MARSHALL, Minn.- No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State will make its second to last conference road trip of the 2017 season this weekend as it travels to play at Winona State on Friday night beginning at 7 p.m., and will then travel to face Upper Iowa on Saturday at 2 p.m.
SMSU Quick Hits
- Taylor Reiss is one of just three players in the Mustangs' top-10 in career kills that also has a career hitting percentage above .300
- Megan Larson enters the weekend just 53 assists shy of becoming the first SMSU volleyball player to surpass 5,000 career assists
- SMSU remains at No.2 in this week's AVCA Top-25 Poll for a second consecutive week
- The Mustangs' 2-0 weekend at home last weekend extended what is now the second longest home winning streak in school history
- SMSU has swept 11 opponents so far this year
- Kaylee Burmeister currently leads the Mustangs with nine double-double performances this season
- Brooke Borchardt's .923 hitting percentage vs. U-Mary set a Mustangs' season high and made her the first SMSU player since 2011 to hit over .775 in a match
Winona State: Match Preview
Series History
- SMSU and Winona State have split the previous two matches which both went five sets
- SMSU leads the series 64-30-1
- SMSU has lost just five matches to Winona State since the 1991 season (SMSU holds a 45-5 and record during that stretch)
- SMSU has won 13 of the last 14 matchups overall
- The last win for Winona State was a 25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 18-25, 15-10 win in five sets in the second round of the 2015 NSIC Tournament
- SMSU won last season's regular season meeting, 25-20, 17-25, 16-25, 25-22, 20-18 at home in Marshall
- SMSU is 52-14 against Winona State in conference matches
Winona State Team Notes
- Overall Record: 14-5
- Conf. Record: 8-3
- Current Streak: Won 1
- WSU had a five-match winning streak snapped vs. No. 5 Minnesota Duluth last weekend
- The Warriors trailed 2-1 to UMD before winning Set 4 and forcing a decisive fifth game (lost 15-13)
- WSU rebounded from its loss against UMD with a sweep over SCSU, its 11th sweep of the season
- The Warriors matched a season high with eight blocks vs. St. Cloud State last weekend
- Senior, Danielle Rampart, moved into fourth place all-time in program history in kills (1,200) after flooring 27 kills last weekend
- Senior MB, Lauren Kudronowicz, recorded eight blocks and 15 kills over two matches last week
- Maria Fruechte had 21 kills with a .463 hitting percentage last week
Upper Iowa: Match Preview
Series History
- SMSU has never lost to Upper Iowa, leading the all-time series 21-0
- SMSU has not dropped a set against Upper Iowa since 2014 sweeping the past three matches
- SMSU has dropped only four sets in 21 all-time matches against the Peacocks
- The Mustangs have won every match against Upper Iowa in four sets or less
- SMSU is 17-0 against Upper Iowa in conference matches and 9-0 all-time in road matches in Fayette, Iowa
- SMSU swept last season's matchup, 25-10, 25-14, 25-16 at home in Marshall
Upper Iowa Team Notes
- Overall Record: 16-4
- Road Record: 7-4
- Current Streak: Lost 1
- The Peacocks are coming off of a 1-1 weekend last week and will host Sioux Falls Friday night before playing SMSU on Saturday
- UIU lost, 25-21, 28-26, 25-23 in straight sets to No. 5 Minnesota Duluth last Saturday, snapping a five-match win streak
- UIU outhit their opponents .194 to .151 in attack percentage last week
- UIU posted a 17-6 advantage in team blocks last weekend
- Upper Iowa is 1-4 this season against the AVCA Top-25 teams
- Haley Weepie had 19 kills last weekend to lead the Peacocks
- Malissa LeClaire handed out 65 assists and picked up 17 digs
- Ashley Larson led UIU with 26 digs last week
- At the net, Bethany Lovhaug registered 10 blocks a week ago
NCAA Statistical Rankings
Highlights of the latest NCAA Statistical Rankings Update (10/16):
- The Mustangs are second in the nation in kills per set (15.52)
- SMSU is third in the country in assists per set (14.35) and seventh in hitting percentage (.286)
- Megan Larson is fourth in assists per set (12.7), Taylor Reiss is sixth in kills per set (4.7), and Brooke Borchardt is fifth in attack percentage (.424)
NSIC Statistical Rankings (Conf. matches only)
Highlights of the latest NSIC Statistical Rankings Update (10/16) :
- SMSU still sits atop the NSIC standings in a three-way tie with Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota Duluth who also hold 10-1 conference records
- SMSU is first in the NSIC in opponent hitting percentage (.143) and second in team hitting percentage (.308)
- Taylor Reiss leads the conference in kills per set (4.86) and first in points per set (5.38)
- Megan Larson is second in the conference in assists per set (12.89)
- Brooke Borchardt is second in the NSIC in hitting percentage (.426)
Sweeping Up the Competition
- SMSU has been forced to just one five set match so far this season and have swept 11 matches this year
- In the Mustangs 11 3-0 victories this season:
- SMSU is hitting .330 as a team whle holding opponents to .105 hitting
- SMSU is averaging 15.8 kills per set as a team while opponents are at just 9.0 kills per set
- The Mustangs faced extra points in just one set, outscoring opponents 277-190 in opening sets and 275-171 in second sets and 275-189 in third sets
Larson: Setting the Standard
- With her 12.67 assists per set this season, Megan Larson, is now the all-time leader in assists per set in addition to holding the record for career assists
- Larson enters the weekend just 53 assists shy of becoming the first player in SMSU history to surpass the 5,000 career assist milestone
- Larson had the second most assists (1,517) and assists per set (12.86) for a single season in program history in 2016
Career Assists per set (minimum 150 sets)
1. 11.24 - Megan Larson (434 sets) - 2014-17
2. 11.21 - Sara Graf (388 sets) - 2006-09
3. 9.85 - Cara Carson - 2008-11
Career Assists
1. 4947 - Megan Larson (440 sets) - 2014-17
2. 4348 - Sara Graf (388 sets) - 2006-09
3. 4245 - Sarah Rittenhouse (439 sets) - 2000-03
Reiss: Attacking the Record Books
- Taylor Reiss tallied a season high 28 kills at Northern State and has moved into ninth all-time in career kills with five matches of 20 or more kills this season alone
- Reiss is currently averaging the fifth most kills per set (4.71) for a single season in school history after setting the mark for third most kills per set (4.89) last season
- Reiss is one of just three players in the top-10 in career kills with a career hitting percentage over .300
Career Kills per set (minimum 150 sets)
1. 5.16 - Erin Contons (483 sets) - 2004-07
2. 4.54 - Pam Tomasek (157 sets) - 1981-84
3. 4.47 - Taylor Reiss (266 sets) - 2015-17
Career Kills
7. 1392 - Megan Wendorff (.282) - 2003-06
8. 1224 - Jenai Hutchinson (.283) - 1989-92
9. 1188 - Taylor Reiss (.302) - 2015-17
Borchardt Saves Best for Last
- Senior middle blocker, Brooke Borchardt, has career highs in kills (184), kills per set (2.83), and blocks per set (.94) so far this season in her final year as a Mustang
- Borchardt's .923 attack percentage against U-Mary was a season high for SMSU and first time since 2011 that an SMSU player has hit over .775
- Borchardt is five blocks from matching her 2016 total and has over 100 more kills than her career total entering this season
Doubling Down
- Kaylee Burmeister leads SMSU this season with nine double-double performances including a season high 19 kills and 21 digs at NSU
- Taylor Reiss is second on the Mustangs with eight double-double performances including two 20-20 matches and five matches with at least 20 kills
- Setter, Megan Larson, has seven double-double performances including a season high 20 digs along with 55 assists against Wheeling Jesuit
One-Two Punch
- Mustangs' junior outside hitters, Taylor Reiss and Kaylee Burmeister, are a huge part of SMSU's strong start after both playing major roles in last season's Region Championship run
- Reiss and Burmeister have combined for 53 percent of the Mustangs' total kills (538/1,024) so far this season and 39 percent of the team's total digs (425/1,095)
Opening Set Success
- The Mustangs' opening set loss at Northern State (10/7) was the only first set SMSU has lost all season long
- SMSU has outscored opponents 476-363 in opening sets this year
- Early set success has allowed SMSU to play from ahead for much of the season, only trailing in sets once all season long (at NSU, 10/7)
