THE FIRST SERVE
The No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team will continue Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action as it looks to continue success after a perfect 2-0 weekend versus Bemidji State Friday night and Minnesota Crookston Saturday. The Mustangs will host St. Cloud State Friday night and will also honor their seniors before playing No. 2 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday for a Top-10 showdown.

OPPONENT AT A GLANCE
ST. CLOUD STATE — St. Cloud State will enter the contest with an overall record of 7-19, 1-17 NSIC. The Huskies are on a 16 match losing streak with thier only conference win coming in the first weekend of NSIC play against Sioux Falls. Kaitlin Doughty leads SCSU in kills with 238 while Erin Ohlemann paves the way in hitting percentage with .292 and assists with 847.

MINNESOTA DULUTH — No. 2 Minnesota Duluth will enter the weekend with an overall record of 25-11, 18-0 NSIC. The Bulldogs will play Concordia-St. Paul Tuesday night for a Top-5 showdown. The Bulldogs are perfect in conference play and suffered their only loss to Tampa in the Colorado Premier Challenge. Mariah Scharf leads the UMD with 330 kills while Monica Turner leads in hitting percentage with .391.

THE SERIES
Southwest Minnesota State and St. Cloud State will meet for the 40th time and the 2nd of the season on Friday night with SMSU having a 21-18 record in a series that first started back in 1972. SMSU defeated SCSU 3-0 earlier this season at St. Cloud. Southwest Minnesota State is 10-8 while playing in the PE Gym and have won the last 14 matches. SMSU will meet up with Minnesota Duluth for the 19th time and also the 2nd time this season with UMD having a strong 61-15 record in a series that started back in 1973. UMD swept SMSU earlier this season in Duluth and have won the last three matches.