THE FIRST SERVE
The No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team returns to the PE Gym to host the Winona State Warriors and Upper Iowa Peacocks in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action. The Mustangs 3-0 at home this season and haven't lost to the Warriors or Peacocks at home since 2007. The Mustangs hold a 58-29-1 all-time advantage over Winona State and a 16-0 all-time advantage over the Peacocks. Both the Warriors and Peacocks are winless on the road thus far in 2013.
SCOUTING REPORT
WINONA STATE -- Winona State is 5-11, 2-5 NSIC through 16 matches. The Warriors swept Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston for their two conference wins. WSU is coming of road losses to St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth to move its road record to 0-5. The Warriors have struggled on both sides of the net as they are hitting just .169 and are allowing opponents to hit .213. WSU is failing to slow opponents attacks down with just 99 total blocks posted in its 16 matches. Dave Simon is in his fifth season as head coach of the Warrior volleyball program. Last season Simon led the Warriors, the surprise of the NSIC, to a 20-win season and finished with a 12-8 conference record.
UPPER IOWA -- The Peacocks have struggled in the early going as they are just 6-10 overall and 2-5 in the NSIC. UIU's conference victories have come at home versus Winona State and Minnesota Crookston. The Peacocks are averaging a .171 hitting percentage and are allowing opponents to hit .211 on average. The Peacocks do impose a good blocking defense with 117 total blocks collected, including 48 solo blocks. Four of UIU's six victories have come in the fifth set. Aaron Nelson enters his third season as head coach of UIU. Nelson led UIU to a 16-13, 10-10 NSIC record in 2012.
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 12-3 overall, 7-0 in the NSIC. SMSU has now swept four consecutive opponents to push its set winning streak to 12 straight.
SMSU hit a season high .364 versus the Marauders and followed the performance with a .246 performance against Minot State. On Friday versus U-Mary, the Mustangs were led by
Abbey Thissen's performance as the sophomore right side hitter nailed down 13 kills on 26 attempts (.423).
Claire Sames was also solid as she tallied 11 kills on 30 attempts (.300). steering the offense was
Emilee Gutzmer and her 37 assists. Libero
Rachel Westby recorded 17 digs.
On Saturday, SMSU extended its winning streak to eight straight matches as the Mustangs defeated Minot State in straight sets. The Mustangs earned the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory with set scores of 25-23, 25-16, 25-17.
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 248-66, including 140-31 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches. During that time-span, 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.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
3
Southwest Minnesota State has not lost a match at home this season as the Mustangs own a 3-0 record at the PE Gym. The Mustangs haven't lost to Winona State at home since the 2007 season and have never lost to Upper Iowa (16-0) in series history.
6
Southwest Minnesota State volleyball head coach
Terry Culhane (248-66) is six wins away from passing Jeri Madden's mark of 254 wins. Culhane's 255th win will move him into second place on SMSU's all-time wins list for a coach in a career. Deb Denbeck is the all-time leader as she racked up 308 wins in her 17 seasons as head coach from 1985 to 2002. Culhane is the all-time leader in winning percentage as he has put together an impressive .790 winning percentage during his 10-year tenure at SMSU. Culhane is averaging just over 24 wins a season during that time.
6
Southwest Minnesota State is currently ranked No. 6 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Top 25 Poll. The Mustangs moved up from a tie for No. 7. The No. 6 ranking is the highest ranking of the year for SMSU.
8
Southwest Minnesota State currently rides an eight-match winning streak -- its longest of the 2013 season. SMSU set a school-record by winning 19 straight matches last season. The winning streak stretched from Sept. 15 to Nov. 9 and shattered the previous program record which was 12 set by the 2008 squad.
16
Southwest Minnesota State is 16-0 against Upper Iowa in program history. Upper Iowa gave SMSU fits last season in Fayette, taking a set but SMSU would come out with a 3-1 match victory.
30
The amount of wins that SMSU gathered last season -- the most by a Mustang volleyball team since joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and NCAA Division II in 1995.
31
Senior libero
Rachel Westby set a new career-high with 31 digs on Sept. 28 versus MSU Moorhead. It marks the fourth time this season that Westby has either tied or broken her previous career-high of 28.
1,558
Rachel Westby has amassed 1,532 career digs in her four-year career at SMSU. The total ranks her 12th among active leaders at the Division II level and 66th over all levels of the NCAA.
HOME SWEET HOME
Since Marshall native
Terry Culhane took over as the head coach at SMSU, the Mustangs have compiled a 88-17 record at the PE Gym. The Mustangs have won eight or more matches at home since 2004. They have not lost more than three matches at the PE Gym in a single season since 2004. The Mustangs finished the 2012 season with a 9-1 record. SMSU is currently 3-0 at home this season.
