No. 4 St. Cloud State hits the road to face Sioux Falls, No. 7 SMSU

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 4 St. Cloud State Volleyball continues conference play this weekend with a pair of road matches at Sioux Falls and No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State. Friday's match in South Dakota begins at 6:00 p.m. CT with a 2:00 p.m. start on Saturday afternoon in Marshall.

Broadcast Information
Both matches will be broadcast on the NSIC Network with Live Stats provided by the host schools. Fans can find links to each match on the SCSU Volleyball schedule page.

Last Time Out
St. Cloud State Volleyball used a dominant second set to sweep (RV) Augustana on Saturday afternoon at Halenbeck Hall. Kenzie Foley led all scorers with 13 kills on .281 hitting, adding 10 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. Phebie Rossi hit .381 with 10 kills and five blocks while Linsey Rachel double-doubled with 12 kills and 10 digs. A dominant block anchored a stingy Huskies defense that held Augustana to hit just .114, producing 11 blocks. Sam Zimmerman led the way with a career-best six blocks, Rossi had five and Foley provided four while Makena Hollman posted three. Keely Kurschner dug out 18 swings to lead all defensive players.

Huskies Primer
SCSU remained at No. 4 in this week's AVCA Top-25 poll after following a straight-set loss to No. 1 Wayne State with a sweep of (RV) Augustana. The loss to Wayne was the first of 2022 for St. Cloud State as the Huskies stand 13-1 on the campaign. Libero Keely Kurschner had a strong weekend, sharing the NSIC lead with 5.17 digs/set. Kenzie Foley put down 3.83 kills/set along with Linsey Rachel's 3.50 while Phebie Rossi added 3.33 on .326 hitting. The Huskies hit just .211 last weekend with 35 attacking errors, cushioned by a defense that held foes to a .189 hitting percentage.

Scouting Sioux Falls
The Cougars are 9-4 thus far with a 5-1 mark in NSIC play, taking their lone conference loss in straight sets to then-No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul. USF is holding opponents to a .167 hitting percentage and just 10.91 kills/set. Courtney Holsteen (3.13 K/S, .256), Grace Hanel (2.91 K/S, .243), Sadie Voss (2.64 K/S, .214) and Jordan Kuper (2.42 K/S, .333) each are putting down 2.00-plus kills per set to lead the offense directed by setters Elise Gillen (6.85 A/S) and Davis Guetterman (4.47 A/S).

Scouting No. 7 SMSU
Off to a 13-1 start to the 2022 season, Southwest Minnesota State leans on a stellar offense that has put away 14.5 kills/set on .279 hitting. The Mustangs are 5-1 in conference play with a straight-set loss at CSP. The offense is anchored by Saari Kuehl (3.12 K/S, .251), Emma VanHeel (2.80 K/S, .302), Halle Jansen (2.73 K/S, .250) and Karli Arkell (2.58 K/S, .346) while Alisa Bengen has dished out 10.86 assists/set. VanHeel and Arkell have each posted nearly a full block per set to lead a defense holding opponents to a .170 hitting percentage.

Leading the Pack
Huskies can be found all over the NSIC leaderboards entering week five. Kenzie Foley leads the conference in points (5.35) and kills per set (4.59), ranks third in hitting percentage (.360) and 13^th in aces/set (0.39). Emma Berran is fourth in the league in assists per set (11.03). Phebie Rossi is tied with Foley for third in hitting percentage (.360) and ranks fifth in blocks/set (1.17) while landing 16^th in points/set (3.62). Linsey Rachel lands sixth in aces/set (0.41), 10^th in kills/set (3.15), 14^th in points (3.64) and 15^th in digs (3.59) per set while slotting in 16^th in hitting percentage (.279). Keely Kurschner leads the NSIC in aces/set (0.53) and ranks eighth in digs/set (4.12). Makena Hollman ranks 10^th in the conference with a .329 hitting percentage; Sam Zimmerman is 11^th in blocks/set (0.95) while Rachel Houle is 16^th in aces with 0.37 a set.

Rachel's Record Watch
Graduate student outside hitter Linsey Rachel enters the weekend ranked third on the Huskies' all-time kills list with 1374 and sixth in digs with 1338. She is 121 kills away from passing Kathy Davis (88') for second all-time in program history and just five digs away from passing Chelsea Nagle (11') for fifth all-time.

Fear Foley
Junior outside Kenzie Foley ranks fourth in the NCAA in points/set (5.35) and is eighth in kills/set (4.59). She leads the NSIC in both categories and is hitting a whopping .360, second in the nation among outside hitters and third overall in the Northern Sun. Foley has put away double-digit kills in 12 of 14 matches and has nine double-doubles this season.

Best in the Land
St. Cloud State's offense leads the NCAA in hitting percentage at .305, a full 10 percentage points better than the next-best team. The Huskies rank fourth nationally in both kills/set and sixth in assists/set, leaning on their terminal offense to take 39 of 43 sets this season.

Dynamic Defense
The Huskies own the second-best defense in the Northern Sun entering the weekend, holding opponents to a .129 hitting percentage and a league-low 9.67 kills per set. SCSU is the only team in the conference yet to allow 400 total kills this season – currently standing at 380 with the next-lowest team at 468. Only one Huskies opponent has hit better than .173 in a match this fall.

Serve-and-Pass Success
SCSU has excelled in the serve-and-pass game this season, allowing the fewest aces (38) and aces per set (0.88) in the NSIC while leading the league with 2.26 aces/set of their own – good for 33^rd in the NCAA.

Information regarding single game and season tickets can be found at scsutickets.com. For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

No. 4 St. Cloud State hits the road to face Sioux Falls, No. 7 SMSU

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Players Mentioned

Emma Berran

Kenzie Foley

Makena Hollman

Rachel Houle

Keely Kurschner

Linsey Rachel

Phebie Rossi

Sam Zimmerman

Saint Cloud State University Athletics