

Sadie Shuck, a 5-11 middle blocker from Hinton, Iowa. Shuck is a senior at Hinton High School, where she was a first-team All-War Eagle Conference performer and one of the top ace serve threats in the state this past season. Shuck completed 350 of 369 serve attempts for 94.9 percent with 88 aces. Her average of 1.08 ace serves per game was the third highest in the state. She had 199 kills for an average of 2.46 kills per game and also had 60 digs, 13 solo blocks, and 40 block assists for averages of 0.74 digs and 0.65 blocks per game.

Shuck also earned first-team All-War Eagle Conference laurels as a junior when she had 186 kills, 29 solo blocks, 31 block assists, and 44 digs for averages of 2.07 kills, 0.67 blocks, and 0.49 digs per game. She completed 343 of 380 serve attempts for 90.3 percent with 74 aces.

Erica Van Holland, a 5-8 freshman outside hitter from Sioux City. Van Holland, a transfer from the University of South Dakota, will have freshman eligibility and is a 2011 graduate of Hinton High School. Van Holland led the Black Hawks in digs as a senior with 218 for an average of 3.30 per game. She also had 39 kills and completed 202 of 217 serve attempts for 93.1 percent with 15 aces.

Amanda Woodman, a 6-0 outside hitter from Gretna, Neb. Woodman is a senior at Omaha Skutt Catholic High School, where she had 174 kills for an average of 1.64 kills per game during her senior campaign. She also had 26 digs and averaged 0.88 blocks per game.

Morningside posted a 17-16 record during the 2012 volleyball season and made its fourth appearance in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship tournament in the last five years. The Mustangs extended their streak to 12 consecutive seasons with a winning record and have a 162-60 record for a .730 winning percentage over the last six seasons.

Morningside College’s volleyball team posted a 17-16 record and made its fourth NAIA National Tournament appearance in the last five years during the 2012 volleyball season. The Mustangs finished sixth in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) regular season standings with a 7-9 league record. Morningside has a 162-60 record over the last six seasons for a .730 winning percentage. Morningside’s 17-16 record extended its streak to 12 consecutive seasons with a winning record.

Mustangs Break Block Assist Record
Morningside had 36 block assists in a 3-2 loss against Bellevue University on Sept. 1 at the Bellevue Classic to break its school record for a five-game match. The Mustangs broke their former record of 35 block assists against Moorhead State University on Sept. 1, 1995.

Schaeuble Breaks Two Blocking Records
Briana Schaeuble, a 6-2 senior middle blocker from Kingsley, Iowa, broke the Morningside record for block assists in a three-game match with 11 block assists in a 3-0 sweep of Jamestown College in the Mustangs’ season opener on Aug. 24 at the Northwestern College Red Raider Classic. She shattered the former Morningside standard of eight block assists shared by Jill Jackes against Wayne State College in 1994 and by Tasha Feldman against Southwest Minnesota State University in 1995.

Schaeuble led the Mustangs with 13 solo blocks and 154 block assists for an average of 1.35 blocks per game. Her 154 block assists was the second highest single-season total in Morningside history and her average of 1.35 blocks per game was the third highest average in the Morningside annals.

Schaeuble amassed 64 solo blocks and 307 block assists during her Morningside career to set a school record with a career average of 1.27 blocks per game to shatter the previous record of 1.11 blocks per game by Karmen Fykstra, who played at Morningside from 1992-95. Schaeuble’s 307 career block assists is the fifth highest total in Morningside history and her 64 career solo blocks is the 12th highest total in the Mustangs’ record book.

Aside from being the Mustangs’ top defensive presence at the net, Schaeuble also led the Mustangs in hitting percentage with 298 kills and 120 errors in 736 attack attempts for a .242 hitting percentage.

Vondrak Leads Mustangs In Kills And Digs
Maggie Vondrak, a 6-0 junior outside hitter from Sioux City, led the Mustangs in both kills and digs during the 2012 season with 393 kills and 423 digs for averages of 2.95 kills and 3.18 digs per game. She had the Mustangs’ top individual kill and dig totals of the season with 19 kills in a 3-1 victory against St. Olaf College on Sept. 8 and in a 3-2 loss against Doane College on Sept. 22 and with 28 digs in a 3-2 triumph against Baker University on Aug. 24. Vondrak was the Mustangs’ season’s leader with 22 double figure kills performances and 15 kill/dig double-doubles.

Vondrak was also the Mustangs’ top passer with 714 completions in 760 serve reception attempts for a completion percentage of .939.

Mounts Leads Mustangs In Assists And Ace Serves

Melissa Mounts, a 5-9 sophomore setter from Sioux City, led the Mustangs with 1,004 assists and 37 ace serves for averages of 7.66 assists and 0.28 ace serves per game.

Mounts moved into 11th place in Morningside history with 1,013 career assists.

Top Server
Gabi French, a 5-10 freshman outside hitter from Red Oak, Iowa, led the Mustangs in serving accuracy with 400 completions in 422 attempts for 96.1 percent with 23 aces.

Two Morningside athletes have been named Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes in the sport of volleyball.

The Mustangs’ Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athletes are:

Anastasia Ott, a senior middle blocker from Trumbull, Neb., who has a 3.98 cumulative grade point average (GPA) with a major in elementary education.

Lexi Welsh, a senior defensive specialist from Ogallala, Neb., who has a 3.61 cumulative GPA with a major in elementary education.

Student-athletes must be of at least junior academic status and have a minimum GPA of 3.50 in order to be eligible for Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors.

Click here for the complete list of 2012 Daktronics-NAIA Volleyball Scholar-Athletes.

Morningside was eliminated from the NAIA Volleyball National Championship tournament after a 29-27, 25-21, 25-14 loss against 13th-ranked Georgetown College in Thursday’s pool play finale.

Georgetown and undefeated Concordia University of California will move on from Pool A to this weekend’s single-elimination bracket tourney. A win against Georgetown would have advanced the Mustangs into the single-elimination bracket for the first time in their four national tournament appearances, but the setback left the Mustangs in third place in their four-team pool with a 1-2 record. Morningside finished the season with a record of 17-16 to extend its streak to 12 consecutive winning seasons.

The Mustangs started strong against Georgetown and built an early 9-4 lead in the first set when seven of their first 16 attack attempts resulted in kills. Maggie Vondrak had three of the early kills, while Gabi French and Anastasia Ott each had two. Briana Schaeuble then reeled off four kills to lead a spurt that pushed the Mustangs’ lead to 17-10.

Georgetown rallied and caught the Mustangs at 24-24 and eventually won the opening set 29-27 behind seven kills by Rachel Eubank and nine digs from Lindsey Wise. Morningside’s opening set leaders were Vondrak with six kills and Lexi Welsh with nine digs.

The second set was also tight before Georgetown prevailed 25-21.

The Mustangs fell behind 7-0 to start the third set before a kill by Vondrak put the Mustangs on the scoreboard. Georgetown eventually increased its lead to 13 points, 15-2, before the Mustangs rallied to carve the final deficit to 25-14.

Vondrak led the Mustangs’ attack with 12 kills for her team-high 22nd double figure total of the season. Ott was next with nine kills in an impressive hitting performance where she didn’t have an error in 17 attack attempts to finish with a .529 hitting percentage. French and Schaeuble each added six kills to the Mustangs’ attack.

Chvatal led the Mustangs’ court coverage with 14 digs, followed by Melissa Mounts with 12 and Welsh with 11. Mounts also dealt 24 assists.

Kathryn Smith led the Georgetown attack with 16 kills and a .441 hitting percentage. Eubanks and Allyson Wilbourn each added 11 kills.

Georgetown outscored the Mustangs 7-2 on ace serves, three of them by Rebekah Moore.

Wise finished with a match-high 16 digs to lead Georgetown’s defensive effort.

Morningside battled back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat 12th-ranked Indiana University East 25-23, 13-25, 25-27, 25-20, 16-14 in Wednesday’s pool play action at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship tournament in Sioux City.

The victory evened the Mustangs’ pool play record at 1-1 and put them in a position to advance to the weekend’s single-elimination bracket if they can knock off No. 13 Georgetown College in Thursday’s pool play finale scheduled for 5:45 p.m.

The Mustangs slammed a season’s high 73 kills in the victory, including a team-high 18 terminations from Briana Schaeuble. Schaeuble was one of four Mustangs to amass a double figure kill total. Gabi French, Anastasia Ott, and Maggie Vondrak joined Schaeuble in double figures with 16, 15, and 15 kills, respectively.

Mustang setter Melissa Mounts dealt 59 assists and Grace Chvatal led the Mustangs’ defensive effort with 23 digs. Lexi Welsh added 15 digs, while Mounts and Ashley McConnell each had 10.

Chvatal had 10 digs in the first set alone to help the Mustangs take an early advantage.

The Mustangs held an early 6-2 lead in the second set before Indiana East stormed back for a 25-13 victory. Indiana East also came from behind to win the third set after they were down 25-15 late.

Morningside did some rallying of its own in the fifth and deciding set after Indiana East was unable to put the Mustangs away after taking a 12-7 lead.

No. 1-ranked Concordia University flexed its muscle with a 25-10, 25-17, 25-13 victory over Morningside in the teams’ pool play opener Tuesday night in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship tournament at Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena.

The top-ranked Eagles, last year’s national runner-up, remained undefeated and climbed to 33-0 on the season. The loss dropped Morningside to 16-15 going into a Wednesday 8 p.m. match against No. 12 Indiana University East (44-4). The top two teams from each pool will advance to a single-elimination bracket to be held Friday and Saturday.

Concordia pounded 40 kills in the three-set match en route to a solid .327 hitting percentage, while the Mustangs had more attack errors (23) than kills (22) and finished with a -.011 hitting percentage.

Although the Mustangs lost the match, they had the big hitter in the contest as Maggie Vondrak led all performers with nine kills. Gabi French added six kills to the Mustangs’ attack.

Morningside had 41 digs, including a match-high 11 by freshman Grace Chvatal. Vondrak was right behind with 10 digs. Melissa Mounts added seven digs to go along with a match-high 19 assists.

The Mustangs went into the contest as one of the top blocking teams in the NAIA, but were limited to just six block assists against the Eagles.

Concordia had an 8-1 advantage in ace serves. Vondrak had the Mustangs’ lone ace.

Briana Schaeuble, a 6-2 senior middle blocker from Kingsley, Iowa, has been named to the 2012 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball First-Team as selected by the league’s head coaches.

Schaeuble, a repeat first-team selection from last year, has 13 solo blocks and 148 block assists for an average of 1.42 blocks per game to rank among the NAIA national leaders. Schaeuble leads the Mustangs with a .246 hitting percentage and is second on the team with 272 kills for an average of 2.41 kills per game.

She has 13 double figure kill performances, including a season’s high 16 kills against St. Olaf College. Schaeuble set a school record for a three-game match when she had 11 block assists in a 3-0 victory against Jamestown College on Aug. 24.

Schaeuble ranks sixth in Morningside history with 281 career block assists and 12th with 62 career solo blocks.

In addition to Schaeuble, the Mustangs placed Maggie Vondrak, a 6-0 junior outside hitter from Sioux City, on the All-GPAC Second-Team. Vondrak, a first-team All-GPAC selection in 2011, leads the Mustangs with 357 kills and 398 digs for averages of 2.93 kills and 3.26 digs per game.

Vondrak has the Mustangs’ top individual kill and dig performances of the season with 19 kills in matches against St. Olaf and Doane College and 28 digs against Baker University. She has a team-high 20 double figure kill performances and 15 kill/dig double-doubles.

The Mustangs’ Anastasia Ott, a 5-10 senior middle blocker from Trumbull, Neb., was named to the All-GPAC honorable mention list. Ott has 243 kills for an average of 2.03 per game and is second on the team with 29 ace serves. She has five solo blocks and 72 block assists for an average of 0.64 blocks per game.

Morningside has a 16-14 record and finished in sixth place in the GPAC standings with a 7-9 league record. The Mustangs will compete in the NAIA Volleyball National Championship tournament to be held Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 in Sioux City. The Mustangs will make their fourth national tournament appearance in the last five years.

Click here for the complete 2012 All-GPAC Volleyball Team.

Morningside’s Grace Chvatal has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball Libero of the Week for Oct. 29 to Nov. 4.

Chvatal, a 5-6 freshman defensive specialist from Wahoo, Neb., averaged 2.92 digs per game and completed 85 of 86 serve reception attempts for 98.8 percent to help the Mustangs win two of their three matches last week, including a 3-2 upset triumph on the road at 22nd-ranked Midland University. She had 14 digs and two ace serves in the win against Midland. Earlier in the week she had 11 digs in the Mustangs’ 3-0 sweep of Dordt College.

Morningside finished the regular season with a 16-13 record and will face Doane College in the quarterfinal round of the GPAC Post-Season Tournament.

Morningside is tabbed for a fifth place finish in the GPAC Volleyball Coaches Pre-Season Poll.

The Mustangs return 10 letter winners, including three starters, from a team that posted a 26-9 record last season and won the GPAC regular season and post-season tournament championships en route to their third NAIA National Tournament appearance in the last four years.

Morningside was picked eighth in last year’s GPAC Coaches Pre-Season Poll before going on to win the league title.

The Mustangs will open the 2012 season at the Northwestern College Red Raider Classic on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 24 and 25, in Orange City, Iowa.