Volleyball On The Road For A Pair Of NSIC Matches This Weekend

St. Cloud, Minn. – The St. Cloud State volleyball team (10-4, 3-2 NSIC) plays a pair of NSIC road matches this weekend. The program begins the weekend and travels to No.1 Southwest Minnesota State (13-0, 5-0 NSIC) on Friday, Sept. 29, at 6 p.m. at the PE Gym. The program continues the road swing and heads to Sioux Falls, S.D. to take on the University of Sioux Falls (8-2, 3-2 NSIC) on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 2 p.m. at Stewart Hall.

This Week's Opponents / Series History

Southwest Minnesota State swept Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston and beat Sioux Falls in four sets on the road last weekend.
The Mustangs have only lost a total of nine sets in 13 match victories this season.
SMSU are the top ranked team in the country for the third straight week and have already beaten seven ranked teams on the campaign.
Their coach, Terry Culhane, has only lost double figure matches twice in his 14 years running the program.
SMSU is one of only six unbeaten teams remaining in the Division II ranks.
The program has been led by Taylor Reiss, who has 216 kills (4.60 per set) and 139 digs.
Kaylee Burmeister has picked up 160 kills, (3.40 per set), 14 service aces and 171 digs.
Brooke Borchardt leads the team with her 42 blocks and also has 134 kills (2.85 per set).
Payton Hjerleid has a team-high 22 service aces plus 105 digs.
Megan Larson has recorded 585 assists.
SMSU leads the all-time series with St. Cloud, 24-18, since the first meeting in 1969.
The Mustangs are 18-1 against St. Cloud since 2004
St. Cloud State won the first 16 matches of the series, but SMSU has won 24 of the last 26 matches.
Sioux Falls fell to Southwest Minnesota State at home and then defeated Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State on the road.
Sioux Falls is receiving votes in this week's top 25 poll.
Nine schools in the NSIC are either ranked or receiving votes in the top 25 poll.
Makenna Rockeman is the team leader with 140 kills (3.59 per set).
Bria Barfnecht has 113 kills
Megan Hamstad leads the team with her 11 service aces.
Janelle Lam is the club leader with 186 digs.
The Huskies trail the all-time series with Sioux Falls 4-2 since the schools began meeting in 2012.

Live Stats and Web Streaming

Live stats for the road match against Southwest Minnesota State can be found at this link / web streaming for the match against the Mustangs can be found here
Live stats for the road match against Sioux Falls can be found at this link / web streaming for the match against the Cougars can be found here

Notables

St. Cloud State went 1-2 on the week in playing three ranked teams.
The victory was a home sweep of No. 18 Wayne State.
It was SCSU's first win over a rank opponent since at least 2002 covering 110 matches against ranked teams.
It was also the first win by head coach Chad Braegelmann at St Cloud State in his three years with the school over a rank opponent in 22 attempts.
The sweep over WSC was the seventh of the season for SCSU and that equals the total of sweeps the program had in the previous two seasons combined.
Clara Krenz, after totaling 70 digs (7.0 per set) last week, was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 25 for the first time in her career.
St. Cloud State had 118 kills, 115 assists, 12 service aces, 194 digs and 15 blocks as a team on the week.
Krenz leads the NSIC in both total digs (292) and digs per set (5.94).
She is seventh in service aces (18) and ninth in aces per set (0.37).
Nicole Miller is seventh in service aces (18), ninth in aces per set (0.37), 11th in total attacks (419), 12th in total digs (168), 14th in digs per set (3.43), 15th in attacks per kill (8.55), 19th in total kills (138), 22nd in points per set (3.32), 23rd in points per set (3.32).
Becca Gruber is 18th in total kills (139), 22nd in kills per set (2.84) and 24th in hitting percentage (.257).
Marah Mulso places 12th in blocks per set (0.89, 13th in total blocks (41) and 26th in hitting percentage (.284).
Kayla Crane is 14th in total assists (312) and assists per set (6.37).
Maddy Torve is 18th in assists per set (4.59) and total assists (225).
In the NSIC team rankings, SCSU is second in digs per set (17.65) and service aces (81), third in aces per set (1.65), total digs (865), total attacks (1,921), fifth in opposing hitting percentage (.165) and sixth in assists.

Up Next

St. Cloud State has three matches next week starting on Tuesday, Oct. 3, against Bemidji State at 6 p.m. on the road
The program is 42-56 all-time against the Beavers including a sweep earlier this season since the schools started playing each other in 1973.
SCSU then returns home to host current No. 2 nationally Concordia-St. Paul on Friday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. at Halenbeck Hall.
CSP leads the all-time series between the schools at 23-1.
SCSU will host Minnesota State on Saturday, Oct. 7, at 11 a.m. at Halenbeck Hall.
St. Cloud State is 53-49 against MSU in a series that dates back to 1970.

Located in Central Minnesota along the oak-crowned west bank of the Mississippi River in the city of St. Cloud, Minn., St. Cloud State University sponsors 19 varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Huskies compete at the NCAA Division I level in men's hockey (National Collegiate Hockey Conference) and women's hockey (Western Collegiate Hockey Association), while its NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the University's nordic ski team competes in the Central Collegiate Ski Association.

To learn more about the academic opportunities available at St. Cloud State University, please visit stcloudstate.edu