MARSHALL, Minn.- Second-seeded Southwest Minnesota State will host the quarterfinal round of the NSIC Tournament on Wednesday night against seventh seeded Upper Iowa beginning at 6 p.m., in the PE Gym.

Tickets will only be available at the door and the first 200 SMSU students will be admitted FREE of charge courtesy of the SMSU Foundation and SMSU Alumni Office.

SMSU Quick Hits

- The Mustangs, coming off of a 2-0 week last week, will host a rematch against Upper Iowa in the quarterfinal of the NSIC Tournament 

- Megan Larson, the program's all-time leader in assists, service attempts, and assists per set is the current NCAA leader in career assists as well 

- Megan Larson, Brooke Borchardt, Kaylee Burmeister, Sarina Smith and Taylor Reiss were each named All-NSIC performers by the conference last week 

- In addition to being named first team All-NSIC, Taylor Reiss, was named the NSIC Player of the Year for a second straight season 

- SMSU dropped just one spot to No. 2 in last week's NCAA Central Region volleyball rankings


NSIC Quarterfinal Pairings

- (S1) Concordia-St. Paul vs (S8) Wayne State | St. Paul, Minn.

- (S2) SMSU vs (S7) Upper Iowa | Marshall, Minn.

- (S3) Northern State vs (S6) | Aberdeen, S.D.

- (S4) Minnesota Duluth vs (S5) Winona State | Duluth, Minn.

- All matches to be played Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 6 p.m


Upper Iowa: Match Preview

        Upper Iowa Series History

- SMSU has never lost to Upper Iowa, leading the all-time series 22-0

- SMSU has dropped just one set against Upper Iowa since 2014 sweeping three of the past four matches

- SMSU is 18-0 against Upper Iowa in conference matches and 10-0 all-time in home matches

- The Mustangs won the first match of the season against Upper Iowa, 3-1 back on Oct. 21

        Upper Iowa Team Notes

- Upper Iowa lost a three-set decision at No. 7 Northern State, but then rebounded with a 3-0 sweep over the Dragons of MSU Moorhead last weekend

- UIU earned the 7-seed in the NSIC Tournament thanks to their head-to-head win over Wayne State College and their program-record 12 NSIC wins

- The Peacocks finished the season with a 3-8 record against teams in the AVCA Top 25 or receiving votes, but were 18-0 against the rest of their schedule

- Anna Winter, outside hitter from Rochester, Minn., was named second team All-NSIC and was the only UIU player to receive all-conference honors


Playoff Picture
- SMSU, will host Upper Iowa in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC Tournament

- The semi-final and championship rounds of the NSIC Tournament will be hosted at the site of the highest remaining seed after Wednesday's quarterfinal matches 

- SMSU was ranked No. 2 in last week's NCAA Central Region rankings

- The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA Central Region Tournament on Nov. 30- Dec. 2, which will be hosted at the site of the top-seeded team out of the Central Region

NCAA Statistical Rankings

Highlights of the latest NCAA Statistical Rankings Update (11/13):

- The Mustangs are second in the nation in kills per set (15.24), fifth in hitting percentage (.290), and fifth in assists per set (14.10)

- Megan Larson is third in assists per set (12.33), Taylor Reiss is sixth in kills per set (4.81) and sixth in total kills (481), and Brooke Borchardt is 10th in attack percentage (.396)

Larson: Setting the Standard

- Megan Larson is currently ranked No. 1 among active players in all of Division II in career assists

- Larson, the first SMSU player to surpass 5,000 career assists, also became the all-time leader in career service attempts earlier this season

- Larson has also moved into first in career assists and career assists per set during the 2017 season


Reiss: Attacking Records

- Taylor Reiss is 34 kills from moving into seventh all-time in career kills in SMSU history

- Reiss is currently averaging the fourth most kills per set (4.81) 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


Borchardt Breaks Into the Record Books
- Senior middle blocker, Brooke Borchardt, currently has the third highest attack percentage for a single season in SMSU history


Mustangs Quick out of the Gates

- SMSU had its best win streak to start a season in program history in winning its first 16 matches of the 2017 season

- SMSU's previous best start to a season was 7-0 which it accomplished in both 2010 and 2012

- The Mustangs' 16 consecutive wins was the second longest win streak in program history


Home Sweet Home

- SMSU is 9-1 in home matches this season after posting a 10-1 home record in 2016 and tied the longest home win streak in school history at 16

- SMSU had its home winning streak snapped in a loss to No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul

- The Mustangs are 315-151 all-time in the PE Gym


Mustangs in the National Spotlight

- SMSU remains at No. 4 in this week's AVCA Top-25 poll after a 2-0 weekend to close out the regular season

- SMSU has been ranked in the AVCA's Top-25 for 159 consecutive polls and has made it into the nation's Top-10 teams for 63 consecutive polls (dates back to Sept. 2006)

- The Mustangs have been ranked in the AVCA Top-5 since being ranked No. 4 in the 2016 preseason poll


All-Conference Mustangs

- Taylor Reiss was named the NSIC Player of the Year for a second straight year in addition to receiving first team All-NSIC honors for a third consecutive season

- Megan Larson was named All-NSIC for a third straight year and was named first team All-NSIC for a second straight season after posting 12.24 assists per set so far this year

- Kaylee Burmeister was also named first team All-NSIC this week and has averaged 3.17 kills per set and 3.23 digs per set this season

- Brooke Borchardt also received first team All-NSIC recognition with her 2.73 kills per set and 79 total blocks so far this year

- Sarina Smith was named second team All-NSIC after leading the Mustangs with 83 total blocks so far this season as a true freshman


Reiss: NSIC Player of the Year

-  The NSIC Preseason Player of the Year also, Taylor Reiss, was named the NSIC Player of the Year for a second straight year and also received NSIC Freshman of the Year honors back in 2015

- Reiss has averaged 4.81 kills per set so far this season in addition to 3.08 digs per set and 63 total blocks

- Reiss has posted five different matches with at least 20 kills and 20 digs including at St. Cloud State when she tallied 23 and 20 respectively

- Reiss is now the only two-time winner of the NSIC POY award in SMSU history


NSIC Statistical Rankings (Conf. matches)

Highlights of the latest NSIC Statistical Rankings Update (11/13) :

- SMSU finished as the 2017 NSIC regular season runner-up after posting a 17-3 conference record this season

- SMSU is first in the NSIC in opponent hitting percentage (.165), third in kills (15.20 k/set) and second in team hitting percentage (.302)

- Taylor Reiss leads the conference in kills per set (4.93) and is first in points per set (5.49)

- Megan Larson is second in the conference in assists per set (12.31)

- Brooke Borchardt is fourth in the NSIC in hitting percentage (.385)