THE FIRST SERVEThe No. 5 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team will continue Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on Tuesday as it hosts Sioux Falls at 7 p.m., in an early week matchup. The Mustangs are 16-3 overall and 9-2 in the conference while currently riding a seven-match wining streak.
OPPONENT AT A GLANCEUSF will enter the contest with a 10-10 overall record and 2-9 in the NSIC. Sioux Falls snapped a 10-match losing streak last weekend as it picked up its first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wins against Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston.
SERIES HISTORYSouthwest Minnesota State will meet with USF for the 10th time in program history on Tuesday night with the Mustangs holding an 8-1 advantage in a series that started back in 1981. The Mustangs have won the last three matches with their last and only loss coming in 2013 in Marshall. In the nine matches, the Mustangs have swept the Cougars six times and have given up just seven sets.
LAST TIME VS SIOUX FALLSSouthwest Minnesota State met with Sioux Falls earlier this season and defeated the Cougars 3-0 on Sept. 22.
Abbey Thissenled the Mustang offense-that finished hitting .227-with 13 kills while hitting .308.
Sarah Parkeradded nine kills while
Taylor Reiss,
Claire Samesand
Eisha Odeneach contributed six.
Megan Larsonled the offense as she dished out 34 assists.
SMSU's defense kept USF to a .049 hitting percentage, which was the second lowest of the season for the Mustang defense at the time. Oden lead the defense with eight blocks, while Thissen and Reiss added three.
Whitney Burmeisteradded 12 digs in the win.
RECAP: LAST WEEKSouthwest Minnesota State volleyball continued Northern Sun intercollegiate Conference action last weekend as they traveled to Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State. The Mustangs put on a dominating performance as they swept both opponents handedly to push their winning streak to seven matches.
HEAD COACHTerry Culhane is in his 12th season at the helm of the Mustang volleyball team. During his tenure Culhane has directed the Mustangs to an overall record of 302-84, including 174-41 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches. Culhane has 11-consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, including seven appearances in the region semifinals and two region championship appearances along with the program's first ever-national championship appearance in 2014.
300 WINSHead coach
Terry Culhane recorded his 300th win in his 12th season with a sweep over St. Cloud State on Oct. 10. Culhane is now only six wins behind program-record holder Deb Denbeck (1985-2002) who has tallied 308 wins in 17 seasons.
DOMINATING PLAYOver the last three matches, SMSU has allowed only 11.8 points a set while holding its opponents to a .015 hitting percentage. In the nine sets played, the Mustangs are averaging 2.1 blocks, 14.4 digs, 2.9 aces, and 13.2 kills a set.
HOME SWEET HOMESince
Terry Culhane took over as head coach at SMSU in 2004, the Mustangs have compiled a 105-25 record at the PE?Gym. The Mustangs have won seven or more matches and have not lost more than four at home since the 2003 season.
TOUGH COMPETITIONFive of the top-10 teams and 11 of the top 25 in this week's AVCA poll are in the Central Region. Northern State (No.2), Concordia-St. Paul (No.4), SMSU (No.5), Wayne State (No.6), Minnesota Duluth (No. 8), Central Oklahoma (No.10), Central Missouri (No.12), Washburn (No.14), Nebraska-Kearney (No.16), Augustana (No.21) and Winona State (No.25).
AROUND THE NSICSeven of the 16 teams in the NSIC are in the top-25 or receiving votes in this week's AVCA poll. NSU (No. 2) CSP (No. 4), SMSU (No. 5), WSC (No. 6), UMD (No. 8), Augustana (No. 21) and WSU (No. 25).
UP NEXTNo. 5 Southwest Minnesota State will host MSU Moorhead and No. 2 Northern State this weekend.
