No. 8 Huskies Volleyball Hosts Northern State in First Round of NSIC Tournament

Tuesday, November 14

St. Cloud, Minn.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Northern State

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No. 8 Huskies Volleyball Hosts Northern State in First Round of NSIC Tournament

11/13/2023 9:32:00 PM | Volleyball

NSIC Tournament Page

St. Cloud State enters NSIC Tournament as No. 4 seed, set to host conference tournament match for first time in program history

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 8 St. Cloud State Volleyball (20-7, 13-5 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) returns home to Halenbeck Hall on Tuesday evening for a first round NSIC Tournament tilt against Northern State (19-8, 11-7 NSIC) at 6:00 p.m. CT. SCSU enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed while the Wolves earned the No. 5 seed. It is the first time in program history that the team is hosting a conference tournament match, according to our records.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
The match will be broadcast on the NSIC Network and live stats will be provided by SCSU. Links to each streaming option can be found on the SCSU Volleyball schedule page.

LET'S GO POLLING
The Huskies moved up one spot to No. 8 in the AVCA Top-25 poll after being ranked No. 9 for three consecutive weeks. St. Cloud State has spent 30 weeks in the Top-10 under head coach Chad Braegelmann.

The second NCAA Regional Rankings were released last Wednesday and SCSU was ranked No. 8 in the Central Region. Northern State came in at No. 10.

LAST TIME OUT
The then-No. 9 Huskies extended their match win streak to six after beating Augustana (11-16, 8-10 NSIC) last Friday night in Sioux Falls, S.D. at the Elmen Center in four sets – 25-15, 18-25, 25-21 and 25-19. SCSU sent down 53 kills, recorded nine service aces, and tallied four solo blocks and eight block assists. NSIC Player of the Year, senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluffs, Iowa) led all players with 23 kills on .283 hitting. She also recorded 12 digs and earned her 17th double-double of the season. Fellow All-NSIC First Teamer, redshirt sophomore Sam Zimmerman (Moorhead, Minn.) was tied for second on the team in kills, with nine on .316 hitting. Freshman middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz (Rogers, Minn.) also tallied nine kills. All-NSIC Second Team honoree, sophomore setter Emma Berran (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) provided a game-high 43 assists which put her over 1,000 assists for the season. She became the first player in program history to record 1,000+ assists in each of the first two years of a career. Berran also tallied a team and game-high for service aces, with four, and added seven digs.

In its regular season finale last Saturday afternoon in Wayne, Neb. at Rice Auditorium, the Huskies fell to No. 1 Wayne State – 25- 27, 19-25, 26-24 and 21-25. Errors plagued the Huskies as they committed a combined 49 to the Wildcats' 27. Foley led all players with 21 kills. She added 18 digs to earn her 18th double-double of the season. Zimmerman was third on the team in kills with 12 on .308 hitting. She also tallied four block assists. Freshman Shelby Kimm (North Liberty, Iowa) recorded a career-high 20 digs and added 10 kills to earn the second double-double of her young career. Berran provided a match-high 51 assists. Junior libero Keely Kurschner (Maplewood, Minn.) recorded a match-high three service aces and added 17 digs and five assists.

NSIC HONORS
Three St. Cloud State Volleyball players earned All-Conference honors from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), as announced by the league office on Thursday afternoon. Senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) was named the NSIC Player of the Year. Joining Foley on the First Team was redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sam Zimmerman (Moorhead, Minn.). Sophomore setter Emma Berran (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) was named to the Second Team.

Foley became the first player in program history to earn NSIC Player of the Year honors. This season Foley leads the NSIC in kills per set (5.03) and points per set (5.69). She also ranks 11th in service aces (0.41), 16th in digs per set (3.33) and 19th in hitting percentage (.275). Nationally, Foley ranks second in kills per set and points per set and sixth in total kills. Foley has tallied double digit kills in every match this season and has recorded 18 double-doubles on the season.

Foley was named to the Up North All-Tournament Team and has been named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week four times this season (9/11, 9/25, 10/23 and 11/6). Foley has been named to the All-NSIC First Team in each of her three seasons with the Huskies and in her three seasons of play, she has recorded 1,408 career kills, 1048 digs, 92 aces and 175 total blocks.

Sam Zimmerman joined Foley on the All-NSIC First Team, earning All-NSIC honors for the first time in her career. This season, Zimmerman ranks 12th in the NSIC in hitting percentage (.313), 14th in blocks per set (0.89), 18th in points per set (3.30) and 19th in kills per set (2.80) She was one of three underclassmen to earn All-NSIC First Team honors.

Berran ranks third in assists per set (11.20) and third in service aces per set (0.47) this season in the NSIC. Nationally, Berran ranks seventh in assists per set. She was one of five underclassmen to earn Second Team honors. It is the first time that she has earned All-NSIC honors. Earlier this season, she was named the NSIC Setter of the Week for the second time in 2023 (9/25 and 10/23) and third time in her career.

NAVIGATING THE NORTHERN SUN
The Huskies are 62-16 in league play dating back to 2019 and earned the 2021 NSIC Regular Season Championship with a 19-1 campaign, adding two 15-win seasons in that span while establishing themselves as a true power in the Northern Sun. Over that span, twelve of SCSU's 16 losses have been at the hands of ranked teams - speaking to the strength of the ever-competitive NSIC. SCSU has finished .500 or better in conference play for five straight seasons and have earned a top five finish in four consecutive campaigns.

DYNAMIC DEFENSE
The Huskies' defense has been nothing short of incredible throughout the 2023 season, limiting opponents to just 10.57 kills/set on .171 hitting and a .323 kill percentage. SCSU has allowed the second fewest kills/set in the Northern Sun while boasting the No. 6 hitting percentage defense in the league, adding the ninth-most digs across the conference at 14.89 a set. In conference play the Huskies boast the No. 2 opponent kills defense (10.69/set), the No. 3 serve receive (1.14 opp. aces/set) and the No. 4 hitting percentage defense (.176).

EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE
St. Cloud State enters week nine with one of the most terminal offenses in all of NCAA DII Volleyball, sending down 14.31 kills per set on .246 hitting while boasting an incredible .411 kill percentage. The club's kills per set mark ranks seventh in the nation while their hitting percentage is No. 25 across the NCAA. SCSU's current kills per set and kill percentage marks would both be the program's highest since the Huskies produced respective marks of 14.78 in 2003 under Patricia Mickow and .422 in 1998 under Dianna Glowatzke. The Huskies lead the conference in service aces/set (1.93) and total service aces (183), are second-best in kills/set (14.31) and assists/set (13.27). The team ranks ninth in the nation with 13.27 assists/set. Individually, two Huskies are ranked in the top ten in the nation for a statistical category – Foley is second in points/set (5.54) and kills/set (4.98) while Berran is seventh in assists/set (11.31).

Information regarding single game 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.