THIS WEEK

The No. 14 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (15-4 overall, 7-4 NSIC) returns home after a pair of road losses, hosting Minnesota State and No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul

The Mustangs will face Minnesota State on Friday at 6 p.m., before welcoming CSP for a match on Saturday at 2 p.m.

    LAST WEEK  

The Mustangs lost back-to-back matches in five sets at Winona State and at Upper Iowa.

SMSU suffered its third loss of the season on the road against then No. 8 Winona State (17-2, 8-2) 25-21, 25-19, 22-25, 18-25, 15-10 on Friday night

Meg Schmidt and Angela Young each collected 19 kills to lead the Mustang offense, with Schmidt adding four blocks and six digs, and Young tallying 13 digs and five blocks. Payton Hjerleid finished with a season-high 22 digs and Katelyn Nichols blocked a career-high nine attacks to lead the defense. Alisa Bengen paced the offense with 33 assists and added 13 digs.

SMSU dropped their second five-set road match in as many nights, coming up short against Upper Iowa 24-26, 25-20, 13-25, 25-19, 15-13 on Saturday night. 

 Young led the team with 17 kills while adding eight digs, Schmidt tallied 13 kills and five digs with four blocks, and Emma VanHeel would total 11 kills with seven blocks to lead the scoring for SMSU. Hjerleid's 17 digs led the defense, with Rachel Fink adding 11 digs and Nichols collecting four blocks to go with five kills and three aces.

    SMSU AND THE NSIC IN THE POLLS  

After a pair of five-set losses on the road at Winona State and Upper Iowa, the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team (15-4) dropped four spots to No. 14 in the seventh regular season American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Division II weekly poll released on Monday afternoon.

SMSU is one of five NSIC schools ranked in this week's Top 25 with Concordia-St. Paul up two spots to No. 5, Wayne State dropping three spots to No. 8, Winona State falling four spots to No. 12, and St. Cloud State up a spot to No. 13. 

    SERIES HISTORY

Minnesota State and SMSU will meet for the 60th time, with MSU leading the series 32-27.

The first meeting took place in 1971, while their last meeting took place in October of 2019, when SMSU fell to MSU in three sets.

Concordia-St. Paul and SMSU will meet for the 67th time, with CSP leading the series 39-27.

The first meeting was in 1976 and the last meeting occurred on Oct. 11, 2019, with the Mustangs falling to CSP in four sets. 

    FABULOUS FRESHMEN   

SMSU has received a boost from its youth in the first 19 games this season, with nine different freshmen seeing action, and six playing in at least ten sets.

The group is led by Emma VanHeel, who is third on the team with 158 kills, and is second on the team with 73 blocks, and Katelyn Nichols, who leads the team with 77 blocks, and is fourth on the team with 97 kills. Both VanHeel and Nichols have played in every set this season. 

Sophie Johnson has played in 65 of 68 sets for the Mustangs, picking up 96 digs and 75 assists in 14 starts. Johnson averaged 15.5 assists per match over the weekend. 

Halle Jansen has played in all 19 games for SMSU, collecting 52 kills, 34 digs and 14 blocks. She tallied a career-high nine kills on Oct. 15 against No. 8 Winona State. 

Saari Kuehl has played in 14 games and 26 sets for SMSU, with 24 kills and 12 digs.

Brooklyn Kusler tied a career-high seven kills while also getting three digs and two blocks against Upper Iowa on Oct. 16.

    MUSTANG MILESTONES

Payton Hjerleid became the 21st player in school history join the 1,000 dig club on Oct. 2 against Northern State.

Hjerleid also tied the school record for aces in a match, when she recorded eight in a sweep of Colorado School of Mines on Sept. 4

Angela Young became the 15th player in Mustangs history to join the 1,000 kills club after her first kill on Oct. 9 against UMary.

Young currently ranks 11th in school history with 3.26 kills per set in her career. 

Meg Schmidt committed a rare feat, collecting a triple-double with 15 kills, 13 digs, and 11 assists against UMary on Oct. 9. 

Schmidt is one of 28 players in the nation to record a triple-double this season, and is the first player in school history to record a triple double in the last ten seasons

    ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE   

The Mustangs opened the season with 11 straight victories, the second longest streak to start a season in program history

SMSU has lost back to back games for the first time since being swept by Augustana and Wayne State Nov. 2-5, 2019, and the first time losing consecutive matches in five sets since Sept 15-19, 2009

Angela Young leads the Mustangs with 276 kills, with Meg Schmidt contributing 233 kills on a .321 hitting percentage.

The defense is anchored by Payton Hjerleid, who leads the team with 279 digs and Katelyn Nichols, who leads the Mustangs with 77 blocks. 

    ALL AROUND

SMSU can be found all over the top 70 in national statistics

SMSU ranks 16th in the country in hitting percentage with a .261 percentage, and is 23rd in the country in kills per set with a 13.66 average.

The Mustangs also rank 28th in opponents hitting percentage, limiting the opposition to a microscopic .133 percentage.

The defense has also been a strength thanks to the 22nd most blocks per set and 24th most total blocks in the nation. 

The service line has also been a strength for SMSU, ranking 37th in aces per set at 2.00, while the attack has been lifted with the 50th best assists per set total in the country with 12.13.

    MUSTANGS ON THE LEADERBOARDS

Six separate players find themselves in the top 100 across the NCAA leaderboards five weeks into the season.

Angela Young slots in 10th in total kills, 18th in kills per set, 24th in points per set, and 49th in total attacks.

Alisa Bengen ranks 60th in assists per set and 81st in assists. 

Rachel Fink ranks 80st in aces per set and 59th in total aces. 

Meg Schmidt currently ranks 36th in points per set, 68th in aces, 71st in kills, 79th in kills per set, and is 98th in aces per set. 

She is also one of 29 players in the nation to record a triple-double.

Katelyn Nichols ranks 28th in blocks per set, and is 29th in total blocks. 

Emma VanHeel is 39th in blocks, while ranking 43rd in blocks per set.

    MINNESOTA STATE PREVIEW

2021 Record: 11-8, 6-5

Head Coach: Corey Phelps, first season

Mascot: Mavericks

Minnesota State Notes

The Warriors went 1-1 on the week, defeating Augustana 3-2 on Friday and falling to then No. 5 Wayne State 3-0 on Saturday. 

Minnesota State has begun the season 11-8, and 0-3 against ranked teams.

The Mavericks were picked to finish tied for ninth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll

Minnesota State is led by Mariah Edgington, who has tallied 189 kills and 171 digs in 19 matches this season, and Kiya Durant, who leads the team with 80 blocks.

    CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL PREVIEW

2021 Record: 17-3, 11-0

Head Coach: Brady Starkey, 19th season

Mascot: Golden Bears

AVCA Ranking: 5

Concordia-St. Paul Notes

The Golden Bears went 2-0 last week, defeating then No. 5 Wayne State in five sets on Friday before defeating Augustana 3-1 on Saturday.

CSP has begun the season 17-3, and is 4-3 against ranked teams.

The Golden Bears were picked to finish first in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll

CSP is led by Jasmine Mulvihill, who has tallied 247 kills and 53 blocks in 20 matches this season, and Tori Hanson, who leads the team with 331 digs.

    ON THE HORIZON

SMSU goes on the road to face Sioux Falls before coming home to play Wayne State

The Mustangs will take on Sioux Falls Thursday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. before welcoming Wayne State into the PE Gym at 2 p.m. on Oct. 30.

    2021 OUTLOOK

The Mustangs look to reach the NSIC tournament for the first time since 2018 after being narrowly edged out by strength of schedule points index in 2019.

Senior outside hitter Angela Young, who earned All-NSIC first team honors in 2019, returns this season after leading the team with 420 kills in 2019. Young also garnered CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.

Junior right-side hitter Meg Schmidt is back after amassing 328 kills and 62 blocks en route to All-NSIC second team honors.

Junior setter Alisa Bengen also returns after ranking second on the squad two seasons ago with 538 assists. 

Senior Payton Hjerleid will help anchor the defense after recording a team-high 426 digs in 2019, while junior outside hitter Rachel Fink amassed 256 digs and recorded 116 kills.

    THE TERRY CULHANE FILES

Terry Culhane, the all-time wins leader in program history, is in his 18th season as head coach and has an overall record of 424-117, including 251-60 in NSIC play.

The four-time NSIC Coach of the Year, Culhane has never led SMSU to a losing season, a resume that includes a 30-win season, and 11 other seasons with at least 25 wins.

SMSU has won NSIC Tournament titles in 2012 and 2017 and has won a pair of NSIC regular season championships in 2012 and 2016.  

SMSU has played in 15 NCAA Tournaments during Culhane's time with the Mustangs, including a NCAA National Championship appearance in 2014

SMSU's fourth head coach, Culhane spent 23 seasons (1979-2003) as a high school basketball and volleyball coach around the state of Minnesota, including his final four seasons coaching volleyball at Marshall High School, appearing in three state tournaments.

Culhane ranks 16th among active DII coaches in win percentage, while ranking 26th in wins

Culhane's complete bio is found on page 11.

    ALL OR NOTHING 

SMSU is 55-31 in five-set matches during the Culhane era after a five-set setback at the hands of Upper Iowa on Saturday.

The Mustangs are now 1-3 in five-set matches in 2021.