Friday, September 29
St. Cloud, Minn.
6:00 P.M. CT
St. Cloud State
vs
Wayne State
Senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley celebrates a kill during St. Cloud State's win over Northern Michigan on September 7, 2023 at Romano Gymnasium.
No. 6 Huskies Volleyball Prepares to Host No. 1 Wildcats and Vikings
9/28/2023 6:15:00 PM | Volleyball
St. Cloud State set for NCAA Round of 32 rematch with No. 1 Wayne State on Friday, Huskies to host Augustana on Saturday at Halenbeck Hall
ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 6 St. Cloud State Volleyball (11-2, 4-0 NSIC) continues their four match homestand this weekend with tilts against No. 1 Wayne State (12-1, 3-0 NSIC) at Halenbeck Hall on Friday and Augustana (4-7, 1-2 NSIC) on Saturday. Friday's first serve is set for 6:00 p.m. CT with Saturday's tilt scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Both matches will be broadcast on the NSIC Network with live stats provided by St. Cloud State. Links to each streaming option can be found on the SCSU Volleyball schedule page.
LET'S GO POLLING
The Huskies remained at No. 6 in week four's AVCA Top-25 poll, their 20th consecutive week in the Top 10 dating back to the 2021 season. St. Cloud State has spent 24 weeks in the Top 10 under head coach Chad Braegelmann.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday's match is a double point night with each fan attending the match earning double points on the Huskies Mobile App. Saturday's finale is a Youth Night with free admission for children under 13 years old with a paid adult.
HOME SWEET HALENBECK
SCSU Volleyball has enjoyed tremendous success in the friendly confines of Halenbeck Hall, going 35-6 (.854) at home since 2019 while winning 38 of their last 44 home matches entering 2023.
HUSKIES VS THE TOP DOGS
Friday's highly-anticipated tilt marks the 27th time the Huskies have faced the No. 1 team in DII, with the last meeting being a straight set home loss to No. 1 Wayne State on September 23, 2022. SCSU has never beaten the No. 1-ranked team in the country since the AVCA began its DII national poll in 1986. The Huskies last took a set from the nation's No. 1 team all the way back on October 12, 2010 against Minnesota Duluth at Halenbeck Hall - sending the match to four sets. 23 of the 26 contests have been sweeps with three four-setters.
NSIC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley and sophomore setter Emma Berran were respectively named NSIC Offensive Player and Setter of the Week by the league office on Monday afternoon. Foley's Offensive Player of the Week honor is the fifth of her career while Berran earned her second career Setter of the Week honor. Kenzie Foley enjoyed a dominant weekend as the Huskies' feature hitter as SCSU swept both MSU-Moorhead and Northern State, leading the NSIC with 6.75 points and 5.83 kills per set while hitting .347 with an incredible .486 kill percentage. Foley led the league by over a kill and a half and just over two points a set alongside her incredible efficiency marks, adding 2.50 digs and 0.83 blocks a set while scoring three aces. She entered the program's top 10 career kills list and climbed to ninth in Huskies history over the course of the weekend. Emma Berran directed the NSIC's most prolific offense in week two, leading the league with 13.50 assists per set as the Huskies paced the conference with 15.67 kills a set - a full kill better than the next best team. Berran's Huskies hit .284 on the weekend with a whopping .437 kill percentage as the program was one of just four in the league to go 2-0 on the week.
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 6 Huskies (11-2, 4-0 NSIC) played one of their most complete matches of the season in a sweep of Northern State (10-2, 3-1 NSIC) at Halenbeck Hall on Saturday afternoon, taking the match 25-18, 26-24 and 25-6. Facing a Wolves team in search of their second straight upset win following a five set victory over No. 7 UMD the previous night, SCSU leaned on a high-paced offense to outkill Northern 46 to 24 and outhit them .307 to .071. The Huskies' defense was phenomenal yet again, piling up seven stuff blocks with a career high seven from freshman middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz, five from sophomore setter Emma Berran and four each courtesy of redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sam Zimmerman and senior outside Kenzie Foley. Berran piled up 39 assists with the Huskies posting a .509 kill percentage on her sets, chipping in five digs, a kill and one ace. Foley led all players with a whopping 19 kills on .378 hitting while follow outside hitter Shelby Kimm put away 10 kills on .471 hitting and a .588 kill percentage. SCSU scored seven times from the service line with freshman defensive specialist Annika Forbes matching her career high with three aces while the Huskies serve receive was aced just twice. Junior libero Keely Kurschner went 13-for-13 in serve receive while providing 11 digs and two assists.
NAVIGATING THE NORTHERN SUN
St. Cloud State enters a challenging conference weekend in search of its fourth consecutive top five finish in the NSIC regular season. The Huskies are 53-11 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, nine of SCSU's 11 losses were to ranked teams - speaking to the strength of the ever-competitive NSIC. SCSU has finished .500 or better in conference play for four straight seasons.
DYNAMIC DEFENSE
The Huskies' defense has been nothing short of incredible through their first 13 matches of 2023, limiting opponents to just 9.65 kills/set on .138 hitting and a .298 kill percentage. SCSU has allowed the fewest kills/set in the Northern Sun while boasting the No. 2 hitting percentage defense in the league, adding the sixth-most digs across the conference at 15.19 a set.
EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE
St. Cloud State enters week four with the most terminal offense in all of NCAA DII Volleyball, sending down 14.77 kills per set on .257 hitting while boasting an incredible .416 kill percentage. The club's K/S mark ranks third in the nation while their hitting percentage is No. 17 across the NCAA. Plenty of credit can be given to sophomore setter Emma Berran's work directing the offense as the standout is fourth in the country with 11.51 assists per set. Berran has her six qualifying hitters averaging 2.00 kills/set or better while all five post kill percentages of .358 or higher. Incredibly, three of those six are true freshmen - speaking to the Huskies' ability to quickly involve their talented weapons in the attack.
KILL COUNTING
Senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley continues climbing St. Cloud State's Top 10 career kills list, entering the weekend five kills from reaching one of the greatest middle blockers in program history – Swen Minnema (1992-95) and her 1149 career kills. Foley is 29 kills from moving into seventh, which would draw her even with another legendary middle blocker in Sheri Mandell (1986-89). The two-time AVCA All-American and 2021 AVCA National Freshman of the Year is also just 131 digs away from reaching 1,000 in that category.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Both matches will be broadcast on the NSIC Network with live stats provided by St. Cloud State. Links to each streaming option can be found on the SCSU Volleyball schedule page.
LET'S GO POLLING
The Huskies remained at No. 6 in week four's AVCA Top-25 poll, their 20th consecutive week in the Top 10 dating back to the 2021 season. St. Cloud State has spent 24 weeks in the Top 10 under head coach Chad Braegelmann.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday's match is a double point night with each fan attending the match earning double points on the Huskies Mobile App. Saturday's finale is a Youth Night with free admission for children under 13 years old with a paid adult.
HOME SWEET HALENBECK
SCSU Volleyball has enjoyed tremendous success in the friendly confines of Halenbeck Hall, going 35-6 (.854) at home since 2019 while winning 38 of their last 44 home matches entering 2023.
HUSKIES VS THE TOP DOGS
Friday's highly-anticipated tilt marks the 27th time the Huskies have faced the No. 1 team in DII, with the last meeting being a straight set home loss to No. 1 Wayne State on September 23, 2022. SCSU has never beaten the No. 1-ranked team in the country since the AVCA began its DII national poll in 1986. The Huskies last took a set from the nation's No. 1 team all the way back on October 12, 2010 against Minnesota Duluth at Halenbeck Hall - sending the match to four sets. 23 of the 26 contests have been sweeps with three four-setters.
NSIC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley and sophomore setter Emma Berran were respectively named NSIC Offensive Player and Setter of the Week by the league office on Monday afternoon. Foley's Offensive Player of the Week honor is the fifth of her career while Berran earned her second career Setter of the Week honor. Kenzie Foley enjoyed a dominant weekend as the Huskies' feature hitter as SCSU swept both MSU-Moorhead and Northern State, leading the NSIC with 6.75 points and 5.83 kills per set while hitting .347 with an incredible .486 kill percentage. Foley led the league by over a kill and a half and just over two points a set alongside her incredible efficiency marks, adding 2.50 digs and 0.83 blocks a set while scoring three aces. She entered the program's top 10 career kills list and climbed to ninth in Huskies history over the course of the weekend. Emma Berran directed the NSIC's most prolific offense in week two, leading the league with 13.50 assists per set as the Huskies paced the conference with 15.67 kills a set - a full kill better than the next best team. Berran's Huskies hit .284 on the weekend with a whopping .437 kill percentage as the program was one of just four in the league to go 2-0 on the week.
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 6 Huskies (11-2, 4-0 NSIC) played one of their most complete matches of the season in a sweep of Northern State (10-2, 3-1 NSIC) at Halenbeck Hall on Saturday afternoon, taking the match 25-18, 26-24 and 25-6. Facing a Wolves team in search of their second straight upset win following a five set victory over No. 7 UMD the previous night, SCSU leaned on a high-paced offense to outkill Northern 46 to 24 and outhit them .307 to .071. The Huskies' defense was phenomenal yet again, piling up seven stuff blocks with a career high seven from freshman middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz, five from sophomore setter Emma Berran and four each courtesy of redshirt sophomore middle blocker Sam Zimmerman and senior outside Kenzie Foley. Berran piled up 39 assists with the Huskies posting a .509 kill percentage on her sets, chipping in five digs, a kill and one ace. Foley led all players with a whopping 19 kills on .378 hitting while follow outside hitter Shelby Kimm put away 10 kills on .471 hitting and a .588 kill percentage. SCSU scored seven times from the service line with freshman defensive specialist Annika Forbes matching her career high with three aces while the Huskies serve receive was aced just twice. Junior libero Keely Kurschner went 13-for-13 in serve receive while providing 11 digs and two assists.
NAVIGATING THE NORTHERN SUN
St. Cloud State enters a challenging conference weekend in search of its fourth consecutive top five finish in the NSIC regular season. The Huskies are 53-11 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, nine of SCSU's 11 losses were to ranked teams - speaking to the strength of the ever-competitive NSIC. SCSU has finished .500 or better in conference play for four straight seasons.
DYNAMIC DEFENSE
The Huskies' defense has been nothing short of incredible through their first 13 matches of 2023, limiting opponents to just 9.65 kills/set on .138 hitting and a .298 kill percentage. SCSU has allowed the fewest kills/set in the Northern Sun while boasting the No. 2 hitting percentage defense in the league, adding the sixth-most digs across the conference at 15.19 a set.
EXPLOSIVE OFFENSE
St. Cloud State enters week four with the most terminal offense in all of NCAA DII Volleyball, sending down 14.77 kills per set on .257 hitting while boasting an incredible .416 kill percentage. The club's K/S mark ranks third in the nation while their hitting percentage is No. 17 across the NCAA. Plenty of credit can be given to sophomore setter Emma Berran's work directing the offense as the standout is fourth in the country with 11.51 assists per set. Berran has her six qualifying hitters averaging 2.00 kills/set or better while all five post kill percentages of .358 or higher. Incredibly, three of those six are true freshmen - speaking to the Huskies' ability to quickly involve their talented weapons in the attack.
KILL COUNTING
Senior outside hitter Kenzie Foley continues climbing St. Cloud State's Top 10 career kills list, entering the weekend five kills from reaching one of the greatest middle blockers in program history – Swen Minnema (1992-95) and her 1149 career kills. Foley is 29 kills from moving into seventh, which would draw her even with another legendary middle blocker in Sheri Mandell (1986-89). The two-time AVCA All-American and 2021 AVCA National Freshman of the Year is also just 131 digs away from reaching 1,000 in that category.
For all the latest on St. Cloud State Volleyball, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Players Mentioned
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