MARSHALL, Minn.- The fourth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State women's volleyball team will honor its seniors and SMSU volleyball parents this weekend as they close the regular season with home matches against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State.

SMSU will host Senior Night on Friday before they face Minnesota Crookston beginning at 6 p.m., followed by Parent's Day on Saturday before the Mustangs take on Bemidji State beginning at 2 p.m.


SMSU Quick Hits

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

- The Mustangs, coming off of a 2-1 week lasat week, will see Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State both for a second time on the season this weekend

- Megan Larson became the program's all-time leader in assists and service attempts this year and is also the leader in career assists per set 

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

- SMSU's three senior players, Greta Geist, Brooke Borchardt, and Megan Larson have helped SMSU to a 103-25 overall record during their four-years in Marshall


Minnesota Crookston: Match Preview

        Series History

- SMSU has lost just one match in program history to Minnesota Crookston which came back in 2003

- Since the Mustangs' only loss to Minnesota Crookston in 2003, SMSU has reeled off 23 straight wins over the Golden Eagles

- The Mustangs have swept four of the last five matches against Minnesota Crookston

- SMSU is 30-1 in conference matches against Minnesota Crookston and now holds a 15-1 record on the road in Crookston

- The Mustangs have never lost to Minnesota Crookston at home in Marshall going 15-0 dating back to the first match in 1999

- Last time: Brooke Borchardt led SMSU with 16 kills and a .667 attack percentage in the first match earlier this year

- Last time: SMSU held UMC to just .069 hitting in the first match earlier this year and held the Golden Eagles to just 21 kills as a team in the win

        Minneosta Crookston Team Notes

- The Golden Eagles are coming off of a 1-2 week with a 3-0 win over Bemidji State before dropping two home weekend matches against Augustana and Wayne State

- Minnesota Crookston has been held under .200 hitting as a team in three of the last four matches

- The Golden Eagles are 2-7 in road matches this year

- Maggie Perrel tallied seven kills last Friday against Augustana

- Becca Vandenheuvel notched 17 digs against Augustana

- Kassi Green had eight kills last week at Augustana

- Kassi Green and Kelci Green both had seven kills last Saturday against Wayne State

- Becca Vandenheuvel tallied 17 digs on Saturday versus Wayne State


Bemidji State: Match Preview

        Series History

- SMSU owns a commanding 63-30 record against Bemidji State

- The Mustangs have won 24 straight matches over Bemidji State dating back to the 2003 season

- SMSU owns a 49-18 record over the Beavers in conference matches

- In the Mustangs have lost just one set in the past eight matches against Bemidji State

- SMSU swept the first match between the two teams back on Sept. 22

- Last time: Taylor Reiss led SMSU with 11 kills in the first match while Sarina Smith had 10 kills with a .600 hitting percentage

- Last time: The Mustangs held Bemidji State to just .039 hitting as a team in the first match back in September

        Bemidji State Team Notes

- Bemidji State fell in three matches this past week against UMC, WSC and Augustana

- The Beavers fell to Minnesota Crookston, 3-0, on Halloween to begin the week

- The Beavers lost to No. 22 Wayne State, 3-0, on Friday

- BSU fell again to No. 16 Augustana, 3-0, in the final match of the weekend

- Junior, Maddie Filipiak, led the Beavers by averaging 2.50 kills per set and hit .387 last week

- Filipiak had just three errors in 31 attacks last weekend

- Freshman, Becky Schroeder, totaled the most kills over the weekend with 19 and averaged 2.38 per set

- Sophomores, Kelli Auer and Emma Hallmann, each averaged over four digs per set last week to lead the Beavers defense


Mustang Seniors

- The SMSU volleyball program will honor its three senior players on this final weekend of the regular season at Friday and Saturday's matches

- Greta Geist, Brooke Borchardt, and Megan Larson are the three final players remaining from the 2014 SMSU volleyball team that posted the best finish in program history after advancing to the Division II National Championship match

-  This year's senior class will leave Marshall having already amassed an overall record of 103-25 (.805) during their four years at SMSU

- This year's seniors also helped the Mustangs to an NSIC record of 65-13 over the past four years


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 this week 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 3.11 digs per set and 58 total blocks

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

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


Playoff Picture

- SMSU, which currently sits in the No. 2 seed for the NSIC Tournament, will clinch a home playoff birth with one more win or a loss from Winona State

- SMSU is currently has the same conference record as Northern State and UMD but holds the tiebreaker with both teams and sits in second place in the current NSIC standings

- Southwest Minnesota State topped the first NCAA Central Region rankings of the year last week and have now moved down just one spot to No. 2 in this week's rankings

- The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament on Nov. 30- Dec. 2


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


Reiss: Attacking Records

- Taylor Reiss a fifth 20-20 match on the season with 23 kills and 20 digs at St. Cloud State last Saturday

- 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


Larson: Setting the Standard

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

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

- Larson is second in the NSIC with 12.2 assists per set so far this season


Home Sweet Home

- SMSU started the year 7-1 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 last weekend in a loss to No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul

- The Mustangs are 313-151 all-time in the PE Gym


NCAA Statistical Rankings

Highlights of the latest NCAA Statistical Rankings Update (11/7):

- The Mustangs are fifth in the nation in kills per set (15.07), fifth in hitting percentage (.283), and fifth in assists per set (13.95)

- Megan Larson is third in assists per set (12.2), Taylor Reiss is sixth in kills per set (4.8) and sixth in total kills (452), and Brooke Borchardt is ninth in attack percentage (.402)


NSIC Statistical Rankings (Conf. matches)

Highlights of the latest NSIC Statistical Rankings Update (11/6) :

- SMSU sits in second place in the NSIC standings despite a road loss to UMD last Friday

- SMSU is first in the NSIC in opponent hitting percentage (.169), fourth in kills (14.95 k/set) and third in team hitting percentage (.294)

- Taylor Reiss leads the conference in kills per set (4.94) and is first in points per set (5.46)

- Megan Larson is second in the conference in assists per set (12.18)

- Brooke Borchardt is third in the NSIC in hitting percentage (.393)

- Sarina Smith is 10th in the conference with 0.92 blocks per set


Mustangs in the National Spotlight

- SMSU fell to No. 4 in this week's AVCA Top-25 poll after a 2-1 week last week that included a 3-1 loss to No. 9 Minnesota Duluth

- SMSU has been ranked in the AVCA's Top-25 for 158 consecutive polls and has made it into the nation's Top-10 teams for 62 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