THE FIRST SERVE: The No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team will continue in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament this weekend as the No. 2 seed and will play No. 21 Winona State who received the No. 6 seed in the tournament. The semifinal match is set to start at 12 p.m., from the Gangelhoff Center. The winner will play on Sunday at 1 p.m., against a opponent TBD. Visit smsumustangs.com for coverage and tournament information.

NSIC TOURNAMENT: Top seeded Concordia-St. Paul rallied, as did second seeded SMSU to win in five sets in the quarterfinals of the NSIC Volleyball Tournament.  Third seeded Northern State and fourth seeded Wayne State were upset as sixth seeded Winona State and fifth seeded Minnesota Duluth advanced. The winner of the 2015 NSIC Volleyball Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Regional Tournament.

Sat., Nov. 21-Semifinals
(E) No. 6 Winona State vs. No. 2 SMSU | 12 p.m.
(F) No. 5 Minnesota Duluth at No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul | 2:30 p.m.

Sun., Nov. Championship
Winner E vs. Winner F | 1 p.m.

WINONA STATE AT A GLANCE: No. 21 Winona State will enter the weekend with a 19-9 overall record after winning its first NSIC Tournament match with a sweep over No. 4 Northern State Wednesday. WSU's last loss was to SMSU in the regular season with a sweep in Marshall. The Warriors are 6-0 this season with matches at neutral sites. Taylor Goar leads the Warriors with 332 kills, while hitting .216. Lauren Kudronowicz leds the defease with 84 blocks with a 0.87 block per set average. 

SERIES HISTORY AGAINST WINONA STATE: Southwest Minnesota State will meet with Winona State for the 94th time in program history on Saturday with the Mustangs holding a 63-29-1 record in a series that started back in the 1974 season. The Mustangs have won the last 40 of the last 42 matches with its last loss in the series coming back in 2007 in Marshall. SMSU swept WSU in the NSIC Tournament in 2006. 

ALL-NSIC SELECTION: The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced that SMSU freshman Taylor Reiss was named NSIC Freshman of the Year on Nov. 12. The Mustangs had four players named to the 2015 NSIC All-Conference team. Abbey Thissen and Taylor Reiss were named to the All-NSIC first team, while Sarah Parker and Megan Larson were named to the All-NSIC second team.

SMSU IN THE NSIC TOURNEY: Southwest Minnesota State posts a 10-6 overall record in eight seasons of the NSIC Tournament. The NSIC held a tournament from 2004-07 and 2012-present. The only time the Mustangs have won the NSIC Tournament was in 2012 where they defeated No. 24 Minnesota State, No. 5 Minnesota Duluth and No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul. Last season, SMSU lost to No. 2 Minnesota Duluth in the semifinal round of the tournament.

LAST WEEK: Southwest Minnesota State volleyball started the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament as the No. 2 seed and faced No. 7 seed Augustana last Wednesday. The Mustangs dropped the first two matches to the Vikings, but came back to win the match in five sets. Abbey Thissen and Taylor Reiss set new career highs in kills.