THIS WEEK

The No. 16-ranked Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (21-7 overall, 13-7 NSIC) opens up the NSIC Tournament as the eighth seed after finding themselves in a four-way tie for fifth place in the regular season.

The Mustangs will battle the top-seeded St. Cloud State Huskies at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.

    LAST WEEK  

The Mustangs went 2-0 on the week, winning a pair of matches in three sets at home this past weekend, defeating Minnesota Crookston on Friday before sweeping Bemidji State on Saturday. 

SMSU got back to its winning ways by defeating Minnesota Crookston 25-11, 25-18, 25-17 on Friday night in the PE Gym. 

Katelyn Nichols led the way with 11 kills while adding three blocks as Angela Young and Meg Schmidt each tallied seven kills to pace the offense. Payton Hjerleid and Sophie Johnson combined for 21 digs to lead the way defensively, with Emma VanHeel adding four blocks. 

SMSU closed the regular season defeating Bemidji State 25-22, 25-11, 25-11 on Saturday afternoon in the PE Gym for the final time this season. 

Head coach Terry Culhane led the way for the Mustangs, coaching his final game inside the PE Gym. He finishes his career 157-34 at home and 9-1 at home this season. Young led the way offensively in her final home match, tallying 12 kills and seven digs. Hjerleid, also playing her final career home match, led the defense with 15 digs.

     THREE MUSTANGS EARN ALL-NSIC HONORS

The NSIC announced last week that Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball players Angela Young and Meg Schmidt were both named first team All-NSIC, while Payton Hjerleid was named second team All-NSIC.

Young, a senior outside hitter from Conde, S.D., leads SMSU with 422 kills, while recording a .263 hitting percentage. She also ranks second on the team with 215 digs, fourth in blocks with 47, and is fifth with 22 service aces. In NSIC play, Young ranks second in kills per set (4.22) and second in points per set (4.71). 

Schmidt, a junior right-side hitter from Jordan, Minn., has played multiple positions for the Mustangs this season. Schmidt is second on the team in kills (336), points (401), while ranking third in service aces (32), assists (127) and blocks (63). She is currently ranked ninth in conference play in hitting percentage, 10th in points per set and 11th in kills per set. Schmidt has reached double figures in kills 19 times this season and is one of three players in the NSIC to record a triple-double.

Hjerleid, a senior libero from Mallard, Iowa, leads the team with 415 digs, is second in aces with 35, and is fourth in assists with 108. Her 315 digs in league play ranks fourth in the NSIC and her 4.26 digs per set ranks sixth.

    THE TERRY CULHANE FILES

Terry Culhane, the all-time wins leader in program history, announced last Monday he will be retiring as head coach and as assistant professor in the SMSU Education Department at the end of the 2021 fall semester. 

Culhane is in his 18th and final season as head coach and has an overall record of 431-123, including 258-66 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 is the 14th winningest coach in DII in win percentage, while ranking 22nd in active wins

Culhane's complete bio is found on page 11.

    SERIES HISTORY

St. Cloud State and SMSU will meet for the 49th time and third time this season.

SMSU holds a 26-22 advantage all-time, and SCSU leading the season series 2-0.

Their first meeting came in 1972, and their last meeting came Friday, Nov. 6, when SCSU won in four sets at home. 

    SMSU AND THE NSIC IN THE POLLS  

After a 2-0 weekend that saw a pair of sweeps against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State, the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team (21-7) jumped a spot to No. 16 in the 11th 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 Winona State coming in at No. 8, St. Cloud State at No. 11, Concordia-St. Paul at No. 13, Wayne State at No. 15 and SMSU at No. 16.

    FABULOUS FRESHMEN   

SMSU has received a boost from its youth 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 232 kills, and is second on the team with 103 blocks, and Katelyn Nichols, who leads the team with 111 blocks, and is fourth on the team with 147 kills. Both VanHeel and Nichols have played in every set this season. 

Sophie Johnson has played in 97 of 100 sets for the Mustangs, picking up 154 digs and 230 assists in 16 starts. 

Halle Jansen has played in all 28 matches for SMSU, collecting 87 kills, 53 digs and 26 blocks.

    Young earns NSIC weekly honor

Senior outside hitter Angela Young was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Offensive Player of the Week following her performances in SMSU's 3-0 win against Minnesota State and 3-1 win against No. 5 Concordia St. Paul on Oct. 22-23.

Young dazzled over the weekend, recording 43 kills, including a career-high 26 kill performance against the No. 5-ranked Golden Bears. She would finish the match with a double-double as she added 12 digs and a pair of aces.

She also lead the way against Minnesota State on Friday, leading a ferocious offensive onslaught with 17 kills to go along with seven digs.

She would end the weekend with 6.14 digs per set while hitting .392 and recording 19 digs. She is the first Mustang to win an NSIC weekly honor since Oct. 29, 2018, when Taylor Reiss earned co-offensive honors.

    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 10th in school history with 1176 kills  and 3.41 kills per set in her career. 

She also became the first player since 2018 to earn NSIC offensive player of the week honors with 43 kills and 6.13 kills per set against Minnesota State and No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul on Oct. 22-23.

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

Schmidt is one of 33 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 finished the season with a 9-1 home record, their best home win percentage since 2016.

Angela Young leads the Mustangs with 422 kills and 4.22 kills per set, with Meg Schmidt contributing 336 kills on a .313 hitting percentage.

The defense is anchored by Payton Hjerleid, who leads the team with 415 digs and Katelyn Nichols, who leads the Mustangs with 113 blocks. 

    ALL AROUND

SMSU can be found all over the top 100 in NCAA statistics

SMSU ranks 20th in hitting percentage with a .256 average and 24th in the NCAA in kills per set with a 13.75 average

The Mustangs also rank 35th in opponents hitting percentage, limiting the opposition to a .140 percentage.

The defense has also been a strength thanks to the 26th most blocks per set with 2.26 and 32nd in blocks with 226.

The service line has also been a strength for SMSU, ranking 44th in aces while the attack has been lifted with the 39th best assists per set total.

    MUSTANGS ON THE LEADERBOARDS

Five separate players find themselves in the top 70 across the NCAA leaderboards following the conclusion of the regular season.

Angela Young slots eighth in kills, 10th in kills per set and 11th in points per set.

Meg Schmidt currently ranks 68th in points per set and 70th in kills.

She is also one of 35 players in the country and three players in the NSIC to record a triple-double.

Katelyn Nichols ranks 30th in the country in total blocks and 33rd in blocks per set. 

Emma VanHeel is 53rd in blocks, while ranking 68th blocks per set.

    ST. CLOUD STATE PREVIEW

2021 Record: 24-4, 19-1

Head Coach: Chad Braegelmann, sixth season

Mascot: Huskies

AVCA Rank: 11

Region Ranking: 4

NSIC Seed: 1

St. Cloud State Notes

The Huskies enter the tournament as the top seed after defeating No. 15 Wayne State and Augustana in four sets on the road last weekend  

St. Cloud State is 24-4 on the season, and 5-2 against ranked teams.

SCSU was picked to finish third in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll.

The Huskies are led by All-NSIC First Teamer, NSIC Freshman of the Year, and reigning NSIC Player of the Week Kenzie Foley, who has tallied 378 kills and 303 digs in 27 matches this season, and All-NSIC First Teamer Lindsey Rachel, who leads the team with 320 digs.

    ON THE HORIZON

SMSU needs a victory to advance to the semifinals, where the winner of their match will face the winner of Wayne State and Northern State.

    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.

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.