THIS WEEK

-The No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (12-1) hits the road again for a pair of conference matches against MSU Moorhead and Northern State.

-The Mustangs will play against the Dragons at 6 p.m. on Friday, before heading to Aberdeen to face Northern State at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

    LAST WEEK  

-The Mustangs opened home NSIC play 2-1 in three matches.

-SMSU started the week defeating Augustana 25-20, 27-25, 25-16 on Tuesday night in the first match inside PE Gym since 2019

-SMSU opened their weekend losing in straight sets to No. 20 St. Cloud State. 

-The loss ended the second longest winning streak to open a season in program history at 11 matches.  

-The Mustangs ended the weekend on a high note, defeating No. 19 Minnesota Duluth in a five set thriller at PE Gym.

    SMSU AND THE NSIC IN THE POLLS  

-The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team dropped to No. 6 in the fourth regular season American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Division II weekly poll released on Monday afternoon.

-SMSU is one of six NSIC schools ranked in this week's Top 25 with Concordia-St. Paul jumping the Mustangs and landing at No. 4, Wayne State gaining one spot to No. 7, Winona State locking in at No. 11, St. Cloud State jumping four spots to No. 16, and Minnesota Duluth falling to No. 22.

    SERIES HISTORY

-MSU Moorhead and SMSU will meet for the 112th time, with SMSU leading the series 65-46.

-The first meeting took place in 1975, while their last meeting took place in November of 2019, when SMSU defeated MUSM in three sets.

-Northern State and SMSU will meet for the 72nd time, with SMSU leading the series 61-10

-The first meeting was in 1972 and the last meeting occurred on Oct. 25, 2019, with the Mustangs winning in five sets. 

    ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE   

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

-The loss also snapped a 15 game win streak that dated back to the final four games of the 2019 season, the third longest in program history.

-Angela Young leads the Mustangs with 183 kills, with Meg Schmidt contributing 146 kills on a .318 hitting percentage.

-The defense is anchored by Payton Hjerleid, who leads the team with 175 digs and Katelyn Nichols, who leads the Mustangs with 54 kills. 

    ALL AROUND

-Four weeks into the regular season, SMSU has been dominant, and the numbers have backed it up

-SMSU ranks eighth in the country in hitting percentage with a .276 percentage, and is 17th in the country in kills per set with a 14.11 average.

-The Mustangs also rank 29th in opponents hitting percentage, limiting the opposition to a microscopic .124 percentage.

-The defense has also been a strength thanks to the 32nd most blocks per set and total blocks in the nation. 

-The service line has also been a strength for SMSU, ranking 23rd in aces per set at 2.18, while the attack has been lifted with the 36th best assists per set total in the country with 12.45.

    MUSTANGS ON THE LEADERBOARDS

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

-Angela Young slots in 12th in total kills, 14th in kills per set, 18th in points per set, and 64th in total attacks.

-Katelyn Nichols ranks 24th in blocks per set, and is 25th in total blocks. 

-Alisa Bengen ranks 21th in assists per set and 24th in assists. 

-Rachel Fink ranks 40th in aces and is 59thth in aces per set. 

-Meg Schmidt currently ranks 55th in points per set and is 75th in aces

-Payton Hjerleid is 99th in total aces

    MSU MOORHEAD PREVIEW

2021 Record: 1-12, 1-4

Head Coach: Bob Jones, first season

Mascot: Dragons

MSU Moorhead Notes

-The Dragons went 1-2 last week, highlighted by their first win of the season on Tuesday against Bemidji State in three sets. 

-MSU Moorhead has begun the season 1-12, and 0-2 against ranked teams.

-The Dragons were picked to finish 12th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll

-MSU Moorhead is lead by junior outside hitter Amanda Carlson, who has tallied 153 kills and 131 digs in thirteen matches this season, and Sarah Petrbok, who leads the team with 208 digs.

    NORTHERN STATE PREVIEW

2021 Record: 9-4, 4-1

Head Coach: Brent Aldridge, 11th season

Mascot: Wolves

Northern State Notes

-The Wolves went 2-1 last week, defeating UMary on Tuesday and Minnesota State on Friday before dropping Saturday's match against Concordia-St. Paul in four sets.

-Northern State has begun the season 9-4, and is 2-3 against ranked teams.

-The Wolves were picked to finish fourth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll

-Northern State is lead by senior outside hitter Sally Gaul, who has tallied 186 kills in 13 matches this season, and Olivia Rud, who leads the team with 56 blocks.

    ON THE HORIZON

-SMSU returns home for homecoming weekend, facing off with Minot State at 6 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8, before facing the Marauders from UMary on Saturday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m.

    RECORD BREAKER  

-Payton Hjerleid etched her name into the record books after tying the SMSU single match record for service aces with an eight ace performance against Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, Sept. 4.

-Hjerleid ranks second on the Mustangs and third in the NSIC with 0.58 aces per set

    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 422-117, including 249-60 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 55-28 in five-set matches during the Culhane era after a five-set thriller at home against No. 19 Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Sept 25.

-The Mustangs are now 1-0 in five-set matches in 2021.

    SMSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT 

-SMSU has made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances (2001, 2004-2018) in program history since moving to Division II in 1995-96. 

-SMSU is 17-16 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches, appearing in three region championship matches, and was NCAA National runner-up in 2014.
 

    SEASON OPENERS 

-SMSU is 30-20 all-time in openers following this season's 3-1 win against No. 10 Colorado Mesa.

-SMSU has opened the season 15-2 since Culhane took the helm in 2004.

    SMSU ALL-TIME IN THE NSIC 

-The 2021 campaign marks the 42nd season SMSU has competed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. 

-SMSU has an all-time record of 424-191 in 615 conference matches, finishing in the top five of the final standings 15 of the last 16 season.

-SMSU has two regular season championships (2012 and 2016) and two tournament championships (2012 and 2017). 

    MUSTANG HISTORY 

-Southwest Minnesota State is in its 51st season of volleyball and 50th season of competition in 2021.

-SMSU has played 1,701 matches compiling an all-time record of 1,010-684-12. 

-SMSU has won two NSIC regular season championships (2012 & 2016), two NSIC tournament championships (2012, 2017), a NCAA region championship and NCAA DII National Championship appearance in 2014, and has appeared in 16 NCAA tournaments (2001, 2004-18).

-SMSU has recorded 32 winning seasons in program history with 17 straight.