MARSHALL, Minn.- Fourth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State will continue to play its way through the NSIC Tournament bracket as they face sixth-seeded Augustana on Saturday at 12 p.m., in the Gangelhoff Center on the campus of top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul.

The winner of Saturday's match against Augustana will advance to the NSIC Championship match which will be played on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m, in the Gangelhoff Center.

SMSU Quick Hits

- Taylor Reiss was recognized on Thursday with CoSIDA Academic All-District honors and will now be placed on the ballot for Academic All-American

- 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 

- Taylor Reiss had 31 kills against Upper Iowa which tied an NSIC Tournament record

- 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 and remain at No. 2 this week


NSIC Semifinal Pairings

- (S1) Concordia-St. Paul vs (S4) Minnesota Duluth | Saturday, Nov. 18, 2:30 p.m.

- (S2) SMSU vs (S6) Augustana | Saturday, Nov. 18, 12 p.m.

- NSIC semifinal and championship rounds to be hosted on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul in the Gangelhoff Center


Playoff Picture

- SMSU, will face Augustana in the semifinal round of the NSIC Tournament looking for a birth in a second consecutive NSIC Championship

- The semi-final and championship rounds of the NSIC Tournament will be hosted at top-seeded Concordia-St. Paul

- SMSU was ranked No. 2 in this 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


Augustana: Match Preview

        Augustana Series History

- SMSU is 19-2 in the last 21 matches overall vs. Augustana

- The teams are tied in the all-time series at 31-31-1

- The two teams went five sets in both matches last season

- SMSU beat Augustana in last season's NCAA Central Region Semifinal match, 21-25, 25-23, 16-25, 25-17, 15-9

- SMSU defeated Augustana 25-21, 25-23, 20-25, 17-25, 15-9 in its conference opener back on Sept. 14

         Augustana Team Notes

- The Vikings recovered from a first set loss in a 19-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21 win over Northern State in the NSIC Quarterfinals on Wednesday night in Aberdeen, S.D.

- The Vikings picked up their second win over a top-10 opponent last weekend with the win over No. 6 Minnesota Duluth

- Five different players had double digit kills for Augustana last weekend

- The Vikings shined defensively last week, allowing Duluth to hit just .112 and St. Cloud State to hit .090

- Tahlyr Banks earned NSIC Libero of the Year for a second straight season after posting 5.56 d/set

- Banks was the only Augustana player to earn first team All-NSIC while Courtney Place and Ashley Wilson were each named second team All-NSIC


Reiss: Attacking Records

- Taylor Reiss had 31 kills in Wednesday's win over Upper Iowa which was an NSIC Tournament record and just four shy of her career high

- Reiss is currently averaging the third most kills per set (4.92) and third most points per set (5.48) for a single season in school history

- Reiss is one of just three players in the top-10 in career kills with a career hitting percentage over .300

        Career Kills

    6.     1550 - Brooke Burmeister (.237) - 2009-12

    7.     1392 - Megan Wendorff (.282) - 2003-06

    8.     1389 - Taylor Reiss (.309) - 2015-17

      
      Kills in NSIC Tournament Match

    1.     31 - Taylor Reiss vs UIU (SMSU) (Nov. 15, 2017)

    1.     31- Mariah Scharf (UMD) at WSC  (Nov. 18, 2015)


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
 

NCAA Career Assists (active players only)

    Rk.     Player             No.

    1.     Megan Larson , Southwest Minn. St.      5,405

    2.     Casey Klobedans , Tex. A&M-Kingsville     5,055

    3.     Sydney Trathen , Edinboro                         4,531


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


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


To Be the Best; Beat the Best

- SMSU has gone 9-3 against ranked opponents this season which includes a stretch of six straight matches against ranked opponents

- SMSU has a 4-2 record against AVCA Top-10 opponents this season

-The Mustangs had wins over three of the eight NCAA Region Champions during the 2016 season (Concordia-St. Paul, Palm Beach Atl., Angelo State)

- SMSU defeated defending National Champions and then No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul in the Colo. Premier Championship

- SMSU finished the 2016 season ranked No. 2 in the nation behind DII National Champion, Concordia-St. Paul and came in at No. 2 in the 2017 Preseason AVCA Top-25


NCAA Statistical Rankings

Highlights of the latest NCAA Statistical Rankings Update (11/15):

- The Mustangs are the top ranked team in the nation in kills per set (15.35)

- SMSU is third in hitting percentage (.292), and fifth in assists per set (14.21)

- Megan Larson is third in assists per set (12.44), Taylor Reiss is fifth in kills per set (4.92) and fifth in total kills (512), and Brooke Borchardt is 10th in attack percentage (.396)