MARSHALL, Minn.– The second ranked Southwest Minnesota State (17-3, 11-1 NSIC) women's volleyball team looks to improve on its 11 match win streak when it hosts back to back home matches this weekend starting with Bemidji State (7-14, 3-9 NSIC) Friday night at 7 p.m. SMSU will then play Minnesota Crookston (9-11, 5-7 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. The Mustangs began the week with a 3-1 victory on the road against Sioux Falls on Tuesday night winning 23-25, 25-17, 28-26, 25-17. During the win streak, the Mustangs are hitting .331 as a team while holding  to a .148 hitting percentage.

OPPONENTS AT A GLANCE: 
Bemidji State- The Beavers entered this week having won back to back matches for the third time this year but have been unable to notch their first road win and suffered a 3-1 loss at Minnesota Crookston on Tuesday night. Jessica Yost leads the Beavers with 283 total kills and is ranked sixth in the NSIC as of Monday in kills per set (3.64) in conference matches only. Heather Fletcher leads BSU in blocking with 63 total blocks and entered the week ranked eighth in the NSIC in blocks (conference matches only).

Minnesota Crookston- The Golden Eagles enter this weekend in the midst of a three match win streak following wins over U-Mary, Minot State, and Bemidji State respectively. Kassi Green leads the team with 43 service aces and came into the week as the top ranked player in the NSIC and fourth in the country in both total service aces and aces per set (0.67). Maggie Perrel is first on the team in total kills and ranks third in the conference in NSIC matches only in attacks per set (11.6) and is fifth in total attacks (777). UMC setter, Sierra Trost, has 717 total assists (10.10 a/set) on the season and ranks seventh in the conference in assists for NSIC matches only.

SERIES HISTORY:
Bemidji State- Southwest Minnesota State owns a commanding 61-30 all-time record in the series including victories in the previous 22 matches against BSU dating back to the 2003 season. SMSU is 26-5 all-time at home against the Beavers and have not dropped a home match to Bemidji State since the 1995 season. The Mustangs have lost just three total sets in conference matches against BSU since the start of the 2006 season including a 3-0 sweep on the road last season.

Minnesota Crookston- The Mustangs own a 29-1 series lead with their only loss to Crookston coming on the road back in 2003. SMSU is a perfect 14-0 at home against the Golden Eagles losing just one set in the previous eight matches played in Marshall. The Mustangs swept Minnesota Crookston 25-7, 25-10, 25-22 in the only meeting between the two schools last season.

LAST WEEK: Southwest Minnesota State extended its winning streak to 11 straight following its 3-1 victory at Sioux Falls on Tuesday night after two road victories last weekend. Kaylee Burmeister was recognized as the Sports Imports/AVCA Division II National Player of the Week on Tuesday following her performances last weekend. In the last three matches Burmeister has racked up 50 kills while hitting .400, 40 digs, four service aces, and five total blocks including a career high 21 kills and 44 attacks in SMSU's victory over CSP last Friday night. During that same three match span, Taylor Reiss has led SMSU in kills with 55 and added 33 digs, Eisha Oden has 11 blocks and 41 kills while hitting .407, and Amber Messner has led the team with 57 digs. Megan Larson has 154 assists (12.83 a/set) over the last three matches for SMSU.

NATIONAL NEWS: SMSU is currently ranked third in the most recent AVCA poll released on Monday. The Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 141 consecutive polls dating back to Sept. 5, 2006, and have been ranked in the Top 10 for 45 consecutive polls.

MUSTANGS BY THE NCAA NUMBERS SMSU has had one of the most effective attacks in all of Division II this season. According to NCAA DII rankings as of Sunday, the Mustangs are first in the country in kills per set (14.96), first in assists per set (14.0), and first in hitting percentage (.321). Megan Larson is ranked first in the country in assists per set (12.62) and eighth in total assists (858). Taylor Reiss is second in the country in kills per set (5.03), seventh in total kills (342) and ninth in attacks per set (12.37). Eisha Oden is ranked fourth in hitting percentage (.403), while Sarah Parker is 11th in hitting percentage (.395).

SMSU AMONG THE CONFERENCE LEADERS (NSIC Matches): In NSIC matches only, SMSU leads the conference in kills (14.95) and assists (14.05), while ranking second in hitting percentage (.334) and opponent hitting percentage (.156). Eisha Oden ranks fourth in hitting percentage (.427), while Sarah Parker is second in hitting percentage (.432) and seventh in blocks (1.02). Taylor Reiss is tied for first in kills (5.03) and first in points (5.62), while Megan Larson leads the NSIC in assists (12.82).

NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Kaylee Burmeister was recognized as the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches' Association Division II National Player of the Week on Oct. 18. While helping the Mustangs earn two road victories the previous weekend, Burmeister recorded 34 kills with just three errors on 63 attacks, finishing the weekend with a .492 hitting percentage and averaging 4.25 kills per set. She has produced seven double double performances this season including five in her last six matches.

NSIC SETTER OF THE WEEK: Junior Megan Larson was named NSIC Setter of the Week on Oct. 17 for the second consecutive week. She also earned the award on Oct. 10. Larson helped the fourth-ranked Mustangs to a pair of NSIC home wins, including a 3-0 sweep over Upper Iowa on Friday and a 3-2 victory over No. 7 Winona State on Saturday. She finished the weekend with 112 assists, averaging 14 per set and also added 15 digs, four block assists and two kills. In the win over UIU, Larson recorded 45 assists with five digs and three block assists, while her passing helped SMSU hit a season-high .424 with just six hitting errors. In the victory over WSU, in which SMSU trailed two sets to one, she dished out a career-high 67 assists with 10 digs to record her fifth double-double of the season.    

NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Sophomore Kaylee Burmeister was named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 18 following her 34 kills and .492 hitting percentage in two matches the previous weekend that included a career high 21 kills in an SMSU win over Concordia-St. Paul. This marks the third Offensive POW award for a Mustang player this year. Sophomore Taylor Reiss  received her second NSIC Offensive Player of the Week of the season on Sept. 26. She was also named NSIC Player of the Week on Sept. 6. Reiss earned the conference's Defensive Player of the Week recognition twice in 2015.

MUSTANGS IN THE All-TIME RECORD BOOK: SMSU currently has four players climbing the all-time ranks of various statistical categories in the program record book. Megan Larson is second all-time in assists per set (10.70) and ranks fifth in total assists (3,511) and 10th in service attempts (1,369). Larson is on pace to post the third most assists per set (12.74) for a season in program history.  Taylor Reiss is on pace to post the third most kills per set (5.03) for a single season in school history and is third all-time in career kills per set (4.30) and fourth in career attack percentage (.330). Eisha Oden is ranked third in program history in career attack percentage (.330) and eighth all-time in blocks per set (1.01), while Sarah Parker is eighth in career attack percentage (.311), eighth in block assists (294) and 10th in total blocks (363).

SEEING DOUBLE: Taylor Reiss currently leads the Mustangs with 10 double-doubles this season. Megan Larson has recorded six double-doubles, while Kaylee Burmeister has seven on the season.

TOUGH COMPETITION: Southwest Minnesota State faces another tough schedule in the 2016 as five schools from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate conference made it into the AVCA preseason Top 25 poll while three of those schools made it into the Top-10, including top ranked Concordia-St. Paul. Four of the Mustangs' six scheduled non-conference opponents appeared in the AVCA preseason Top 25, including 2015 national runners-up, Palm Beach Atlantic (Fla). SMSU is currently 7-3 in matches against the nation's Top 25, including a 3-0 victory over second ranked Wayne State on Sept. 17 and a 3-2 victory over second ranked Concordia-St. Paul on Oct. 14.

HOME SWEET HOME: Since Terry Culhane took over as head coach at SMSU in 2004, the Mustangs have compiled a 116-26 record at the PE Gym. The Mustangs have won at least seven home matches since the start of the 2003 season and are 5-1 this year.

MUSTANGS CONFERENCE HISTORY UNDER TC: The Mustangs are 193-43 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches during Terry Culhane's tenure.

NUMBER 900: The Mustangs surpassed the 900 win milestone as a program on Sept. 10, when they beat Angelo State (Texas) 3-0. The Mustangs are also a combined 364-173 all-time in conference matches since their first season of volleyball in 1971.

RECORD BOOK REISS: Sophomore Taylor Reiss, set the Southwest Minnesota State record for kills (35) in 4 sets against Lewis (Ill.) on Sept. 3 and was just three shy of the single-match record. Her performance broke a record that had stood 26 years having been set by Beth Elliot versus Winona State back in October of 1990. Her 79 total attacks were the fourth most attempts in the program's history for four sets and tied for eighth in all matches.

MUSTANGS LEAVE MARK ON MILE HIGH CITY: SMSU traveled to Denver for the Colorado Premier Challenge earlier this season for the fourth consecutive season and the eighth time since the tournament's inception. The Mustangs finished as tournament runners-up this season, falling to Concordia-St. Paul, and are now 23-9 all-time in the tournament. SMSU has advanced to the championship match three times. SMSU players, Sarah Parker, Megan Larson, Taylor Reiss and Eisha Oden, were named to the 2016 Premier All-Tournament team. The Mustangs have now had 18 players receive All-Tournament selections in their history at the Colorado Premier.