St. Peter, Minn. – Gus Young Court will be busy this weekend as the Gustavus Adolphus volleyball team gears up for a pair of critical Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matches. The Gusties will kick off the weekend with a 7:00 p.m. match against Concordia College on Friday, Oct. 24 and then bring it to a close with a 3:00 p.m. match against the College of Saint Benedict on Saturday, Oct. 25. Friday’s contest is designated as Senior Night while Saturday’s match serves as Pen Pal Day.
Sitting in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference standings at 10-11 overall and 4-3 in the MIAC, the Gustavus volleyball team is entrenched in the hunt for one of six spots in the MIAC Playoffs. The Gusties sit in fifth alongside Bethel (15-8 O’all, 4-3 MIAC) and Hamline (12-7 O’all, 4-3 MIAC). Concordia enters the weekend in ninth place at 10-10 overall and 3-4 in the MIAC, while Saint Ben’s comes in ranked third at 16-8 overall and 5-2 in the MIAC. The Blazers will travel to Northfield where they will take on St. Olaf on Friday before heading to St. Peter on Saturday.
LIVE COVERAGE
Live video and live stats for this weekend’s matches will be produced by Gustavus.
GUSTAVUS LINKS
Roster | Statistics | Schedule/Results
CONCORDIA LINKS
Roster | Statistics | Schedule/Results
SAINT BENEDICT LINKS
Roster | Statistics | Schedule/Results
QUICK SIX
The Series… Friday night’s match will be the 63rd meeting between Gustavus and Concordia in volleyball. The Gusties hold the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 37-25. Concordia earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory in last year’s regular season meeting on Oct. 18 in Moorhead. The two squads traded sets before the Cobbers were able to come away with the victory via a 15-12 fifth set win.
Saturday’s contest will be the 54th pairing of Gustavus and Saint Benedict on the volleyball court. Despite dropping their last six matches to the Blazers, the Gusties still hold a slight upper hand in the all-time series with a record of 27-26. Saint Ben’s cruised to a 3-0 sweep over the Gusties last year on Oct. 19 in St. Joseph.
Ones To Watch…
Alyssa Taylor (Jr., Trimont, Minn.) | The month of October has seen junior middle hitter Alyssa Taylor strike the volleyball at her most efficient clip so far this season. In Gustavus’s five October matches, Taylor has reached double-figures in kills and posted an attack percentage above the .400 mark four times. Within the month, she has 64 kills and a .419 attack percentage. In her most recent outing against Luther on Oct. 18, Taylor recorded 11 kills to go along with a career-best hitting percentage of .714, which is the best mark by a Gustavus playter since Sept. 14, 2013 when Kelle Nett (Jr., Spring Valley, Ill.) tallied 12 kills and hit .750 against Bethany Lutheran College.
Anna Skow-Anderson (Jr., Pelican Rapids, Minn.) | Cobber junior right side hitter Anna Skow-Anderson heads into Friday’s match with a team-best 154 kills and a 2.14 kills per set average. She boasts Concordia’s second-best attack percentage (.230) and has reached double-figures in kills six times this season.
Taya Kockelman (Sr., Minneota, Minn.) | Saint Ben’s senior setter Taya Kockelman heads into the weekend the top setter in the MIAC. Kockelman has distributed a total of 963 assists – 78 more than second place Bethel’s Katie Lubben who has totaled 885. She is averaging a league-best 11.07 assists per match and has reached the 50-assist match twice in Saint Ben’s last four outings.
By The Numbers…
1.85 – Gustavus’s blocks per set average this season. The Gusties lead the league in solo blocks with 54 and rank second in blocks per set at 1.85.
9 – The number of matches that Gustavus has posted a team attack percentage over the .200 mark. The Gusties have compiled a record of 6-3 in those nine contests.