DULUTH, Minn. - Third seed No. 9 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team faces second seed Northern State in the semifinal round of the NSIC tournament hosted by number one seed, Minnesota Duluth, at 5 p.m. on Friday in the Romano Gymnasium. 

SMSU Notes 
• No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State advanced to the semifinals of the NSIC tournament with a sweep over the sixth seed, Wayne State, on Tuesday night. 
• Taylor Reiss led the team with 18 kills and 13 digs. Emma Thomssen recorded 48 assists. Angela Young recorded 15 kills and 10 digs. 
• Final set scores: (25-1, 28-26, 25-21). 
• SMSU ended the regular season at 16-4 in conference play and third in the NSIC. 
• Taylor Reiss became the first player in conference history to be named NSIC Player of the Year three times, announced on Thursday, Nov. 1.
• Reiss was named All-NSIC First Team. Sarina Smith and Kaylee Burmeister  earned All-NSIC Second Team. 
• SMSU jumped to No. 7 in the latest AVCA Top-25 poll released on Monday. 
• Southwest Minnesota State dropped to eighth in the final NCAA Division II Central Region rankings announced on Wednesday, Nov. 7.

NSU Notes
• The Northern State Wolves opened the week remaining at No. 5 in the AVCA Top-25 Poll.
• NSU defeated seventh seed Minnesota State in the NSIC quarterfinal in five sets.
• Ashley Rozell, Hailey Busch, Jenna Reiff, and Laura Snyder were named to the NSIC All-Conference first team, while Jaiden Langlie earned second team honors.
• Northern State head coach Brent Aldridge was also named the NSIC Coach of the Year, for the third time in his eight seasons with the Wolves.
• The Wolves are hitting a nation leading .304 as a team, averaging 14.4 kills, 13.6 assists, 16.8 digs, 1.8 blocks, and 1.5 aces per set.
 Hailey Busch and Laura Snyder lead the team averaging 3.78 and 3.15 kills per set, while Snyder hitting a team high, and national top-10 mark of .388.
• Morgan Baufield and Jenna Reiff have also been efficient this season hitting .386 and .385 respectively.
• Ashley Rozell currently sits top-5 in the nation averaging 12.38 assists per set, while 1275 total assists. She is also top-5 in the country averaging 0.53 aces per set with 55 total aces.
• Jaiden Langlie leads the Wolves defense with 460 digs, averaging 4.47 per set, and holds a .963 serve receive percentage.
• Reiff and Baufield led the defensive effort at the net with 92 and 79 blocks respectively, averaging 0.89 and 0.77 per set.

Series History
• SMSU defeated NSU at home this season with a sweep (30-28, 25-22, 25-17). 
• Taylor Reiss led the match with 29 kills and a .448 hitting percentage. Sarina Smith recorded 11 kills with a .476 hitting pct. while Angela Young added 13 kills. 
• Emma Thomssen recorded 54 assists and seven digs to aid the Mustangs' 3-0 victory of the top-ranked Northern State while Erin Corrigan dished out 16 digs with three service aces to lead the Mustang defense.
• SMSU leads 57-10 in a series dating back to 1978.
• Prior to last seasons loss, the Mustangs won 23 consecutive matches.
• Of those last 23 matches, the Mustangs swept 15 of them.