Augustana finishes 24-9 in Kelly Bethke's first season as head coach; best record since 2001; tied for 5th in the CCIW at 3-4; Dory Dudley and Kylie Siebert are named to the All-CCIW team and share Most Valuable Player honors

 

The first year of the Kelly Bethke era of volleyball at Augustana yielded a 24-9 overall record, the program's best in 13 years. Five of the Vikings' nine losses came at the hands of teams ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches' Association final Top 20 and two more were to teams that received votes in the poll. Augustana tied for 5th in the CCIW with a 3-4 mark, falling just shy of qualifying for the conference tournament. Senior outside hitter Dory Dudley (Tremont HS, Tremont, Ill.) and junior libero Kylie Siebert (Kaneland HS, Sugar Grove, Ill.) shared the team's MVP award and were both named to the CCIW all-conference team. Siebert was a second team selection, while Dudley earned third team recognition.
 
The season started with wins in 12 of the team's first 13 matches. The Vikings went 4-0 at the season-opening Viking Classic, logging wins over Benedictine, Principia, Wisconsin-River Falls and a Cornell squad that would finish the season ranked 20th in the AVCA poll. Only UW-River Falls managed to win a set against Bethke's club. Senior Emily Leazer (St. Viator HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) earned tournament MVP honors and sophomore Jacqueline Kibir-Evans (Trinity HS, Forest Park, Ill.) was named to the all-tournament team as well.
 
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, which finished the year ranked ninth in the nation, handed Augustana its first loss at the Cal Lutheran Tournament. The Vikings rebounded with wins over Redlands, Willamette and Chapman and then returned to the Midwest, where they defeated MacMurray, Knox and Monmouth to move to 10-1.
 
The CCIW season opened with a five-set win over Illinois Wesleyan at Carver Center and two days later, the team was at the University of Chicago's Gargoyle Classic. Augustana finished 2-2, beating Concordia-Chicago and Kalamazoo and falling to the hosts—who were among the teams receiving votes in the final AVCA poll—and in a rematch with Cornell.
 
A CCIW loss to Elmhurst (17th in the final poll) was followed by a trip to the Wisconsin-Platteville Tournament, where the Vikings defeated the host Pioneers and UW-River Falls and fell to a UW-Stevens Point bunch that finished the year ranked fourth in the nation. Siebert was an all-tournament selection.
 
Augustana won five of its next nine, getting CCIW wins over North Central and North Park, as well as non-conference victories over Dubuque, Aurora and St. Mary's (Ind.). Losses in that stretch came to CCIW foes Millikin (received votes in the final AVCA poll), Carthage (12th in the nation) and Wheaton, in addition to Edgewood. The loss to Wheaton eliminated the Vikings from CCIW tournament contention.
 
Augustana hosted the Pumpkin Bash to close the season and won 12 straight sets in taking care of Dickinson State, Buena Vista, Milwaukee School of Engineering and Simpson. The team's 24-9 record was the second-best in program history. Only Coach Liesl Fowler's 2001 Vikings, who went 29-5, have posted a better mark in 39 seasons of volleyball at Augustana.
 
Siebert finished the year with 591 digs, an average of 5.18 per match—fifth-best in school history. She also ranked third in the CCIW in digs and will enter her senior season just 17 shy of Callyn Dittmar's (2000-03) Augustana career record of 1,650. Siebert was also tied for second on the team with 32 service aces. Dudley finished second on the team with 249 kills and ranked third in attack percentage (.250) and total blocks (57).
 
Leazer ranked third on the team in kills with 236 and finished her career ninth on Augustana's all-time list with 1,039. She was second this year with 398 digs to push her career total to 1,273—also ninth-best in school history. Her 32 service aces in 2014 tied for second on the team and the 180 she posted during her four years are third-most in Viking history.
 
Other statistical leaders for the Vikings included junior Martha Murray (Evanston HS, Evanston, Ill.), who led with 271 kills and finished fourth with 212 digs. Sophomores Nicole Morrissey (Lake Zurich HS, Lake Zurich, Ill.) and Kibir-Evans had 211 and 189 kills, respectively, and senior Hailee Brayton (St. Bede Academy, La Salle, Ill.) recorded 131. Kibir-Evans, selected as the team's Most Improved Player, also led in attack percentage (.317) and blocks (21 solo, 72 assisted for 93 total). Brayton was second on the team with 62 total blocks.
 
Setters Jordan Hampel (Hilliard Davidson HS, Hilliard, Ohio) and Hannah Lindaman (North Scott HS, Eldridge, Ill.) had 561 and 495 assists, respectively. Hampel, a junior, is now fifth all-time at Augustana with 1,963 career assists. Lindaman, a sophomore, led the Vikings with 35 service aces and ranked fifth in the CCIW in that category.
 
2014 CCIW VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS

School	CCIW	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Carthage	7-0	1.000	36-4	.900
Millikin	5-2	.714	30-10	.750
Wheaton	4-3	.571	12-21	.364
Elmhurst	4-3	.571	31-9	.775
AUGUSTANA	3-4	.429	24-9	.727
Illinois Wesleyan	3-4	.429	20-12	.625
North Central	2-5	.286	20-14	.588
North Park	0-7	.000	9-24	.273

 
2014 CCIW TOURNAMENT
 Semifinals—Friday, November 7
#2 Millikin def. #3 Wheaton 25-6, 19-25, 25-19, 19-25, 20-18
#1 Carthage def. #4 Elmhurst 25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 22-25, 15-9
 
Championship—Saturday, November 8
Carthage def. Millikin 25-18, 25-19, 21-25, 24-26, 15-6
 
 
2014 AUGUSTANA VOLLEYBALL SUPERLATIVES
CCIW ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS: Kylie Siebert, 2nd team; Dory Dudley, 3rd team
ALL TOURNAMENT SELECTIONS: Viking Classic – Emily Leazer (MVP), Jacqueline Kibir-Evans; UW-Platteville – Kylie Siebert; Pumpkin Bash – Hailee Brayton, Stephanie Petkovsek
CCIW ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE: Amber Dalgaard, Emily Leazer, Claire Martin, Nicole Morrissey, Stephanie Petkovsek, Kylie Siebert.
CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT: Kylie Siebert (2^nd team)
NCAA TEAM TOP 25 – TEAM
None
NCAA STATISTICAL TOP 50 – INDIVIDUAL
None
CCIW STATISTICAL LEADERS – TEAM
None
CCIW STATISTICAL TOP 5 – INDIVIDUAL
Digs – Kylie Siebert, 3rd @ 4.68 per game
Service Aces – Hannah Lindaman, 5th @ 0.43 per game
 
INDIVIDUAL TOP TEN LISTS
CAREER
Digs – 1,633 (2nd), Kylie Siebert; 1,273 (9th), Emily Leazer
Service Aces – 180 (3rd), Emily Leazer
Assists – 1,963 (5th), Jordan Hampel
Kills – 1,039 (9th), Emily Leazer
 
SINGLE SEASON
Digs per game – 5.18 (5th), Kylie Siebert
 
SINGLE MATCH
Digs – 41 (T-9th), Kylie Siebert
 
TEAM AWARDS
Varsity MVP – Dory Dudley, Kylie Siebert
Most Improved – Jacque Kibir-Evans
Augie Award – Stephanie Petkovsek
Junior Varsity MVP – Amber Hopf, Annalise Bauers
JV Most Improved – Claire Duewer
JV Augie Award – Rachel Butter