THE FIRST SERVE
The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on the road in North Dakota this weekend. The Mustangs will play U-Mary on Friday night and Minot State on Saturday afternoon. The Mustangs are 2-1 on the road this season and have never lost to U-Mary or Minot State in program history.
SCOUTING REPORT
U-MARY -- The Marauders are winless thus far in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play as U-Mary owns a 0-5 record. U-Mary has struggled to get things going offensively as the offense is hitting just .148. U-Mary will pose a threat to the Mustangs up front as U-Mary is averaging 2.1 blocks per set and the Mustangs have been know to fall victim to good blocking teams. Paige Smith leads the potent blocking attack as the sophomore middle blocker is averaging .95 blocks per set and has racked up 41 in total this season. Steve Novacek is in his third season at the helm of the Marauders.
MINOT STATE -- The Beavers enter their second season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and have seen improvements already as they will carry a 6-8 overall record into the weekend. MISU has defeated MSU Moorhead and U-Mary for its two conference wins but have lost contests to Northern State, Wayne State and Augustana. MISU is hitting at a .212 clip but is allowing opponents to hit .227. Jen Dixon lead the Beavers offensively with her 174 kills, while Mallory Sall is close behind with 165. Between the two, setter Emily Byrne has set them up for 856 attacks.
LAST WEEK'S RECAP
The Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team swept a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents to improve its season record to 10-3 overall, 5-0 in the NSIC.
Abbey Thissen led the SMSU offensive attack that hit a season-high .354 in its sweep of Northern State on Friday night. Thissen hit a career-high .682 (17-2-22) to lead the Mustangs to set victories of 25-15, 25-21, 25-15.
On Saturday, SMSU extended its winning streak to six straight matches as the Mustangs defeated MSU Moorhead in straight sets. The Mustangs earned the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory with set scores of 25-21, 25-12, 25-23.
THE HEAD COACH
Terry Culhane enters his 10th season at the helm of the Mustang volleyball team. During his tenure Culhane has directed the Mustangs to an overall record of 246-66, including 138-31 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches. During that timespan, Culhane has directed SMSU to nine NCAA tournament appearances, including six appearances in the region semifinals and one championship appearance. He began the 2013 season among the winningest active coaches in NCAA Division II. In 2012, Culhane was named NSIC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career, he also captured his first career NSIC regular season title and NSIC Tournament title.
