SCOUTING GREEN BAY
• Green Bay (3-6, 0-0 Horizon) is led by seventh-year head coach Abbey Sutherland. In her first year in 2018, Sutherland led the Phoenix to both the Horizon League regular season and tournament championships. They finished 20-11 (13-3 HL) and made the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Last season, she led them to the Horizon League Tournament final for the first time since 2018. The team finished 16-6 (13-5 HL) in 2023).
• The Phoenix were picked to finish fourth in the 10-team Horizon League by the coaches. Wright State was picked first, followed by Northern Kentucky and Milwaukee.
• Green Bay is led by libero Abby Gardner, who leads the team with 3.56 digs per set. Outside hitter Cora Behnke paces the Phoenix with 2.92 kills per set while two others average over 2.40 kps.
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA
• North Dakota (5-3, 0-0 Summit League) is led by third-year head coach Jesse Tupac. In 2022, he took over a team that won just one match in the year prior and helped the Hawks make the Summit League Tournament for the first time since 2018, going 9-9 in league play. Last year, his team went 7-21 (4-12 Summit League). So far in 2024, the Fighting Hawks have posted wins over Tulane, SIUE, West Virginia, Belmont and WIU.
• UND was picked to a seventh-place finish by Summit League head coaches in the annual preseason poll, ahead of only St. Thomas and Oral Roberts. Omaha was picked to finish first. Graduate student-athlete Elizabeth Norries and junior Paige Barber were named UND's "Players to Watch" this season. Norris was one of only eight players in the country to notch four or more triple doubles in 2023. Barber paced the attack with 2.58 kills per set.
• So far in 2024, Barber leads the team with 2.53 kills per set while Norris paces the Fighting Hawks with 5.53 assists and 1.38 digs per set.
SCOUTING CHICAGO STATE
• Fifth-year head coach Tony Trifonov has taken the CSU volleyball program to new heights since his arrival. The Cougars achieved the most wins over a four-year span (39), qualified for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament two times after not having done so since joining the conference in 2013, earned berths in two postseason championships for the first time in school history (NIVC 2021, 2023) and was named the WAC Coach of the Year in 2021.
• Chicago State (4-5, 0-0 NEC) holds wins over Evansville, Miami (OH), Southern Indiana and UIC this season and they also took a set off of Indiana on the road. Last year, the team finished 13-9 and played in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
• Offensively, the Cougars are led by Patrycja Lagida, who holds 3.43 kills per set. She was named NEC Player of the Week after going for 3.00 kills and 2.67 digs per set in four matches. Libero Andrea Calderon leads CSU on defense, tallying 4.03 digs per set. She was named NEC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 10.
