Winona State University’s volleyball team made it to the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference after a successful season. The team began the season with higher hopes after their lack of qualification last year. This season, they finished at seventh with 10 wins among the 18 NSIC matches they played.
The NSIC is one of the toughest conferences for university volleyball so their rankings are commendable. Also admirable is the tough fight against several top tier teams.
Head Coach Joe Getzin recruited six new freshmen at the beginning of the season with the primary focus being to increase the power of blocking in the nets.
The defensive tactics worked well for them throughout the season as their right-side block was nearly unbreakable. They also have a good mix of fourth-year and firstyear players on that side.
“I love the way this team is and the way that they treat each other,” Getzin said. “You know, we still have a lot of young players that are playing a lot of the matches for us and then it just becomes an experience.”
Before the NSIC started, the Warriors gave an excellent display of what they could do in the conference, winning seven of the eight games they played. The start of NSIC was also good for them as they remained undefeated for the first three matches.
Winona State’s first taste of defeat in the NSIC was against Concordia University, St. Paul and their luck brings them back again with the same team in the qualifier round. They will face each other on Nov. 14th, 2023. Winona State has done a promising job as a group as they always come together as a team in every match. Though, there were some individual players who stood out as well. Their defensive specialist Rylee Vaughn and their three blockers Sidney Paulson, Taylor Pagel, and Jayda Berg were phenomenal at the nets.
Vaughn had 463 digs and 29 service aces this season. Throughout her entire career with the Warriors she had wracked up 872 digs and 74 rebounds. She will be a student teaching in elementary education after her graduation.
“I just want to thank the team and coaches for everything they do, the hard work everyone has put in and out of practices every day and the support we have for each other,” Vaughn said.
Berg already had 954 kills with 55 service aces and her attacking average was 0.236. She is in her fourth year, but Getzin confirmed that she will have one more year with the team and will likely be the one leading the team next year.
Another fourth-year, Pagel, 155 kills and three service aces this season. She 362 kills and 21 service aces throughout her entire career as a Warrior. These numbers might be a little lower than Berg but her attacking average sits at an impressive 0.250. Along with her impressive record on the court, she has maintained her success in academics as well.
“Continue working and just putting the passion into volleyball. That’s what we’ve done this year and it just really pushed ourselves.” Pagel said. “It hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve just really put our heart into it.”
Winona State will unfortunately not have two of their star players next season but have since created more for the future. Berg had a successful season with 158 kills along with a good number in total attempts, indicating the pressure she creates on the opponents.
Winona State finished their season with 18 wins and nine losses in overall matches they played. Their overall hitting percentage was 0.667 which was more than many of the teams ahead of them.
The overall team is growing and they are gaining strong recruits day-by-day. If they continue to play las they have been and develop their tactics, statistics say they will soon be the big dogs of the league.
