Volleyball puts win streak on the line at home tournament

Thursday, September 12

St. Cloud, Minn.

5:30 p.m.

St. Cloud State

Bemidji State

Photo by: Kylie Macziewski

9/11/2019 10:00:00 AM | Volleyball

ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University volleyball team could not have asked for a better start to the 2019 season. With all eye on them, the Huskies opened the season with a perfect 4-0 record for the second time in the last three seasons. St. Cloud State will put perfection to the test this weekend, as it hosts eight teams at the Best Western Kelly Inn Huskies Volleyball Classic September 12-14.

The BW Kelly Inn Huskies Volleyball Classic will feature eight teams from four different conferences, including the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference (GLAIC), Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and the Mountain East. The tournament will officially open at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 12, when the Huskies host conference foe Bemidji State University in a nonconference game.

In total, St. Cloud State, and the other teams in the tournament, will play four total matches. For a full tournament schedule, fans can visit the BW Kelly Inn Huskies Classic official tournament web page.

Live stats and video will be available throughout the tournament, and score updates can be found on the Huskies official Twitter page (@SCSUhuskies_vb).

Here are the five things to know before the BW Kelly Inn Huskies Volleyball Classic:

17 – St. Cloud State received 17 votes in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Top-25 poll. It's the first time the Huskies have received votes since the early 2000s, when they last qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

21/14 – St. Cloud State will face two nationally ranked teams in the tournament this weekend in Michigan Tech and Wheeling Jesuit. The (other) Huskies were recently ranked No. 21 in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll after starting the season unranked, while the Cardinals moved from 13 to 14 after going 3-1 to open the 2019 season.

7.31 – Senior libero Clara Krenz (Oakdale, Minn. / North St. Paul) was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time in her career after a phenomenal opening weekend at Dixie State. Krenz averaged 7.31 digs per set thanks to her 95-dig weekend, and currently leads the conference in both total digs and digs/set. More impressive? Krenz currently ranks third in the nation in digs/set.

13.46 – Krenz isn't the only Husky ranked in the top-3 in the nation in a statistical category. In fact, junior setter Maddy Torve (Loretto, Minn. / Heritage Christian Academy) leads the country and the NSIC in assists/set average at 13.46. The junior setter tallied 175 total assists in St. George, Utah thanks to four 40+ assist performances. Thanks to her outstanding weekend, Torve is just three assists away from moving to ninth all-time in career assists at St. Cloud State.

3 – As a team, St. Cloud State leads Division II and the NSIC in three different categories, marking this as, literally, the best start for the team in at least 20 years in multiple ways. After their phenomenal opening weekend, the Huskies lead the nation in assists/set (15.08), kills/set (16.23) and attacks/set, and additionally rank third in the nation in digs/set (21.38).