Friday, Sept. 19 | St. Olaf/Carleton Invite | Northfield, MN | West Gym (Carleton College)
Wartburg vs. Minnesota Morris | 5 PM
WATCH | LIVE STATS
 
Saturday, Sept. 20 | St. Olaf/Carleton Invite | Northfield, MN | Bob Gelle Court at Skoglund Center (St. Olaf College)
Wartburg vs. No. 24 Gustavus Adolphus | 10 AM
WATCH | LIVE STATS
 
Saturday, Sept. 20 | St. Olaf/Carleton Invite | Northfield, MN | Bob Gelle Court at Skoglund Center
Wartburg vs. St. Olaf | 12 PM
WATCH | LIVE STATS
 
The Wartburg College volleyball team (6-3 overall) heads up to Northfield, Minn., this weekend for the St. Olaf/Carleton Invite. The Knights begin play Friday, Sept. 19, with a single match against the University of Minnesota Morris at 5 p.m. Wartburg will then compete in a Saturday doubleheader, facing Gustavus Adolphus at 10 a.m., followed the University of St. Olaf at 12 p.m.

Wartburg's Friday match will be held in the West Gym of Carleton College's campus, and the Saturday doubleheader will be played at the Bob Gelle Court at Skoglund Center on St. Olaf College's campus.
 
ST. OLAF/CARLETON INVITE INFORMATION  - TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Hosted St. Olaf College and Carleton College

Participating Teams: Wartburg, St. Olaf, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Carleton, Minnesota Morris, Gustavus Adolphus, Chicago, Macalester, Dubuque

ABOUT THE KNIGHTS
Wartburg begins the week with a 6-3 record after earning one victory at the Loras Invitational in Dubuque, Iowa. Sophomore middle hitter Anna Sash leads the Knights with 94 kills, followed closely by Kaylee Koudelka with 87. Defensively, Peyton Robinson has recorded a team-best 166 digs, while setter Sophie Sedgwick has tallied 194 assists.

Sash also leads the American Rivers Conference with 38 total blocks, the highest mark in the league to date. Aspen Falk paces the team in service aces (17), followed closely by Sedgwick (16).
 
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.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. OPPONENTS
University of Minnesota Morris
 Wartburg and Minnesota Morris have met once in their histories, with Wartburg taking the match in a 3-1 victory on Sept. 15, 2006.

• 9/15/06 – W, 3-1

Minnesota Morris enter the weekend at 4-5 overall, after going 1-2 in the University of St. Thomas Tournament, dropping two against St. Thomas (0-3) and Austin College (1-3), before righting the ship in their final match against Howard Payne (3-1).
 
No. 24 Gustavus Adolphus College
Wartburg leads the all-time series, 16-6, dating back to 1987. The Gusties edged Wartburg in their most recent matchup, a four-set contest in 2024.

• 9/26/87 – W, 2-1
• 10/3/92 – W, 2-0
• 10/3/92 – W, 2-0
• 10/4/96 – W, 3-0
• 10/19/96 – W, 3-1
• 10/7/00 – W, 3-0
• 9/9/06 – W, 3-1
• 10/3/09 – W, 3-1
• 10/15/10 – W, 3-0
• 10/6/12 – W, 3-0
• 9/6/13 – W, 3-0
• 8/29/14 – W, 3-0
• 9/10/16 – L, 2-3
• 11/10/16 – L, 0-3
• 10/7/17 – L, 1-3
• 11/10/17 – L, 1-3
• 9/6/19 –W, 3-2
• 9/3/21 – W, 3-2
• 9/24/21 – W, 3-1
• 9/24/22 – W, 3-0
• 9/08/23 – L, 1-3
• 9/06/24 – L, 1-3

Gustavus Adolphus has shot out to a 10-1 record to start the 2025 season, most recently going 4-0 in the Loras Invitational, sweeping Loras and Edgewood before grabbing a pair of 3-1 victories against Cornell and Coe.
 
St. Olaf College
 Wartburg owns a 18-15 series advantage against St. Olaf, dating back to 1988. The programs last met in 2015, when the Wildcats claimed a five-set victory.

• 9/31/88 – W, 2-0
• 9/23/89 – W, 2-0
• 9/15/90 – L, 0-2
• 10/13/90 – L, 0-2
• 10/27/90 – L, 1-3
• 10/17/92 – L, 0-2
• 10/2/92 – L, 0-2
•  9/6/96 – L, 0-3
• 9/28/97 – W, 3-1
• 11/14/97 – W, 3-1
• 11/15/97 – L, 1-3
• 10/22/99 – L, 0-3
• 10/29/99 – L, 0-3
• 8/31/02 – W, 3-1
• 10/4/02 – L, 1-3
• 9/13/03 – W, 3-0
• 10/3/03 – W, 3-2
• 10/1/04 – L, 2-3
• 10/1/10 – L, 2-3
• 10/16/10 – L, 0-3
• 9/9/11 – W, 3-0
• 9/15/12 – W, 3-0
• 10/5/12 – W, 3-0
• 10/4/13 – W, 3-0
• 10/4/14 – W, 3-0
• 9/18/15 – W, 3-0
• 10/10/15 – W, 3-0
• 9/17/16 – W, 3-0
• 9/9/17 – W, 3-0
• 9/11/21 – W, 3-1
• 09/16/22 – L, 2-3
• 10/13/23 – L, 0-3
• 9/20/24 – W, 3-2

St. Olaf has fashioned a 5-6 record, with victories over Wisconsin-River Falls (3-1) and Loras (3-0), along with losses to Dubuque (0-3) and Edgewood (0-3) at the Loras Invitational their last time out.
 
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.
 
 
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