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AUGSBURG 2013 SEASON PREVIEW
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Augsburg College volleyball team opened up the season at the 2013 Molten Volleyball CC Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Auggies started strong, opening with a four-set win over 2012 NCAA Division III Elite Eight participant University of Massachusetts-Boston. Augsburg's next two matches were sweeps of Pacific University (Ore.) and Central College. The Auggies fourth and final match of the invite, versus the No. 17-ranked tournament host Colorado College Tigers, needed a fifth match to decide the winner. Two Auggies recorded career-best numbers in assists and digs, while another duo had kill-dig double-doubles, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Tigers.
A couple of Auggies left Colorado with some hardware.
Ashley Peper (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) and
Colleen Ourada (SR, Omaha, Neb./Mercy HS) both were named to the All-Tournament Team. Peper finished with a tournament-best 66 kills, while Ourada had 57 as well as eight blocks. Peper was strong defensively almost averaging a kill-dig double-double with 37 digs in four matches.
Emily McCourt (SR, Sun Prairie, Wis.) had a great tournament setting to her teammates and finished with a tournament-best 171 assists. Defensive stalwart
Katelyn Berens (SR, Jordan, Minn./Prior Lake HS) was impressive as well with 97 digs, also a tournament-best.
All-Tournament Team
MVP - CC - Devon Lucero
CC - Emily Phillips
CC - Abbegail Holtze
AC - Colleen Ourada
AC - Ashley Peper
UMB - Julia Murphy
CEN - Hannah Welter
PU - Marie Rewick
Individual match stories are below.
Friday, Aug. 30
MATCH 1 -- Augsburg def. UMass-Boston 3-1 (25-19, 24-26, 25-20, 25-21)
MATCH 1 BOX
Ashley Peper (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) recorded a double-double with 23 kills and 10 digs while hitting .391 to help the Augsburg volleyball team defeat the University of Massachusetts-Boston Beacons, a team who last year made it to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight.
Colleen Ourada (SR, Omaha, Neb./Mercy HS) added 18 kills and three blocks (two solo), while hitting .366.
Emily McCourt (SR, Sun Prairie, Wis.) recorded seven digs and team highs in assists with 50 and aces with two.
A total team effort helped the Auggies knock off the Little East Conference preseason No. 1 team. The Auggies had four players record at least one block with eight total blocks as a team, while defensive specialists
Katelyn Berens (SR, Jordan, Minn./Prior Lake HS) and
Mackensie Menke (JR, Prior Lake, Minn./Shakopee HS) recorded 19 and 12 digs respectively.
The Auggies hit .248 for the match, and in the fourth set, the Auggies had 16 kills and hit .419. Contributing to those kills were standout first-year players
Taylor Trautman (FY, Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson HS) and
DeeDee Maier (FY, Middleton, Wis./Middleton HS), with seven and six kills respectively.
MATCH 2 -- Augsburg def. Pacific University (Ore.) 3-0 (25-9, 25-18, 25-12)
MATCH 2 BOX
The Augsburg volleyball team came out attacking and swept the Pacific University Boxers, improving their early season record to 2-0.
Colleen Ourada (JR, Omaha, Neb./Mercy HS) led the way with 12 kills and five digs, while
Ellen Sachs (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) recorded nine kills and two blocks in her collegiate debut.
Ashley Peper (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) continued her strong tournament with a hitting percentage of .429 in her eight kills. Peper added four digs, a block and an assist as well.
Emily McCourt (SR, Sun Prairie, Wis.) led the team in assists and aces again, recording 26 and three respectively.
Other top performers for the Auggies included defensive specialists
Katelyn Berens (SR, Jordan, Minn./Prior Lake HS) with 18 digs and two assists, and
Kyle Everett (JR, Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo HS), who helped out with five digs and an ace.
Saturday, Aug. 31
MATCH 3 -- Augsburg def. Central College 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 26-24)
MATCH 3 BOX
Ashley Peper (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) kicked off the second day of the 2013 Molten Volleyball CC Invitational with another double-double. Peper had 17 kills with a hitting percentage of .375, and 13 digs to lead the Augsburg College volleyball team in a sweep of Central College.
Emily McCourt (SR, Sun Prairie, Wis.) was one dig shy of a double-double recording 38 assists and nine digs, while also serving up two aces.
Middle hitter
Jessica Lillquist (SO, Sebeka, Minn./Sebeka HS) had an efficient match chipping in eight kills with a scorching hitting percentage of .462. Contributing six kills each were veteran
Colleen Ourada (SR, Omaha, Neb./Mercy HS) and two first-year athletes,
DeeDee Maier (FY, Middleton, Wis./Middleton HS) and
Taylor Trautman (FY, Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson HS). Ourada also had five digs, two blocks (one solo), and an ace, while Maier picked up six digs.
Katelyn Berens (SR, Jordan, Minn./Prior Lake HS) continued her string of strong defensive performances with 18 digs, while
Mackensie Menke (JR, Prior Lake, Minn./Shakopee HS) had seven digs.
MATCH 4 -- Colorado College def. Augsburgy 3-2 (20-25, 27-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-11)
MATCH 4 BOX
The Augsburg volleyball team knew their final match of the invite against host Colorado College would be a battle. The Colorado College Tigers have made 15 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and are ranked No. 17 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's 2013 Preseason Division III Top 25 Poll. The Auggies were riding high after starting the season 3-0 including two consecutive sweeps.
Colleen Ourada (SR, Omaha, Neb./Mercy HS) was all over the the court in Reid Arena with her first kill-dig double-double of the 2013 season. Ourada finished with 21 kills, 14 digs, three blocks (one solo), and two aces.
Ashley Peper (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) picked up her third kill-dig double-double of the season with 18 kills, 10 digs, and four blocks (one solo).
Setter
Emily McCourt (SR, Sun Prairie, Wis.) had a career-high 57 assists as well as 13 digs and an ace.
Katelyn Berens (SR, Jordan, Minn./Prior Lake HS) had another great match with a career-high and match-best 42 digs.
Mackensie Menke (JR, Prior Lake, Minn./Shakopee HS) had 11 digs, two aces and an assist, while
Jessica Lillquist (SO, Sebeka, Minn./Sebeka HS) and
Ellen Sachs (FY, Minneapolis, Minn./South HS) both added eight kills. Lillquist and
Taylor Trautman (FY, Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson HS) each had three blocks, while Trautman also contributed six kills.
The Tigers top performers were Emily Phillips and Abbegail Holtze who both had kill-dig double-doubles with 18-15 and 17-11 respectively. Setter Devon Lucero had a match-best 58 assists and five blocks (one solo), while defensive specialist Sophie Merrifield picked up 27 digs.
The Auggies returns to action this Friday, Sept. 6 as they host the 32 annual Augsburg Volleyball Invitational at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis. The Auggies open with UW-Stevens Point on Friday at 4pm.
