The first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NSIC) Volleyball Players of the Week played their high school volleyball in the Hiawatha Valley League.  Mara Quam is a sophomore at Minnesota State Mankato and was named Defensive Player of the week and Hailey Busch is a senior at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota from Kasson-Mantorville. 5'7 Quam is a libero and 5'11 Busch a outside hitter.

Quam was named to the USI Invitational All-Tournament team compiling 60 digs in 12 sets and 10 ace serves.  The three sport athlete at Kenyon-Wanamingo is tied for the conference lead in ace serves and is fourth in the conference in digs per set.

Mara Quam MSU Mankato So. Photo from MSU
Mara Quam MSU Mankato So. Photo from MSU
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Busch was named the Concordia-Portland Tournament MVP while hitting .448 with 54 kills, averaging 4.5 kills per set.  Busch leads the NSIC in total kills after the opening week of the season and is third in kills per set.  She also ranks second in the NSIC in points.

Hailey Busch Northern State University. Photo from Northern State
Hailey Busch Northern State University. Photo from Northern State
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Without a doubt the NSIC is the premier conference in the nation in volleyball.  Concordia-St. Paul has three straight national titles and 9 in the past 11 years.  Head Coach Brady Starkey recently collected his 500th career win.  He would be the first to tell you the great competition in the conference helps them get prepared for the postseason.

For the third straight year the Golden Bears were the top ranked Division II team in the country in the preseason poll.  8 of the 16 teams in the Northern Sun are ranked nationally and the top three teams in the nation are from the league.

  • Concordia-St. Paul #1
  • Southwest Minnesota State #2
  • University of Minnesota Duluth #3
  • Northern State University #9
  • Winona State University #17
  • Augustana #23
  • Wayne State Received votes
  • Upper Iowa Received votes

Concordia-St. Paul has a big connection to the KDHL POWER 96 listening area with Faribault Bethlehem Academy graduate 5'7 red shirt freshman Payton Nutter a setter on the team.  Also Brooklyn Lewis, 5'10 senior from Kasson-Mantorville, 5'11 freshman Brady Kennedy from Lakeville North.

There are connections all around the NSIC Conference with Bethlehem Academy graduate Mary Campbell, a 5'11 freshman making an impact in the first week of the season at Bemidji State.  Campbell is averaging over 2 kills per set and is hitting .356 with 21 digs after the first week.

Winona State has 6'2 sophomore Megan Flom of Kenyon-Wanamingo and 5'9 sophomore Kate Masberg of Waterville-Elysian-Morristown both contributing to their team.

5'11 setter Maggie Streightiff of Hayfield is a freshman at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa and is joined by Big Nine alum 6'0 junior Anna Winter from Rochester Mayo.

5'6 senior Kayla Aherns of Owatonna is a libero at nationally ranked Augustana.

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