MARSHALL, Minn. – The No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team was seeded third in the NSIC tournament and hosts the number sixth seed, Wayne State, on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the PE Gym for a NSIC quarterfinal match-up. 
 
SMSU Notes
SMSU earned the third seed in the NSIC Conference Tournament after drawing with Concordia-St. Paul with 16-4 records in the NSIC but earned the third seed due to strength of schedule.
 
SMSU (21-7, 16-4 NSIC) closed the regular season by extending its winning streak to eight-matches after going undefeated this weekend with a five-set victory over Upper Iowa (25-13,25-16,18-25,19-25,15-13) on Friday and a four-set victory over Winona State (29-27,23-25,25-21,25-18) on Saturday. 
 
Taylor Reiss led all matches in kills, recording 48 in her double-double weekend. Reiss earned 23 kills and 23 digs against Upper Iowa and 25 kills and 17 digs against Winona State. Kaylee Burmeister earned a career-high 34 digs against Upper Iowa on Friday to total 54 digs in weekend play. Emma Thomssen paced the Mustangs with 115 assists in the two matches. 

Reiss became the first player in conference history to win NSIC Player of the Week three consecutive years. She also earned All-NSIC first team. Sarina Smith and Burmeister earned All-NSIC second team, announced last Thursday. 
 
Wayne State Notes
Wayne State is 22-8 overall and 13-7 in the NSIC to earn the sixth seed in the NSIC Conference Tournament. WSC received votes in the latest AVCA Top-25 poll. WSC opened the season with its largest winning streak of the season, seven matches. Katie Stephens leads the Wildcats with 307 kills and 3.01 kills per set. Stephens is supported by Alyssa Ballenger with 273 kills and Jaci Brahmer with 233. Megan Gebhardt has recorded 1,107 assists with an 9.97 assist per set average. Haley Kauth paces the Wildcats defense with 460 digs and 4.51 digs per set. Brahmer earned All-NSIC second team honors.
 
Series History
The series between Wayne State and Southwest Minnesota State is deadlocked at 28-28-1 dating back to 1980. The Mustangs have won the past four matches, the latest at Wayne State on Sept. 8, 2018, with a five-set victory (23-25,25-18,13-25,25-22,15-11). The Mustangs hold a 13-6 home record against WSC. SMSU swept its last match against WSC on Sept. 16, 2017.
 
The semifinal and championship matches will take place this Friday and Saturday at the host site which will be determined by the highest remaining seed remaining following Tuesday's matches.