Athletics

Volleyball

The University of Dubuque volleyball team continues to take strides in becoming one of the consistent performers in the American Rivers Conference. The Spartans have taken top-ranked opponents into five sets and have proven a tough opponent for all they face.

Expect to compete in several tournaments while traveling to some of the best indoor venues in the tri-state region. The Spartans are named to the All-Tournament team in nearly every tournament they compete in during the fall season. UD plays an offense which spreads the ball around giving opportunities for many student-athletes to contribute during the season. UD won the first ever Iowa Conference Team Championship with a perfect 6-0 record in 1982 and also won the team title in 1995. UD finished second in 2018 and won the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Tournament to earn a bid into the 2018 NCAA Division III National Championships. As a #3-seed in the 2019 A-R-C Tournament, UD swept through the tourney to win their second consecutive tournament and make the field in the 2019 NCAA Division III National Championships. The Spartans have qualified for five NCAA Division III Championships.

Volleyball News

Andresen Voted CoSIDA Academic All-District

Nov 15, 2019

University of Dubuque senior volleyball student-athlete Rylee Andresen was named First Team CoSIDA Academic All-District for District Eight on Friday.

UD's Season Comes to End in NCAA Tournament First Round

Nov 14, 2019

The University of Dubuque volleyball team took on #1 seed St. Thomas in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament St. Paul Regional on Thursday night, where they fell to the top-seeded and host St. Thomas Tommies, 3-1 (13-25, 25-20, 23-25, 13-25), in a hard fought four sets.

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	Name	Position	Height	Year	Hometown
1	Annie Meyer	Outside Hitter	5-8	Junior	Bernard, Iowa
4	Mary Kate Wille	Defensive Specialist	5-5	Freshman	Elkader, Iowa
5	Jordann Huisinga	Outside Hitter	5-8	Freshman	Burlington, Wis.
6	Kyla Lindsey	Middle Hitter	5-8	Freshman	Mineral Point, Wis.
7	Meghan Prohaska	Middle Hitter	5-9	Freshman	Cedar Rapids, Iowa
8	Kate Messino	Setter	5-7	Sophomore	McHenry, Ill.
10	Grace Hintze	Outside Hitter	5-9	Freshman	Bondurant, Iowa
11	Emily Swanson	Middle Hitter	5-10	Freshman	DeWitt, Iowa
13	Shauna McAleer	Middle Hitter	6-2	Junior	Goose Lake, Iowa
14	Isabel Cleary	Outside Hitter	6-1	Junior	Bismark, N.D.
15	Abby Smith	Outside Hitter	5-8	Freshman	Solon, Iowa
16	Maddy Cruz	Outside Hitter	5-10	Junior	Chicago, Ill.
17	Mackenzie Obleski	Setter	5-7	Freshman	Evergreen, Col.
19	Kaylynn Murray	Setter	5-9	Freshman	Orland Park, Ill.
21	Chloe Olson	Middle Hitter	5-10	Junior	Longmont, Colo.
22	Darby Hawtrey	Outside Hitter	5-10	Sophomore	Clarence, Iowa
23	Brieana Dean	Outside Hitter	5-11	Freshman	Muskego, Wis.
24	Kendra Witte	Outside Hitter	6-0	Junior	Mediapolis, Iowa
25	Rheannon O'Neil	Outside Hitter	5-9	Freshman	Oswego, Ill.
26	Samantha Gates	Setter	5-3	Freshman	Geneva, Ill.
28	Abbie Edminster	Defensive Specialist	5-8	Freshman	Dubuque, Iowa
29	Lauren Tucker	Outside Hitter	5-8	Sophomore	Lancaster, Wis.
30	Bailee Kroeger	Outside Hitter	5-7	Freshman	Wilton, Iowa
33	Katie Martin	Defensive Specialist	5-4	Freshman	Lancaster, Wis.
34	Lisa Carroll	Outside Hitter	5-10	Freshman	Dubuque, Iowa

2020 Varsity Schedule

Sept. 1	vs Edgewood College	Dubuque, IA	7:00 p.m.
Sept. 4-5	at Colorado College Classic	Colo. Springs, Colo.	TBA
	Colorado College, Millikin, St. Scholastica, McDaniel
Sept. 9	at Augustana College	Rock Island, IL	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 11	at Cornell College	Dubuque, IA	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 16	at Loras College*	Dubuque, IA	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 18-19	UD River City Classic	Dubuque, IA	TBA
	North Central (IL), St. Mary's (MN), Loras
Sept. 23	vs. Wartburg College*	Dubuque, IA	7:30 p.m.
Sept. 25-26	at Pointers Invitational	Stevens Point, WI	TBA
	UW-SP, St. Olaf, U of Chicago, UW-Osh Kosh, UW-Stout, Ripon
Sept. 30	vs. Coe College*	Dubuque, IA	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 2	vs. North Park University	Dubuque, IA	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 9	at Simpson College*	Indianola, IA	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 10	at Central College*	Pella, IA	2:30 p.m.
Oct. 13	vs. UW-Platteville	Dubuque, IA	7:00 p.m.
Oct. 15	at UW-Whitewater	Whitewater, WI	7:00 p.m.
Oct. 17	vs. UW-River Falls/Wheaton College	Dubuque, IA	10:00 a.m./3:00 p.m.
Oct. 20	at Aurora University/Rockford University	Rockford, IL	6/8 p.m.
Oct. 23	vs. Buena Vista University*	Dubuque, IA	7:30 p.m.
Oct. 24	vs. Nebraska Wesleyan University*	Dubuque, IA	12:00 p.m.
Oct. 28	at Luther College*	Decorah, IA	7:30 p.m.
Nov. 3-7	American Rivers Conference Tournament	TBA	TBA

2020 Varsity Reserves Schedule

Sept. 9	Augustana College	Rock Island, IL	5:30 p.m.
Sept. 11	Cornell College	Dubuque, IA	5:00 p.m.
Sept. 12	JV River City Tournament	Dubuque, IA
Sept. 16	Loras College*	Dubuque, IA	6:00 p.m.
Sept. 18	Hawkeye CC	Dubuque, IA	4:30 p.m.
Sept. 23	Wartburg College*	Dubuque, IA	6:00 p.m.
Sept. 30	Coe College*	Dubuque, IA	6:00 p.m.
Oct. 2	North Park University	Dubuque, IA	5:00 p.m.
Oct. 9	Simpson College*	Indianola, IA	6:00 p.m.
Oct. 10	Central College*	Pella, IA	1:00 p.m.
Oct. 23	Buena Vista University*	Dubuque, IA	6:00 p.m.
Oct. 24	Nebraska Wesleyan University*	Dubuque, IA	10:30 a.m.
Oct. 28	Luther College*	Decorah, IA
Nov. 2	A-R-C JV Conference Tourney	TBA

2019 Varsity Schedule

Aug. 30	at St. Mary's Univ. Sugar Loaf Classic
	vs. Macalester College	Winona, MN	W, 3-0
	vs. St. Mary’s University	Winona, MN	W, 3-0
Aug. 31	vs. UW-River Falls	Winona, MN	W, 3-1
	vs. UW-Superior	Winona, MN	W, 3-1
Sept. 4	Augustana College	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-1
Sept. 6	at Augsburg University Invitational
	vs. George Fox University	Minneapolis, MN	W, 3-0
	vs. UW-La Crosse	Minneapolis, MN	L, 2-3
Sept. 7	vs. Univ. of St. Thomas	Minneapolis, MN	L, 0-3
	vs. Augsburg University	Minneapolis, MN	L, 0-3
Sept. 11	at Cornell College	Mt. Vernon, IA	W, 3-2
Sept. 14	at University of Chicago	Chicago, IL	L, 1-3
Sept. 14	at North Park University	Chicago, IL	W, 3-0
Sept. 18	at Coe College*	Cedar Rapids, IA	L, 1-3
Sept. 24	at Wartburg College*	Waverly, IA	L, 2-3
Sept. 27	vs. UW-Stout	Dubuque, IA	L, 1-3
Sept. 27	vs. UW-Oshkosh	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-2
Sept. 28	vs. Carroll College	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-1
Sept. 28	vs. UW-Stevens Point	Dubuque, IA	L, 1-3
Oct. 2	vs. Luther College*	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-0
Oct. 5	at Wheaton College	Naperville, IL	W, 3-2
Oct. 5	at North Central College	Naperville, IL	W, 3-1
Oct. 11	at Nebraska Wesleyan*	Lincoln, NE	W, 3-1
Oct. 12	at Buena Vista University*	Storm Lake, IA	L, 0-3
Oct. 16	at UW-Platteville	Platteville, WI	L, 2-3
Oct. 18	vs. Marian University	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-0
Oct. 22	at Edgewood College	Madison, WI	W, 3-0
Oct. 25	vs. Central College*	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-0
Oct. 26	vs. Simpson College*	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-0
Oct. 30	vs. Loras College*	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-0
Nov. 5	1st Round A-R-C Tourney vs. Buena Vista	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-2
Nov. 7	A-R-C Tourney Semifinals at Loras	Dubuque, IA	W, 3-2
Nov. 9	A-R-C Tourney Championship at Wartburg	Waverly, IA	W, 3-1
Nov. 14	NCAA Tournament First Round vs. St. Thomas	St. Paul, MN	L, 1-3

‌

April Elsbernd

Head Women's Volleyball Coach
MS, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
BA, Coe College

Phone: 563.589.3231
E-mail: AElsbernd@dbq.edu
Office: 314 Stoltz Sports Center
Fax: 563.589.3425

Biography (Click to Expand )

April Elsbernd joined the University of Dubuque Athletic Department in the Spring of 2009 and is a native of Calmar, Iowa (South Winneshiek High School). The 2019 season will be her 11th season with the Spartans.

In 2018, Elsbernd led the Spartans to the NCAA Tournament by winning the American Rivers Conference Tournament and earning the conference automatic bid. They finished the season with a 24-9 record overall and 6-2 in conference play. Elsbernd and the coaching staff were selected A-R-C Coaching Staff of the Year by her fellow coaches.

University of Dubuque Volleyball student-athletes have earned 67 IIAC/A-R-C All-Academic individual honors, accounted for ten straight American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Academic Team awards, 13 All-Conference selections, two Freshman of the Year winners, and one MVP during her ten seasons at the helm of the program.

During the 2017 season, the Spartans secured a 3rd place finish in the Iowa Conference and a quarterfinal victory in the IIAC tournament behind Honorable Mention All-American, Karrah Davis. They finished the season with the most wins since 1995 (28-7), and began the season with a 12-0 match winning streak.

Prior to coaching at the University of Dubuque, Elsbernd spent one season as head coach at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa; and three seasons as an assistant at Cornell College.

She attended and played collegiate volleyball at Coe College from 1999-2002 and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, Public Relations and Speech Communications. She was a four-year letterwinner and earned Academic All-Iowa Conference honors in 2001 and 2002.

Elsbernd has experience coaching at numerous volleyball camps and clinics, and has been involved with the USAV Iowa Region High Performance program since 2011; learning from and interacting with USA Volleyball coaches and USA Olympic Athletes.

In addition to her role as the head volleyball coach at UD, she is an adjunct instructor for the Health, Wellness and Sport department and the First-Year Experience department. She has also had the opportunity to travel abroad (Italy, London, Paris, and Costa Rica) with a number of undergraduate courses.

Elsbernd graduated with a Master of Science degree in Sport Administration from the UW - La Crosse in 2007 and is currently working on her Ed.D in Educational Leadership from National Louis University.


Volleyball Coaching Record at the University of Dubuque
Year	Overall	Conf.
2009	11-22	2-6	7th place
2010	6-26	0-8	9th place
2011	16-18	3-5	6th place	*IIAC Tournament Qualifier
2012	15-20	4-3	4th place	*IIAC Tournament Qualifier
2013	12-21	2-5	4th place	*IIAC Tournament Qualifier
2014	12-24	2-5	6th place	*IIAC Tournament Qualifier
2015	17-18	3-4	6th place	*IIAC Tournament Qualifier
2016	15-17	2-6	7th place
2017	28-7	5-3	3rd place	*IIAC Tournament Qualifier
2018	24-9	6-2	2nd place	* A-R-C Tournament Champs // NCAA Tournament Qualifier
TOTAL	155-182	29-47		*All-Time UD Wins Leader*