Friday, Sept. 5 | Saint Paul Tournament | St. Paul, MN | Butler Center (St. Catherine University) 
Wartburg vs. Wisconsin-Superior | 4 PM 
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Saturday, Sept. 6 | Saint Paul Tournament | St. Paul, MN | Hutton Arena (Hamline University) 
Wartburg vs. Hamline | 1 PM 
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Saturday, Sept. 6 | Saint Paul Tournament | St. Paul, MN | Butler Center 
Wartburg vs. St. Catherine | 5 PM 
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The Wartburg College volleyball team (2-1 overall) returns to action this weekend at the Saint Paul Tournament in St. Paul, Minn. The Knights open play Friday, Sept. 5, with a single match against the University of Wisconsin-Superior at 4 p.m. Wartburg will then compete in a Saturday doubleheader, facing Hamline University at 1 p.m., followed by St. Catherine University at 5 p.m. 

Wartburg's first and final matches of the weekend will be held at the Butler Center on the campus of St. Catherine, while the second will be hosted at Hamline's Hutton Arena. 
 
ST. PAUL TOURNAMENT INFORMATION 
Hosted by St. Catherine University and Hamline University 

Participating Teams: Wartburg, Central, Wisconsin-Superior, St. Catherine 

Ticket Prices
$10 Adults 
$5 Students/Seniors 
 
ABOUT THE KNIGHTS 
Wartburg begins the week with a 2-1 record after earning two victories at the Transylvania Invite in Lexington, Ky. Sophomore outside hitter Kaylee Koudelka leads the Knights with 30 kills, followed closely by Anna Sash with 29. Defensively, Peyton Robinson has posted a team-best 49 digs, while setter Sophie Sedgwick has tallied 63 assists. 

Sash also leads the American Rivers Conference with 18 total blocks, the highest mark in the league to date. Sedgwick paces the team in service aces (8), highlighted by six in a sweep over the University of Olivet. 
 
LAST WEEK IN LEXINGTON 
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 Wisconsin-Superior 

Wartburg holds an 8-1 all-time series advantage with eight consecutive wins. The two programs last met in 2024, where the Knights earned a 3-0 victory for the third straight time.  

9/2/95 – L, 1-2 
9/6/96 – W, 3-1 
9/5/05 – W, 3-2 
9/8/06 – W, 3-1 
9/7/07 – W, 3-2 
9/8/12 – W, 3-1 
10/17/15 – W, 3-0 
9/2/16 – W, 3-0 
9/21/24 – W, 3-0 

UW-Superior enters the weekend at 2-2 after wins over Emmaus (3-1) and Ripon (3-1) at the Ripon College Classic. 
 
    Hamline University 
Hamline leads the all-time series, 5-3, dating back to 1983. The Pipers edged Wartburg in their most recent matchup, a five-set contest in 2023 .

10/29/83 – L, 0-2 
10/12/91 – L, 1-2 
9/24/94 – L, 0-2 
9/2/95 – W, 2-0 
10/5/07 – L, 0-3 
10/7/17 – W, 3-0 
9/17/21 – W, 3-0 
9/16/23 – L, 2-3 

Hamline is 0-3 to start the 2025 season after setbacks against Lawrence (1-3), Gallaudet (2-3), and St. Norbert (1-3) at the St. Norbert Tournament. 
 
       St. Catherine University 
Wartburg owns a 7-3 series advantage against St. Catherine. The programs last met in 2015, when the Wildcats claimed a five-set victory. 

10/23/84 – L, 1-2 
9/2/95 – W, 2-0 
10/5/96 – W, 3-1 
10/9/99 – W, 3-0 
9/30/05 – W, 3-0 
9/4/10 – L, 1-3 
9/8/12 – W, 3-0 
8/30/14 – W, 3-1 
10/17/15 – W, 3-0 
10/24/15 – L, 2-3 

St. Catherine begins the weekend 2-2 overall, with wins over LaGrange (3-1) and Oglethorpe (3-2), along with losses to Emory (0-3) and LeTourneau (1-3) at the Jenny McDowell Invite in Atlanta, Ga. 
 
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 
2. Univ. of Dubuque (2) 53 
T-3. Nebraska Wesleyan 45 
T-3. Wartburg (1) 45 
5. Central 41 
6. Loras 28 
7. Simpson 26 
8. Buena Vista 15 
9. Luther 9