D’Artagnan Johnson, contributor
Bri Van Well, team captain and outside hitter for the Augsburg women’s volleyball team, is currently in her fifth and final season as an Auggie athlete. She has shined brightly and has spent the majority of her career leading the team or being near the top in kills. She led the team in 2022 and 2023 and has been on pace for 2024. Recently, she reached a milestone that only five other Auggies in school history have reached before: 1,000 career kills. Van Well currently sits at 1,070 career kills after a productive night against Bethany Lutheran College where she added 16 to the tally. The game against the Vikings pushed the team captain ever closer to third place on the all-time kills leaderboard for Augsburg volleyball players. Van Well needs 10 more kills to surpass Kayla Gjerde who ended her career with 1,079. The star has accomplished 210 kills on the season and is chasing her personal season high of 416.
Compared to the other high scorers of the MIAC, Van Well’s dominant offense has led her to fourth place in kills, kills per set, points and average point per set this season. She averages 3.44 kills per set, has recorded 231 points and averaged 3.79 points per set. During the 2023 season, Van Well led the MIAC in average kills per set with 3.92 and placed second in total kills. Her 3.92 kills per set placed her at 33 in all of division three volleyball. These stellar scoring stats earned her a 2023 MIAC All-Conference honor.
Compared to the other high scorers of the MIAC, Van Well’s dominant offense has led her to fourth place in kills, kills per set, points and average point per set this season. She averages 3.44 kills per set, has recorded 231 points and averaged 3.79 points per set.
D’Artagnan Johnson
Van Well has contributed significantly to Auggie teams that haven’t had a losing season during her tenure. The Auggies hold a record of 61-45 and the team has made the MIAC Playoffs twice with the outside hitter on the roster. When asked in an interview with the Echo about her athletic goal at Augsburg, Van Well simply said, “to compete in the MIAC championships and qualify for the NCAA tournament.” Her unreturnable strikes and leadership give the Auggies a great chance to make these goals a reality.
Catch the Auggies back in action against conference opponent Saint Mary’s University on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in Si Melby Hall where Van Well will look to run up the score. The Auggies look to dominate the competition as Saint Mary’s has yet to win a conference game. Although the Auggies and Cardinals have the same winning percentage, the Cardinals lost to Simpson College three sets to one whereas the Auggies crushed Simpson three sets to none.