CROOKSTON, Minn. - No. 12 Southwest Minnesota State (10-5, 5-2 NSIC) finishes a four-match road series at Minnesota Crookston (3-12, 1-6 NSIC) and Bemidji State (5-10, 2-5 NSIC) this weekend. Mustangs open the weekend at Minnesota Crookston with a 6 p.m. match in the Lysaker Gymnasium on Friday and then travels to Bemidji State for a 1 p.m. match at the BSU Gymnasium on Saturday. SMSU dropped two spots to No. 12 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) Top-25 poll that was released on Monday after SMSU split the week with a 3-1 win over Minnesota State last Friday and a five-set loss to Concordia-St. Paul last Saturday.

Mustang Notes
This past week, Taylor Reiss earned NSIC Offensive Player of the Week and AVCA National Player of the Week. Reiss is the first recipient of the AVCA Player of the Week to earn this award four times. Reiss led the NSIC with 60 kills, she averaged 6.67 kills per set, and hit .379 in the two matches against Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul. In the Mustangs' 3-1 victory over Minnesota State and a five-set loss to Concordia-St. Paul, Reiss recorded her second and third consecutive double-double, her 11th this season. She had 30 kills and 14 digs against Minnesota State and 30 kills and hit .391, and added 20 digs against No. 2 Concordia. Reiss has moved up in the school all-time record books, and sits in the top-five in five categories. As of Sept. 24, Reiss leads the nation in kills per set (5.64), points per set (6.06), and total kills (316).

Against Minnesota State, Angela Young and Meg Schmidt added 14 and nine kills respectively. Erin Corrigan led the team with 19 digs, and Emma Thomssen paced the Mustangs with 57 assists. The Mustangs came back for revenge, taking the first set 27-25 and recording a .486 hitting percentage against CSP on Saturday.  Reiss recorded a match-high 30 kills in 20 digs in the Mustangs second conference loss this year, her third consecutive double-double and her 11th this season. Angela Young also added 14 kills while Kaylee Burmeister led the Mustangs with 24 digs.

Opponent at a glance 
Minnesota Crookston - UMC has a 3-12 overall and 1-6 NSIC record. Deaira Gresham leads UMC with 116 kills and 124 points this season. Kaitlin Sikkink comes in second with 90 kills. UMC is led in digs by Ali Schueler (205) and led in assists by Sydney Kruisselbrink with 408. Minnesota Crookston swept UMary in its last match on Sept. 22. Sikkink and Porsha Porath tied a team-high with nine kills. Kruisselbrink recorded 31 assists in the match. The Golden Eagles recorded 10 service aces as well as a team hitting percentage of .321. The victory snapped a nine-match losing streak for the Golden Eagles.

Series History - SMSU leads the series 32-1 with a 24 match winning streak dating back to 2003. The Mustangs only loss was a four set loss in 2003 at Minnesota Crookston. 23 of the 33 matches, were Mustangs sweeps. The Mustangs swept last match occurred on Nov. 10, 2017 at home. The Mustangs swept 25-20, 25-15, 25-10.

Opponent at a glance 

Bemidji State is led by Anna Averkamp who has recorded 141 kills so far this season. Maddie Mackinac and Mary Campbell pace the Beavers with 269 and 231 assists respectively. Emma Hallman has dished out 201 digs this season. The Beavers snapped a six-match losing streak on Sept. 11 with a sweep of Minnesota Crookston. The Beavers fell 3-1 in their last match to Minot State (20-25, 21-25, 25-22, 16-25). Averkamp and Greta Paszek recorded 10 kills, followed by eight kills from Maddie Filipiak. Campbell led with 35 assists.

Series History - Mustangs lead the series 64-30 and maintain a 25-match winning streak. Of those last 25 matches, the Mustangs have swept 19 of them. The Mustangs swept in the last meeting occurred on Nov. 11, (25-12, 25-13, 25-15). SMSU are 18-15 away and 50-18 in the conference.

No 12. Southwest Minnesota State (10-5, 5-2 NSIC) return home next weekend to host homecoming matches against No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (12-3, 6-1 NSIC) on Friday, Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m. against St. Cloud State (9-4, 5-2 NSIC) in the PE Gym.