Simpson welcomes seven schools to 22nd Volleyball Invitational

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Eight teams representing four states and five conferences converge on the campus of Simpson College's Cowles Fieldhouse for the 22nd playing of the Simpson Invitational Volleyball Tournament Friday and Saturday, Sept. 18-19.

Play begins Friday at 1:30 p.m. Teams are separated into two pools, with a round-robin format followed for pool play. Each team's final match will be based on its seeding from pool play.

The host-Storm and Wartburg represent the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference while Augsburg, Bethel, and St. Mary's visit from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Outside of the IIAC and the MIAC are No. 4 Carthage (College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), Nebraska Wesleyan (Great Plains Athletic Conference) and Northwestern (Upper Midwest Athletic Conference).

The tournament expands to an eight-team field in 2009 from the previous six-team format. Wartburg and Nebraska Wesleyan represent the only returning teams from the 2008 event outside of the host Storm. Besides Carthage's No. 4 ranking, two other teams in the tournament received votes in the most recent AVCA Division III Coaches Top 25 Poll – the Cardinals of St. Mary's St. Mary's received eight votes while Nebraska Wesleyan received picked up eight. Simpson began the season tied at No. 25.

Team Capsules

Simpson Storm (3-3, 2-0 IIAC) - The host Storm comes into the match winners of three matches in a row, most recently defeating Loras (24-26, 25-22, 25-20, 25-19) in a re-match of last year's Iowa Conference Tournament Championship, which the Duhawks won 3-2. Simpson also defeated Cornell and capped off the 2009 Puget Sound Premiere Volleyball Tournament with an upset of No. 10 St. Benedict (19-25, 25-21, 25-18, 22-25, 16-14). Running the offense for the Storm is senior setter Tara Christensen, the school's all-time assists leader. The Iowa Conference leader in assists per-set (9.83) distributes to a number of solid attackers, including senior middle hitter Whitney Oviatt, who leads the team with 66 kills. Senior outside hitter Lara Gillespie leads the team with a .292 hitting percentage, while junior outside hitter Amy Schuster and sophomore middle hitter Megan Dunlavy have 56 and 52 kills, respectively.

Augsburg (7-3, 1-0 MIAC) – The Auggies enter the weekend winners of three of their last five matches, with the only loss coming against No. 7 St. Thomas and No. 13 Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Augsburg most recently defeated MIAC foe St. Mary's (27-25, 20-25, 22-25, 25-21, 15-10) Sept. 16 after splitting at their own Augsburg Invitational Sept. 11-12. Junior outside hitter Katie Christensen leads squad with 101 kills on the season, adding a team-high 21 service aces.

Bethel (4-1, 0-1 MIAC) – The Royals dropped their conference-opener to Concordia (22-25, 16-25, 28-26, 18-25) in their last action Wednesday. Senior middle Kelly Otto and sophomore outside Nicole Wriedt pace the team 58 and 56 kills, respectively. Otto's .242 hitting percentage also tops Bethel's charts in that category.

Carthage (7-0, 1-0 CCIW) – The fourth-ranked LadyReds are the only undefeated team at the tournament, winning all but one of their matches in straight sets. The one contest that went beyond the third set was a five-set win against No. 3 La Verne (21-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 15-7). Carthage's most recent victory was a sweep of North Central in its first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match, in which the Lady Reds cruised, 25-7, 25-20, 25-12. Sophomore outside hitter Michelle Madeja leads the way with 111 kills and a .328 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Drewann Pancratz already has 248 assists to her credit, distributing 10.78 assists per set.

Nebraska Wesleyan (7-3, 1-1 GPAC) – The Prairie Wolves enter the Simpson Invitational with a 7-3 overall record. They are lead by junior outside hitter Laura Brammeier, who earned the Association of Division III Independents Player of the Week honors last week, in addition to collecting GPAC Player of the Week honors. She has totaled 159 kills, with a .292 hitting percentage and 138 digs so far this year. Senior Brittny Barber has 112 kills and defensive specialist Erika Goldsmith leads the team with 220 digs. Head coach Gina Chambers has taken the Prairie Wolves to five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. They received 3 votes in this week's top-25 poll.

Northwestern (3-4, 0-0 UMAC) – The Eagles come into this weekend with a 3-4 record after going 2-2 last weekend at the Augsburg Invitational in Minneapolis. Danielle Rhodes leads the team with 114 digs and was named UMAC Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week. Steph Koth, 2008 UMAC Player of the Year and NCAA Honorable Mention All-American leads the team with 80 kills while adding 82 digs. Chelsea Koth has 71 kills, second on the team.

St. Mary's (8-2, 0-1 MIAC) – The Cardinals (8-2) are looking to bounce back after a tough five-set loss to Augsburg Wednesday night. Senior outside hitter Courtney Runge was named MIAC Hitter of the Week after an outstanding Wartburg Invitational last weekend. She racked up four double-doubles and was named tournament MVP. She has totaled 119 kills and 118 digs this season. Sarah Gardner has 115 kills with a .297 hitting percentage. Freshman Tara Rasmussen leads the team with 168 digs and Brittany Cherwinka has dished out 338 assists, good for 10.6 per set. SMU is 8-0 in tournament play this season, which includes 3-0 wins over Nebraska Wesleyen and Wartburg. The Cardinals received eight votes in this week's top-25 poll.

Wartburg (5-5, 2-0 IIAC) – The Knights (5-5) hosted their own invitational last weekend and look to build on Tuesday's win over conference rival Central. Freshman outside hitter Britlyn Sieck has been having a great first year, leading the team with 126 kills. Sofie Swift leads the team in hitting percentage at .296, chipping in 76 kills. Setter Britney Hermsen has totaled 365 assists so far this year and Channing Merchant leads the team with 226 digs.

2008 Simpson Invitational

Results

St. Benedict, 4-0 (declared winner by fewest sets lost)
No. 8 St. Thomas, 4-0
Nebraska Wesleyan, 2-2
Simpson, 1-3
Wartburg, 1-3
Principia, 0-4

All-Tournament Team

Abby Bade – Nebraska Wesleyan
Tara Christensen – Simpson
Emily Foster – St. Thomas
Beth Hanson – St. Benedict
Emma James – St. Benedict
Katie Kremer – St. Thomas
Christina Spencer – Principia
Kelsey Steffens - Wartburg