THE FIRST SERVE — The Southwest Minnesota State University Mustang volleyball team advanced to the Central Region Tournament championship match for the 2nd time in program history (2011) and will play No. 1 seed Minnesota Duluth on its home court Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
OPPONENT AT A GLACE
MINNESOTA DULUTH — UMD is on a 27-match winning streak with just one loss on its resume to the top-ranked team in the nation—University of Tampa. The Bulldogs were named champion of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and received the top seed in the NCAA DII Central Region tournament and have now hosted the past three region tournaments. UMD defeated No. 8 seed Arkansas Tech before taking out No. 5 seed Wayne State (Neb.) to reach the Regional Final.
 
THE SERIES
Southwest Minnesota State will meet up with Minnesota Duluth for the 79th time and just the 2nd time in NCAA Regional tournaments. UMD has a 63-15 record in the overall series that started back in 1973. The Bulldogs defeated SMSU in 2009 in the NCAA Regional tournament in St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota Duluth as also defeated SMSU in the three matches played earlier this season, twice in conference play and once in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament. The last time Southwest Minnesota State defeated UMD was in 2011.