THE FIRST SERVE
The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action at home with matches versus Northern State and Minnesota State Moorhead on Friday and Saturday. This past week the Mustangs went 3-0 in their first NSIC matches of the season and opened up their 11-match home schedule with a 3-1 win over No. 7 Wayne State.
SCOUTING REPORT
NORTHERN STATE -- The Wolves began the season winning their first nine matches, including their first two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches of the season. NSU defeated Minot State and U-Mary before being tripped up by MSU Moorhead on Tuesday. The Wolves are led by Kelsey Chambers and her 157 kills in 34 sets. Brent Aldridge is in his third season at the helm of the volleyball program. The third-year coach has compiled a 32-25 record, including a 19-11, 13-7 NSIC record last season.
MSU MOORHEAD -- MSUM (9-2, 2-1 NSIC) is coming off a four-set victory over Northern State in which the Dragons handed the Wolves their first defeat of the season. MSUM is led in hitting by sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle, who has 122 kills and has a .355 hitting percentage. Freshman Katie Meyers has 128 digs while sophomore Morgan Gradishar has 125. Tammy Blake is in her 19th season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 325-241 at the school.
LAST WEEK'S RECAP
The Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team went 3-0 this past week with victories over Augustana, No. 7 Wayne State and Sioux Falls. The Mustangs handed both Augustana and Wayne State its first losses of the season. With their two wins coming on Thursday and Saturday, the Mustangs inched up a spot in the latest AVCA poll to No. 9.
NSIC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
For their performance versus Augie and Wayne State,
Abbey Thissen and
Whitney Burmeister were been named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Thissen was named the NSIC's Offensive Player of the Week, while Burmeister dug her way to NSIC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Thissen, a native of Clara City, Minn., led Southwest Minnesota State to two NSIC victories over Augustana and No. 7 Wayne State (Neb.) this past week. The sophomore right side smashed 35 kills in 73 attempts for a .301 hitting percentage, and averaged 4.38 kills per set during SMSU's eight sets played. Thissen tallied 21 kills in the 3-1 match win on Saturday versus Wayne State, which matched both a season and career high. Earlier in the week Thissen recorded 14 kills in the 3-1 match win over Augustana.
Burmeister, a native of Lakefield, Minn., racked up a total of 48 digs (6.0 dig/s), including 25 in a 3-1 win on Saturday versus No. 7 Wayne State. Burmeister finished the match with 13 kills and a career-high 25 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. In the 3-1 match victory over Augustana on Thursday, Burmeister had 23 digs. Burmeister now has tallied a double-double in seven of SMSU's ten matches.
Thissen and Burmiester are the first Mustangs to be named player of the week this season.
