COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Augustana Vikings women's volleyball team will open their 2023 campaign on Friday, September 1 with a pair of matches on the campus of Colorado College. The Vikings will conclude their trip out west with a single match on Saturday.

Augustana will look to improve on their 17-12 record a season ago, which was the highest win total since the 2016 season. The Vikings had a successful year that earned them a CCIW Tournament berth and led to a postseason road win over North Central. The Vikings' season came to an end in the CCIW semifinals in five sets against Carthage. 

Augie returns several contributors from their 2022 campaign, including two-time All-CCIW libero Grace Vranicar and reigning First Team selection Syd Krueger in the middle. Krueger ranked second in the CCIW in hitting percentage and first in blocks at 0.94 per set. She racked up 91 total blocks during the 2022 regular season, 18 of which were solo. She also sat fourth on the team in kills with 164 and had 26 service aces on the year. Vranicar earned her 1,000th career dig at Augustana during her junior campaign and ranked fifth in the CCIW during the regular season in digs per set. Last season, she entered the top 15 in program history for most digs in a career.

Other key contributors include last year's top two kill leaders in Emily Schipper and Jaden Julius. Both return in an efficient offensive attack fueled by senior setter Amelie Baehr-Ross, who averaged just under eight assists per game last season.

Augie will look to make it three straight wins in season openers when they begin the weekend with a clash against the host school Colorado College at 3 p.m. CDT on Friday. The Tigers sit just outside the AVCA preseason top 25 with 107 votes after concluding their 2022 slate with a 21-9 overall record. Colorado College narrowly missed out the NCAA Tournament, falling 3-1 in their conference tournament championship to Texas Lutheran. The Tigers were 11-2 at home last year and have posted two or fewer losses in their home gym every season since 2011. 

The Vikings are 0-6 all-time against the Tigers, falling in St. Louis, Mo. in their most recent matchup in 2018 by a score of 3-1.

Later in the day at 8 p.m. CDT, Augie will take on a familiar foe from the Midwest in Wartburg. The Knights finished 15-11 a season ago and boasted a 7-1 record in conference before dropping the ARC Tournament opener to Buena Vista to end their season. Augustana and Wartburg last met in 2021, a 3-0 win for the Knights as part of their 29-1 season. Warburg leads the all-time series between the two programs 13-3. 

On Saturday, the Vikings close out their trip with a neutral-site matchup against the Hardin-Simmons Cowgirls, the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Hardin-Simmons finished 14-10 in 2022, making the ASC Tournament semifinals before falling to UT-Dallas. The Cowgirls were a perfect 4-0 in neutral-site contests last year. 

Start time for Saturday's match is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CDT.

Live video and stat links for all three matches can be found here.