by Jackie DeMolee, UND Athletic Media Relations 

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- If you ask junior middle hitter Britta Hanson (Thompson, N.D.) what the key to success has been for the Fighting Sioux volleyball team this year, she can’t quite put her finger on it.

“I don’t know, both years we’ve been trying as hard as we could. I think there’s a lot more trust this year,” Hanson said. “We get along well with each other and we have a strong defense. We have athletes that can play a lot of different positions.”

Last season Hanson finished the season second on the team in kills (299). This year her success has continued. With 12 kills last Thursday against Dakota Wesleyan, she already has 299 kills and leds the Fighting Sioux.

Hanson is always trying to improve herself and her game. “I set individual goals for every game and try to do better than the last game,” she said. “With each year and each game, I think everyone fine tunes their abilities. We try to improve on our weaknesses and strengthen all of our strengths. I think our team plays with more maturity and confidence this year.”

Just like the rest of the North Dakota teams, volleyball is transitioning to Division I.

“Compared to most Division I teams, I’m short,” Hanson said. “It’s going to be a lot tougher competition and I’m the tallest girl on the team so it’s going to be a challenge for all of us.”

The competition might be tougher, but Hanson has an interest in the new challenges. “Next year the teams we play against will be stronger with highly recruited athletes, but I’m excited to play,” she said.

Being a Division I transition team hasn’t made things easier for North Dakota. “We’ve played some teams this year that are Division III that come out and play because they want to see what a Division I transition team has,” Hanson said.

Although North Dakota is a transitioning team, they’ve still gone up against Division I teams and shown their strength. “The highlight of the season was winning the Maryland Tournament," Hanson said. "It was our first DI tournament and it was great that we went out and made a great showing for UND and the volleyball program here. It was really exciting to finally play against DI competition and I believe our team can continue to play at a DI level.”

Hanson has learned about time management, how to be a role model for younger kids and all of the other challenges that come along with college life. She’s also credits her previous volleyball coaches for pushing her to be the athlete that she is today.

This year the team doesn’t have any seniors, but all of he juniors serve as co-captains and Hanson still expects big things. “All four of us captains have stepped up and become leaders on this team. We all want our team to succeed and play at our highest level of play every game,” she said.

North Dakota stays home on Tuesday and Thursday to battle against Valley City State and Dickinson State. Both games are in the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center and start at 7 p.m..