No. 3 St. Cloud State Volleyball Opens November with Pair of Home Matches

Friday, November 1

St. Cloud, Minn.

6 p.m. CT

St. Cloud State

UMary

Tickets

team huddle vs. Minnesota Crookston 10-22

No. 3 St. Cloud State Volleyball Opens November with Pair of Home Matches

10/31/2024 5:20:00 PM | Volleyball

Huskies welcome UMary, Minot State to St. Cloud for NSIC tilts

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – No. 3 St. Cloud State Volleyball (19-2, 13-0 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) returns to Halenbeck Hall for two home conference matchups this weekend. The Huskies host UMary (4-17, 2-11 NSIC) on Friday at 6 p.m. and Minot State (2-19, 0-13 NSIC) on Saturday at 2 p.m.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
vs. UMary (Halenbeck Hall – St. Cloud, Minn.) – Friday, Nov. 1 / 6 p.m. CT / Tickets / Livestream / Live Stats / Audio

vs. Minot State (Halenbeck Hall – St. Cloud, Minn.) – Saturday, Nov. 2 / 2 p.m. CT / Tickets / Livestream / Live Stats / Audio

Links to each coverage option can also be found on the St. Cloud State Volleyball schedule page.

MATCH DAY PROMOTIONS
Friday, Nov. 1 vs. UMary
Promotion: High School Night / Red Out

Saturday, Nov. 2 vs. Minot State
Promotion: Red Out

HOME SWEET HALENBECK
SCSU Volleyball has enjoyed tremendous success in the friendly confines of Halenbeck Hall, going 51-7 (.879) in its last 58 home matches.

SERIES HISTORY
St. Cloud State Volleyball is 18-6 all-time against UMary. SCSU has won the last nine matches against the Mauraders and are 9-1 against UMary at Halenbeck Hall.

The Huskies are 17-1 all-time against Minot State and have won the last 12 in a row against the Beavers. SCSU is 7-1 all-time when playing Minot State at Halenbeck Hall.

LET'S GO POLLING
In the October 28 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Poll, St. Cloud State was ranked No. 3, for the second week in a row, matching the program's highest ever national ranking. It is the third time (second consecutive) that the Huskies have been ranked in the top-3 and the second time during the tenure of head coach Chad Braegelmann.

List of St. Cloud State Volleyball Top-3 National Rankings
#3 – Week One of 1996
#3 – Week Seven of 2024
#3 – Week Eight of 2024

Under the direction of Braegelmann, the program has been ranked for 63 consecutive weeks (including 39 weeks in the top 10), dating back to the 2019 season. The Huskies have spent a total of 137 weeks in the AVCA top 20/25 Poll in program history, including 64 weeks in the top 10.

In the most recent AVCA Poll, six NSIC schools and 10 teams from the Central Region were ranked in the Top 25/Receiving Votes.

Oct. 21 AVCA Top-25 National Rankings (overall record)
#3 St. Cloud State* (19-2)
#5 Nebraska Kearney^ (22-1)
#9 Concordia St. Paul* (16-4)
#10 Southwest Minnesota State* (18-3)
#11 Wayne State* (18-4)
#13 Central Oklahoma^ (21-2)
#21 Northern State* (15-5)
#23 Missouri Western^ (18-4)
(RV) Minnesota Duluth* (10-8)
(RV) Washburn^ (18-4)

*NSIC Team
^Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Team

15 IN A ROW
SCSU has won 15 straight matches including eight wins over nationally ranked teams – No. 4 Southwest Minnesota State (sweep), No. 6 Wayne State, No. 9 Concordia-St. Paul (sweep), No. 15 Minnesota Duluth (sweep), No. 20 Michigan Tech, No. 22 Northern State (sweep), No. 24 Minnesota Duluth (sweep) and (RV) Minnesota State. It is the first time SCSU has won 15 matches in a row since 2021. All 11 of SCSU's sweeps this season have come during the last 13 matches.

HISTORIC START TO CONFERENCE PLAY
St. Cloud State is off to its best conference in program history (13-0). The previous record was set in 1982 (Northern Sun Conference – NSC) and tied in 1985 (North Central Conference – NCC) when both teams finished their respective conference season with a perfect 7-0 record.

NSIC WEEKLY AWARDS
Fifth year outside hitter Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Offensive Player of the Week by the league office on Oct. 28.

Foley has earned conference player of the week honors 13 times in her career and six times this season (including four in a row) (Sept. 9 | Sept. 16 | Oct. 7 | Oct. 14 | Oct. 21 | Oct. 21). She was also named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II National Player of the Week on Oct. 8 for the first time of the season and the third time in her career.

The Sergeant Bluff, Iowa native led the NSIC in kills/set (5.22), kills (47) and points/set (6.11) while ranking second in points (55.0), tied for second in service aces (seven), tied for fourth in aces/set (0.78) and ninth in hitting % (.360). She also contributed 2.11 digs/set and posted the most kills (19) and points (20.0) of any NSIC player in a three-set match.

In Oct. 22 home sweep of Minnesota Crookston, Foley recorded a match-high 19 kills on .467 hitting. In the Oct. 25 road sweep of No. 22 Northern State, she tallied a match-high 16 kills, eight digs and match-high two aces. Foley posted a match-high 12 kills, seven digs and match/season-high four aces in Oct. 26's road sweep of MSU Moorhead.

SCSU went 3-0 last week with a home sweep of UMC and road sweeps of No. 22 NSU and MSUM and set a new program best mark for the first 20 matches of a season (18-2), passing the 1995 team, who started their season 17-3.

Redshirt junior middle blocker Ella Thompson (Lakeville, Minn.) was tabbed as the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7 after leading the NSIC in total blocks (16), tied for the lead in block assists (14), tied for fourth in solo blocks (2) and was fifth in blocks/set (1.60). She earned NSIC honors for the first time in her career and conference honors for the second time after being named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 15, 2022, while playing for South Dakota State.

Thompson also ranked second in kills (42), points/set (5.10) and points (51.0) while ranking third in kills/set (4.20) and 10th in hitting % (.413) amongst NSIC players. Thompson posted the most kills (20) and points (24.0) of any player in a 3-set match in the NSIC and the second most overall in all matches. Her 24.0 points were a new personal best, and her 20 kills tied her career best mark from earlier this season. In the Oct. 5 sweep of No. 4 SMSU, she totaled a match-high 20 kills (.486 hitting) and six block assists while scoring a career-high 24.0 points and in Friday's win over USF she tallied 17 kills (.483 hitting) and a season-high six block assists.

NSIC SPOTLIGHT
Fifth year outside hitter Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) was featured on sixth episode of the 2024-25 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Spotlight series – the voice of the NSIC Student-Athletes – which was released on Oct. 16.

To watch the interview on YouTube, click here.

AVCA WEEKLY AWARD
Fifth year outside hitter Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II National Player of the Week by the organization on Oct. 8. It was her first National Player of the Week honor of the year and the third of her career. The 2023 DII AVCA National Player of the Year is one of just four Huskies be named AVCA DII National Player of the Week in program history and is the only player to be honored more than once in her career.

St. Cloud State players who have been the AVCA Division II National Player of the Week:
Kristi Kutter (Oct. 4, 1993)
Swen Minnema (Oct. 9, 1995)
Cami Selbitschka (Sept. 2, 1996)
Kenzie Foley (Sept. 11, 2022)
Kenzie Foley (Nov. 13, 2022)
Kenzie Foley (Oct. 8, 2024)

NCAA (Top-50) / NSIC (Top-25) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS
(as of 10/30)

Junior setter Emma Berran (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)
- NCAA
  - No. 9 – assists/set (11.38)
  - No. 25 – assists (842)
- NSIC
  - No. 3 – assists/set (11.38)
  - No. 5 – assists (842)
Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Bruskiewicz (Rogers, Minn.)
- NCAA
  - No. 44 – hitting % (.356)
- NSIC
  - No. 4 – hitting % (.356)
  - No. 17 – blocks/set (0.82)
  - No. 17 – blocks (61)
  - No. 18 – kills (206)
  - No. 19 – kills/set (2.78)
  - No. 22 – points/set (3.28)
Fifth year outside hitter Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa)
- NCAA
  - No. 5 – kills/set (4.97)
  - No. 5 – points/set (5.59)
  - No. 5 – kills (368)
  - No. 50 – attacks/set (10.39)
- NSIC
  - No. 1 – kills/set (4.97)
  - No. 1 – kills (368)
  - No. 1 – points/set (5.59)
  - No. 1 – attacks (769)
  - No. 2 – attacks/set (10.39)
  - No. 13 – hitting % (.299)
Sophomore outside hitter Shelby Kimm (North Liberty, Iowa)
- NSIC
  - No. 4 – aces/set (0.43)
  - No. 9 – aces (28)
Senior libero Keely Kurschner (Maplewood, Minn.)
- NSIC
  - No. 3 – aces/set (0.43)
  - No. 4 – aces (32)
  - No. 9 – digs/set (4.09)
  - No. 10 – digs (303)
Redshirt junior middle blocker Ella Thompson (Lakeville, Minn.)
- NCAA
  - No. 49 – hitting % (.354)
- NSIC
  - No. 6 – hitting % (.354)
  - No. 7 – kills/set (3.12)
  - No. 10 – points/set (3.54)
  - No. 11 – kills (231)

NCAA (Top-10) / NSIC (Top-5) TEAM STATISTICAL RANKINGS
(as of 10/30)

NCAA
- No. 2 – kills/set (15.05)
- No. 5 – hitting % (.289)
- No. 6 – assists/set (13.68)
- No. 10 – winning % (.905)
NSIC
- No. 1 – winning % (.905)
- No. 1 – kills/set (15.05)
- No. 1 – hitting % (.289)
- No. 1 – assists (1,012)
- No. 1 – opponents hitting % (.159)
- No. 1 – aces/set (1.92)
- No. 3 – assists/set (13.68)
- No. 3 – kills (1,114)
- No. 3 – aces (142)

PROGRAM LEADERBOARD STANDINGS
(as of 10/23)

Junior setter Emma Berran (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.)
- No. 5 in career assists (403 more until No. 4)
Fifth year outside hitter Kenzie Foley (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa)
- No. 1 in career kills – broke Linsey Rachel's record that was set in 2022
- No. 1 in career points – passed SCSU Hall of Famer and volleyball legend, Kathy Davis, who had held the record for 36 years
- No. 1 in career double-digit kill matches – broke Linsey Rachel's record that was set in 2022
- No. 1 in single-match kills – broke a tie with Cami Selbitschka (1996)
- No. 2 in career double-doubles (3 more until No. 1)
- No. 3 in career attacks (90 more until No. 3)
- No. 7 in career digs (26 more until No. 6)
- t-No. 6 in career sets played (11 more until No. 6)
- 27 20+ kill matches in her career
- 4 30+ kill matches in her career
Senior libero Keely Kurschner (Maplewood, Minn.)
- No. 8 in career digs (47 more until No. 7)