Friday, Sept. 12 | Loras Invitational | Dubuque, IA | Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center (Loras College)
Wartburg vs. Edgewood | 3 PM
WATCH | LIVE STATS 
 
Friday, Sept. 12 | Loras Invitational | Dubuque, IA | Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center (Loras College)
Wartburg vs. St. Mary's (MN) | 5 PM
WATCH | LIVE STATS
 
Saturday, Sept. 13 | Loras Invitational | Dubuque, IA | Stoltz Sports Cetner (University of Dubuque)
Wartburg vs. Wisconsin-River Falls | 10 AM
WATCH | LIVE STATS
 
The Wartburg College volleyball team (5-1 overall) travels this weekend to a familiar site at the Loras Invitational in Dubuque, Iowa. The Knights open play Friday, Sept. 12, with a doubleheader against Edgewood College at 3 p.m. and St. Mary's University (MN) at 5 p.m. Wartburg will then compete in a single Saturday match, facing the University of Wisconsin-River Falls at 10 a.m.
Wartburg's first two matches on Friday will be held at the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center on the campus of Loras College, before wrapping up the weekend at the Stoltz Sports Center on Saturday.
 
LORAS INVITATIONAL INFORMATION
Hosted by Loras College
Participating Teams: Wartburg, Loras, Wisconsin-River Falls, St. Mary's (MN), Gustavus Adolphus, St. Olaf.
 
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS
Wartburg enters the weekend with on a three-game win streak after sweeping its matches in the St. Kate's Tournament in St. Paul, Minn. Sophomore middle hitter Anna Sash leads the Knights with 61 kills, followed closely by Whitney Klyn with 55. Defensively, junior Peyton Robinson has posted a team-best 98 digs, while setter Sophie Sedgwick has tallied 128 assists. Sash leads the conference in hitting percentage, boasting a .445 mark that ranks No. 15 in the nation.

Sash also leads the A-R-C with 28 total blocks, the third-highest mark in the league to date. In blocks per set, Sash tops the A-R-C with 1.33 – No. 7 in Div. III. Sedgwick paces the team in service aces (14), highlighted by six in a sweep over the University of Olivet.

As a team, the Knights rank No. 2 in aces per set (2.62), blocks per set (1.76), and digs per set (16.24). The stout Orange and Black defense holds opponents to just a .124 hitting percentage, the best mark in the A-R-C.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. OPPONENTS
Edgewood College
Wartburg holds a 7-1 all-time series advantage, dating back to 2004. The two programs last met in 2023, where the Knights dropped the match a 3-1 for their first-ever defeat against Edgewood.

10/22/04 – W, 3-0
10/28/06 – W, 3-0
9/27/13 – W, 3-1
9/26/14 – W, 3-0
9/25/15 – W, 3-1
9/23/16 – W, 3-0
9/22/17 – W, 3-0
9/9/23 – L, 1-3

Edgewood enters the weekend at 2-2 after a win over Elmhurst (3-0) at the Todd Wehr Edgedome in Madison, Wis.
 
St. Mary's University (MN)
Wartburg leads the all-time series, 15-9, dating back to 1988. The Wartburg has claimed the last two matchups in 2019 and 2021 with straight sweeps.

9/24/88 – W, 2-1
10/30/93 – L, 1-2
9/3/94 – L, 0-2
10/15/94 – W, 2-0
10/6/00 – W, 3-0
9/14/01 – W, 3-1
10/12/01 – W, 3-0
9/13/02 – W, 3-0
10/5/02 – W, 3-2
10/31/03 – W, 3-1
9/11/04 – L, 0-3
 10/8/04 – L, 1-3
9/5/05 – W, 3-2
9/9/06 – L, 2-3
9/8/07 – L, 1-3
9/12/08 – W, 3-1
9/11/09 – L, 0-3
9/11/10 – L, 1-3
9/8/12 – W, 3-0
8/30/14 – W, 3-0
10/11/14 – L, 0-3
9/28/19 – W, 3-0
9/4/21 – W, 3-0

St. Mary's (MN) sits at 5-4 in the 2025 season after a loss against Wisconsin-La Crosse (3-0) and a win over Luther (3-1) on Sept. 10.
 
University of Wisconsin-River Falls
UW-River Falls owns a 10-7 series advantage against Wartburg. The programs met last year, when the Falcons claimed a 3-0 sweep to extend their winning streak to three. The Knights look to end a three-game losing skid to the Falcons in the all-time series, with their last victory coming on Sept. 3, 2021.

10/13/90 – W, 2-0
9/12/92 – L, 1-2
10/3/92 – W, 2-1
10/2/93 – L, 0-2
9/2/95 – W, 2-1
10/26/02 – L, 0-3
10/23/04 – L, 1-3
9/30/06 – L, 0-3
9/28/07 – W, 3-0
9/30/11 – W, 3-1
10/24/14 – L, 1-3
9/22/18 – L, 1-3
9/20/19 – W, 3-1
9/3/21 – W, 3-0
9/09/22 – L, 1-3
09/22/23 – L, 0-3
09/14/24 – L, 0-3

UW-River Falls owns a 3-4 record this season, going 3-1 in their own Falcon Invite, defeating Simpson (3-1), Nebraska Wesleyan (3-2) and Carleton (3-1), while falling to North Park (0-3).
 
KNIGHTS WELCOME 12 NEWCOMERS
Twelve of the 29 players on the 2025 roster are newcomers.

Gracie Hoskins (Urbana, Iowa/Center Point Urbana), Haedyn Rebelsky (Van Meter, Iowa/Van Meter), Ashlynn Hodges (Shenandoah, Iowa/Shenandoah), Brooklyn Biddle (Lowden, Iowa/Calamus-Wheatland), Addison Huffman (Manchester, Iowa/West Delaware), Zoey Breeding (Winterset, Iowa/Winterset), Neah Bunkers (Polk City, Iowa/North Polk), Ema Roberts (Ladora, Iowa/HLV), Abigale Merritt (Galena, Ill./Galena), Brooke Burgemeister (Belle Plaine, Minn./Belle Plaine), Dakota Poen (Norwalk, Iowa/Norwalk), and Callie Welsch (Winterset, Iowa/Winterset).
 
AKINS MAKES COACHING DEBUT
This season marks the debut season for Head Coach DeAnn Akins, with longtime head coach Jennifer Walker transitioning into her 28th year as an assistant coach.

Akins joins the Wartburg coaching staff from Coe College where she has led that program since 2006. Over her tenure at Coe, Akins won five A-R-C regular season championships and three A-R-C tournament titles. Akins earned four trips to the NCAA Tournament, with 388 career victories over her 19 seasons at the helm. Sixty All-ARC performers, 12 All-Americans, and three offensive conference MVPs were produced under Akins. On top of her athletes' success on the court, Akins has taken home A-R-C Coach of the Year honors five times.

Prior to Coe, Akins spent the 2005 season as the director of volleyball operations at the University of Iowa, which followed some time as head coach of Kirkwood Community College. Akins is a native of Waverly, Iowa, as she worked as an assistant coach at Wartburg during the 2002 season.

In her inaugural season leading the Wartburg Volleyball program, Akins stated that "This is home, it just feels right. I've had a lot of great memories here at Wartburg as a child.", said at the 2025 Fall Sports Media Day on Tuesday, Aug. 26.
 
AKINS EARNS INAUGURAL VICTORY
Head Coach DeAnn Akins earned her first career victory at Wartburg with a 3-1 win over Transylvania University. After dropping the opening set, the Knights rallied with three straight set wins (25-16, 25-22, 26-24), overcoming a 24-20 deficit in the final frame to secure the match.
The Knights followed with a sweep of Olivet (25-16, 25-13, 25-16) before falling to an unbeaten Berry College (Ga.) squad in straight sets.
 
TABBED THIRD IN A-R-C PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
Wartburg was picked third in the A-R-C preseason poll, earning one first-place vote.
 
A-R-C Preseason Coaches' Poll (Aug. 21)
Place - Team (First-place votes) - Points

1.Coe (6) - 62 points
2.Univ. of Dubuque (2) - 53 points
T-3. Nebraska Wesleyan - 45 points
T-3. Wartburg (1) - 45 points
5. Central - 41 points
6. Loras - 28 points
7. Simpson - 26 points
8. Buena Vista - 15 points
9. Luther - 9 points