MARSHALL, Minn. - The second ranked Southwest Minnesota State women's volleyball team (19-3, 13-1 NSIC) will take its 13 match winning streak back on the road as they travel for two weekend NSIC matches. The Mustangs will first play at St. Cloud State (8-15, 3-11 NSIC) at 7 p.m. on Friday night. SMSU will then head to Duluth for a huge match against No. 1 Minnesota Duluth (21-1, 13-1 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The Mustangs have defeated four ranked teams during its current win streak and have won six consecutive road matches as they prepare to travel this weekend.

OPPONENTS AT A GLANCE:
St. Cloud State- St. Cloud State enters the weekend in the midst of a four match losing streak. The Huskies have faced four straight ranked opponents and have failed to win a single set in those matches hitting under .100 in their previous three matches. Macy Weller leads the Huskies' attack with 205 kills (2.63 k/set) while Nicole Miller is fifth in the NSIC during conference play in service aces (22). Clara Krenz is also fifth in the NSIC in digs (234) during conference matches only.

Minnesota Duluth- UMD remain as the top ranked team in the country for the fourth straight week. The Bulldogs enter this week coming off of thier first loss of the year. UMD started the season on a 21 match winning streak before losing to Augustana last Saturday. Leading hitters for the Bulldogs include Sarah Kelly with 235 kills (3.09 k/set) and Makenzie Morgen with 230 kills (3.03 k/set). UMD is ranked fifth in the country in hitting percentage (.298), seventh in kills per set (14.33), and seventh in assists per set (13.38). Emily Torve is second in NSIC in conference matches in assists with 605 (12.35 a/set).

SERIES HISTORY:
St. Cloud State- SMSU currently leads the all-time series 23-18. St. Cloud State dominated the early history between the teams but SMSU has won the last 16 consecutive meetings dating back to the 2005 season. The Mustangs have not dropped a single set to the Huskies in the previous ten meetings and have won 23 of the previous 25 matches. SMSU holds a 11-6 lead in conference matches with St. Cloud State and is 10-6 all-time on the road in St. Cloud, Minn.

Minnesota Duluth- UMD leads the all-time series 17-63 but SMSU has won the last two matches including a 3-2 victory for the Mustangs against top ranked UMD in October of last season. UMD has been ranked in the nation's top-10 the last 13 times it has faced SMSU and have been ranked in the top five for all but one of those matchups. The two teams have split the previous ten meetings 5-5.

MUSTANGS STREAKING: Southwest Minnesota State extended its winning streak to 13 matches after adding three more wins last week. During the win streak which began with a win back on Sept. 17 against Wayne State, SMSU has hit .332 as team averaging 15.2 kills per set. The Mustangs have swept nine of those matches, won twice in four sets, and won two matches that went to five sets. The Mustangs hold a 99.0 to 55.0 advantage over opponents in total blocks during the streak have held the opposition to .151 hitting during the streak.

SMSU LEADERS: Taylor Reiss currently leads the Mustangs in kills with 383 (4.91 k/set) and Eisha Oden holds the teams highest hitting percentage (.417). Sarah Parker has the most total blocks with 75 (.96 blk/set), Amber Messner leads in digs (339), and Kaylee Burmeister has the most service aces (30) for SMSU. Setter Megan Larson has tallied 991 assists (12.71 a/set).

NATIONAL NEWS: SMSU is currently ranked second in the most recent AVCA poll released last Monday and -- 16 first place votes. The Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top-25 for 142 consecutive polls dating back to Sept. 5, 2006, and have been ranked in the Top-10 for 46 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 (14.99), second in assists per set (14.08), and second in hitting percentage (.321). Megan Larson is first in the country in assists per set (12.71) and sixth in total assists (991). Taylor Reiss is third in the country in kills per set (4.91), seventh in total kills (383) and 12th in attacks per set (11.99). Eisha Oden is third in hitting percentage (.417), while Sarah Parker is eighth in hitting percentage (.398).

SMSU AMONG THE CONFERENCE LEADERS (NSIC Matches): In NSIC matches only, SMSU leads the conference in kills (14.96 k/set), assists (14.12 a/set), hitting percentage (.329), and service aces (1.82). The Mustangs are also second in opponent hitting percentage (.163). Eisha Oden (.433) and Sarah Parker (.429) are first and second respectively in hitting percentage while Megan Larson is first in assists (12.88 a/set). Taylor Reiss currently ranks second in kills (4.82 k/set) while Parker is sixth in blocks (1.02 blk/set).

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 PLAYERS 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.

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.

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 (10.73) and ranks fourth in total assists (3,585) and 10th in service attempts (1,394). Larson is on pace to post the third most assists per set (12.71) for a season in program history. Taylor Reiss is on pace to post the third most kills per set (4.91) for a single season in school history, ranks third all-time in career kills per set (4.27), and is fourth in career attack percentage (.330). Eisha Oden is ranked third in program history in career attack percentage(.331) and eighth all-time in blocks per set (1.00). Sarah Parker is sixth in career attack percentage (.314), eighth in block assists (299) and 10th in total blocks (369).

SEEING DOUBLE: Taylor Reiss currently leads the Mustangs with 10 double-double performances. Kaylee Burmeister has racked up seven double-doubles while Megan Larson has produced six so far this year.

TOUGH COMPETITION: Southwest Minnesota State face 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.

STARTING STRONG: The Mustangs have gotten off to fast starts so far this season winning 18 of 22 opening sets thus far. SMSU has outscored its opponents by a combined 534-372 in the first set so far this year.

MUSTANGS CONFERENCE HISTORY UNDER TC: The Mustangs are 195-43 (.812) 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 370-174 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 falling just three shy of the single-match record against Lewis (Ill.) on Sept. 3. 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.