WAVERLY, Iowa--The Knights Classic tournament opens a four-game homestand for Wartburg. The eight-team field features one Top 25 team (No. 11 St. Thomas) in the AVCA Coaches Poll released Sept. 27. Wartburg also received votes in that poll.

#11 St. Thomas (13-2): The Tommies are 2-0 on the week with sweeps over Saint Benedict and Carleton. Kelly Foley leads the squad with her 206 kills, .362 hitting percentage and 4.12 kills per set average. Three other players, Jill Greenfield, Taylor Cross and Paige Brimeyer, have over 100 kills with 158, 134 and 116, respectively.  Ashley Maher has 596 assists and Kari Anne Nass has 23 service aces.

UW-River Falls (9-6): The Falcons are 1-1 on the week with a 3-1 win over UW-LaCrosse but lost in five sets to UW-Platteville. Three players, Jean Theis, Danielle Gibbemeyer and Erin Green, have surpassed the century mark in kills with 172, 151 and 146, respectively. Mackenzie Suda has 373 set assists and Hayley Buchanan has tallied 149 to date. Suda also leads the team in service aces with 32.

UW-Eau Claire (8-9): The Blugolds enter this weekend with a 2-1 record on the week with a sweep over UW-Stout, a five set win over UW-Stevens Point and a 3-0 loss to UW-Whitewater. Liz Amici leads the team with her 156 kills while Anne Satterlee, Kelly Schuh and Laura Slinger follow in triple digits at 151, 149 and 143, respectively. Emily Neave has an astounding 684 assists and team-best 29 service aces.

Cornell (11-2): The Rams are 2-1 on the week with 3-1 wins over Buena Vista and Ashford but a 3-0 loss to Wartburg Wednesday night snapped a seven-match winning streak. Kathleen O’Connor and Taylor Dicus are the only two players in triple digit kills with 144 and 127, respectively. Sabrina Gargis and Kelsey Gaillot have 295 and 149 assists and O’Connor leads the team with her 26 service aces.

Wartburg (13-4): The Knights are 1-0 on the week as their lone match was against the Rams Wednesday. Last weekend at the Gargoyle Classic hosted by the University of Chicago, junior Britlyn Sieck (Fayette) was named to the All-Tournament team. Head coach Jennifer Walker needs one win to record 300 for her career and four more to eclipse that mark for her time at the helm of Wartburg’s program.

Sieck leads the team with her 199 kills and senior Kamille VanNatta (Readlyn) and freshman Bailey Wilson (West Des Moines) join her in triple digits with 131 and 123, respectively. Sophomore Ramey Sieck (Fayette) has tallied 407 set assists and leads the team with 20 service aces.

Simpson (5-11): The Storm’s lone match of the week was also on Wednesday as they were swept by Dubuque. Simpson competed at the Luther Invite last weekend and Megan Dunlavy and Audrey Schuttler were named to the All-Tournament team. Dunlavy is the team’s leading hitter (215 kills, 3.77 kills per set and .297 hitting percentage). Steph Keller and McKaylie Croghan have surpassed the century mark with 122 and 101 kills, respectively.

St. Olaf (8-7): The Oles are 1-0 on the week with their 3-1 win over St. Mary’s on Wednesday. Three players, Ariel Carlson, Katie Wolfram and Melissa Burch, lead the team with 164, 145 and 112 kills, respectively. St. Olaf previously played in the Wartburg Invitational earlier this season and  went 1-3 in the round robin tournament.

UW-LaCrosse (4-8): The Eagles are 1-3 on the week with their only win against UW-Stout in five sets. Lauren Probst and Katie Gunderson have eclipsed the century mark in kills with 117 and 113, respectively. Liz Schlobohm has recorded 383 set assists running the team’s offense and Katie Kaufman leads the team at the service line with 15 aces.

Follow the Games:
All games on the main court can be seen here or via live stats.
Wartburg's two matches on Friday can be heard live on KWAR, 89.9 FM.