MARSHALL, Minn. - The No. 16 Southwest Minnesota State women's volleyball team hosts MSU Moorhead in its annual "Red Out" match on Friday at 6 p.m. in the PE Gym. On Saturday, the national leader, No. 1 Northern State (21-1, 13-1 NSIC) and No. 16 SMSU (15-7, 10-4 NSIC) compete at 2 p.m. for the first time this season. 

Friday's match is the eighth annual "Red Out" event to promote awareness for heart disease. All fans in attendance are encouraged to wear red in support of awareness for heart disease. The first 400 fans through the gates will receive a free "Red Out" t-shirt.

SMSU Notes
The Mustangs went 2-1 last weekend after dropping a mid-week match on Tuesday to Sioux Falls in five-sets. The Mustangs went 2-0 in weekend play with sweeps over Minot State and UMary. 

Taylor Reiss was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week, her second time this season and eighth in her career. In the 11 sets SMSU played last week, Reiss recorded 71 kills. Her 31 kills against Sioux Falls was the most in an NSIC match this season. She averaged an NSIC best 6.45 kills per set and .377 hitting percentage. She has recorded 1,942 career kills with six matches remaining in the season. 

Against Minot State, Reiss led the Mustangs with a match-high 17 kills and a .615 hitting percentage followed by seven kills from Meg Schmidt. Sarina Smith recorded six kills with a .667 hitting percentage. Emma Thomssen had 35 assists on the night and Kaylee Burmeister dished out 17 digs for a team-high.

In SMSU's sweep over UMary, Reiss recorded 23 kills and 14 digs, her 16th double-double of the season. Sarina Smith added 10 kills with a .409 hitting percentage. Kaylee Burmeister led the Mustang with 23 digs.

MSU Moorhead Notes
MSU Moorhead is 9-12 overall and 5-9 in the NSIC. MSU Moorhead has dropped the last consecutive seven matches. Monica Vega has been previously named NSIC Defensive Player of the Week, announced on Sept. 24. Vega's third career nomination. Amanda Carlson leads the Dragons with 211 kills and 2.93 kills per set, closely followed by Kaylyn Jenkins at 157, Kylie Kanwischer at 137, and Madison Wassink at 110. Lauren Kiewiet paces the Dragons with 423 assists while Katelyn Selensky has added 233 assists. Monica Vega leads MSUM with 377 digs this season.

MSUM Series History
SMSU leads the series 62-46 dating back to 1975. The Mustangs won the last 17 consecutive matches. SMSU swept the last match (25-22, 25-9, 25-18) at Moorhead on Oct. 6, 2017. 

Northern State Notes
Northern State earned the top spot in the latest AVCA Top-25 Poll with a 21-1 overall record and 13-1 in conference play. NSU has maintained a seven-match winning streak after a five-set loss to Minnesota Duluth on Sept. 22 at Duluth, which is also their only loss of the season. NSU is hitting a national high .316 on the year, averaging 14.7 kills, 13.9 assists, 17.4 digs, 1.7 aces, and 1.7 blocks per set thus far. Haley Busch leads the Wolves with 308 kills this season with a 4.00 kills per set avg. Busch is supported by Laura Snyder with 228, Jenna Reiff with 210, Sally Gaul with 177, and Morgan Baufield with 147. Jaiden Langlie has earned back-to-back NSIC Defensive Player of the Week honors, and currently has 369 digs, averaging 4.79 per set. She is averaging 6.37 digs per set in the last five matches. Ashley Rozell nears her 1,000 season assists milestone with 977 so far. 

NSU Series History
SMSU leads 56-10 in a series dating back to 1978. The Mustangs lost the last match 3-1 (22-25, 23-25, 25-18, 22-25) at Northern State on Oct. 7, 2017. Prior to last season's loss, the Mustangs won 23 consecutive matches. Of those last 23 matches, the Mustangs swept 15 of them. SMSU leads its home record 23-2. 

This weekend's matches begin a four-match homestand for the Mustangs. Next weekend, SMSU hosts Concordia-St. Paul on Friday, Oct. 26 for senior night and Minnesota State on Saturday, Oct. 27 for parents day.