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The Nebraska Wesleyan volleyball team got off to a terrific start over the weekend as the Prairie Wolves won all four matches at the Pacific University Invitational in Forest Grove, Ore. NWU went 2-0 on Saturday, then closed the weekend with two sweeps on Sunday to start the year 4-0.

NWU lost just one set the entire weekend as they had three 3-0 sweeps against the NCAA Division III competition.

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LINCOLN - The Nebraska Wesleyan University volleyball received 19 total points to sit just outside the Top 25 of the AVCA Division III Coaches’ preseason Top 25 that was released on Thursday (Aug. 19). NWU was the fifth team in the others receiving votes category.

Nebraska Wesleyan finished the 2009 season ranked No. 23 in the final AVCA/DIII Poll after finishing 18-12 for the year and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division III National Tournament. It marked the first time since 2003 that NWU ended the year ranked in the poll.

LINCOLN – Nebraska Wesleyan, ranked No. 21 in the AVCA/DIII Coaches’ Poll, earned a 3-0 win over Concordia on Wednesday evening in Lincoln . Scores of the match were 25-18, 25-18 and 25-19. The host Prairie Wolves improved to 17-8 overall and 7-6 in the GPAC with the win. Concordia dropped to 10-18 overall and 2-11 in the GPAC with the loss.

Nebraska Wesleyan had a .324 attack percentage in the match compared to .168 for the Bulldogs. Kelsey Elman had a match-high 14 kills to pace the Prairie Wolves offensively. Laura Brammeier added 10 kills and eight digs, Ashley Jedlicka had 34 assists and Brittny Barber had 10 digs for NWU.

Dani Hoagland had a team-high 13 kills to lead the way for the Bulldogs in the loss. Chelsea Vaudt had 11 kills; Alex Szalawiga added seven kills and Kaylie Mellema handed out 33 assists on the night. Lauryn Nyhoff’s 10 digs led the way defensively for Concordia.

Concordia hosts Hastings College on Oct. 24. It will be parent’s night at the Health, Human Performance and Athletic Center with the JV contest set to begin at 6 p.m. and the varsity match scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The 2010 Preseason GPAC Volleyball Coaches’ Poll was released Monday.

Northwestern College is the coaches’ pick to win the GPAC in 2010 following a 36-3 record and a trip to the NAIA National Tournament quarterfinals a year ago. The Red Raiders earned 121 points and secured 11 first place votes in the poll. Morningside College is second with 101 points, and Doane College rounds out the top three with 97 points. Dordt College is fourth with 96 points and the final first place vote.

The 2010 GPAC volleyball season will consist of 16 conference matches with 12 teams competing for the conference title.

1. Northwestern College – 121 Points (11 first place votes)

BLAIR, Neb. — For the first time since 1993, the Dana College volleyball team has defeated No. 24 Nebraska Wesleyan.

Dana trailed 2-0 before storming back to triumph 23-25, 17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-9 on Friday night.

Kali Brayfield had 13 kills to go with two solo blocks and seven block assists. Megan Higgins had 17 kills. Steph Connell had 22 set assists, while freshman Wendy Boller added 23 assists. Erin Shanahan had 31 digs.

Nebraska Wesleyan defeated Concordia 3-2 in GPAC volleyball on Wednesday evening in Seward. Scores of the match were 19-25, 25-18, 25-18, 17-25 and 15-9. Nebraska Wesleyan improved to 12-3 overall and 2-1 in the GPAC with the win. The Bulldogs dropped to 7-10 overall and 0-3 in the GPAC with the loss.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead in game one and cruised to the 25-19 win. The visiting Prairie Wolves responded in games two and three to take a 2-1 lead. In game four, Concordia again jumped out to a quick lead and managed to force a fifth and deciding game. Game five remained close early on. However, the Prairie Wolves pulled away down the stretch and held on for the 3-2 win.

Concordia senior Dani Hoagland had a fantastic night in a losing effort for the Bulldogs. She had a match-high 23 kills and added two aces and two blocks on the night. Chelsea Vaudt was the only other player to reach double figures in kills with 10. Sloan Brandon had eight kills and 13 digs, and Lauryn Nyhoff added seven kills and 15 digs for the Bulldogs. Nico Ethofer had a match-high 18 digs, Kirsten Kohlway added 14 digs and Kaylie Mellema handed out 46 assists for Concordia.

Nebraska Wesleyan was led by Laura Brammeier’s 18 kills. Brittny Barber added 11 kills, Elise Schmid had eight kills and Ashley Jedlicka had 36 set assists for NWU.

Concordia travels to Briar Cliff on Friday and Morningside on Saturday. First serve on Friday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., and Saturday’s match is set to begin at 3 p.m.

2010 JV Schedule

Date Opponent Site Box score Game scores
Sep 5 - TBA at Doane Tournament Crete, NE
Sep 7 - 6:00pm Midland Lutheran Lincoln, NE
Sep 14 - 6:00pm at Hastings Hastings, NE
Sep 22 - 6:00pm at Doane Crete, NE
Sep 23- 7:00pm at Union College Lincoln, NE
Sep 26 - 1:30pm at Mount Marty Yankton, SD
Sep 29 - 6:00pm Morningside Lincoln, NE
Sep 30 - 7:00pm Union College Lincoln, NE
Oct 6 - 6:00pm at Concordia Seward, NE
Oct 8 - 6:00pm at Dordt Sioux Center, IA
Oct 9 - 1:30pm at Dakota Wesleyan Mitchell, SD
Oct 13 - 6:00pm at Midland Lutheran Fremont, NE
Oct 15 - 6:00pm Sioux Falls Lincoln, NE
Oct 16 - 1:30pm Briar Cliff Lincoln, NE
Oct 20 - 6:00pm Hastings Lincoln, NE
Oct 23 - 3:00pm Concordia Lincoln, NE
Oct 27 - 6:00pm Doane Lincoln, NE
Oct 30 - 1:30pm Northwestern Lincoln, NE
Nov 2 - 6:00pm at Morningside Sioux City, IA

PELLA, IA - Nebraska Wesleyan graduate Rhea Softley will be beginning her second season as an assistant coach on the Central College volleyball staff.

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No. 8 Carthage College ended the 2009 volleyball season for Nebraska Wesleyan University as they defeated the Prairie Wolves, 3-0, in the NCAA III Central Region Semifinals on Friday (Nov. 13) in St. Louis, Mo. The Lady Reds won with scores of 25-13, 28-26, 25-19.

Nebraska Wesleyan ranked No. 21 in the AVCA III Poll finishes the 2009 season with an 18-12 overall record. The 2009 season marked the sixth straight season that NWU qualified for the NCAA III Tournament and the second straight season that the Prairie Wolves advanced to the second round.

The second-seeded Carthage team took a 5-4 lead in the first set and scored nine unanswered points to build a nine point lead that was too big for NWU to overcome. The set ended at 25-13.

Four ranked teams will compete this weekend in the Bruin/Premier Classic at Bellevue University's Gordon Lozier Physical Health Center.

Bellevue is 12-3 and ranked 15th. The other NAIA Top 25 teams are No. 5 Georgetown (Ky.) (18-0); No. 6 Northwestern College (12-2); and No. 23 Dordt (11-4). MidAmerica Nazarene (11-5) and Bethany (4-9) also are in the field.

Bellevue faces Northwestern today at 11:15 a.m. and then plays MidAmerica Nazarene tonight at 8:15.