THIS WEEK

-The Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team closes out a three-game week hosting Concordia-St. Paul on Friday at 6 p.m., for senior day and "Red Out", and Minnesota State on Saturday at 4 p.m.

    LAST TIME OUT 

-The Mustangs started their three-game week with a loss against Sioux Falls, 12-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 15-12 on Tuesday night inside the Stewart Center.

-Emma VanHeel collected a career-high 21 kills on a .333 hitting percentage, adding eight blocks and six digs. Meg Schmidt had 11 kills, six digs, and four blocks, and Karli Arkell tallied 11 kills and three blocks. Alisa Bengen picked up 46 assists and tied a career-high 17 digs, and Natalee Rolbiecki had 24 digs to lead defensively. The Mustangs also excelled at the service line, with Rachel Fink (4), Abby Meister (3), and Rolbiecki (2) combining for nine SMSU aces.

     ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE   

-SMSU is coming off its first win over a top-ranked team since defeating Concordia-St. Paul on October 26, 2018.

-The Mustangs opened the season with 11 straight victories, tying last years club for the second longest streak to start a season in program history.

-SMSU is ranked in the top five of the AVCA poll for the third week since the 2018 preseason poll.

-Their 20 victories through 23 matches to open the season were the third most wins through 23 matches in program history.

-Saari Kuehl leads the Mustangs with 245 kills, while Meg Schmidt recording 241 kills, and Emma VanHeel contributing 231 kills.

-Schmidt has been on fire as of late, recording an NSIC best 165 kills, and is third in the conference with 3.93 kills per set in her last 10 matches.

-Karli Arkell has made a great adjustment to the college game, recording 182 kills on a .300 hitting percentage.

-Alisa Bengen has done a little of everything from the setter position, dishing out 955 assists, 175 digs, 95 kills, and 29 blocks.

-The defense is anchored by Natalee Rolbiecki and McKenzie Tolk, a pair of freshmen from Minneota who lead the team with 262 digs and 224 digs, respectively.

-VanHeel and Arkell have held down the front line defensively, recording 86 and 85 blocks, respectively.

    SMSU AND THE NSIC IN THE POLLS  

-After a road loss to Augustana and a victory over then-No. 1 Wayne State, the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team remained steady at No. 5 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Poll released on Monday afternoon.

-The Mustangs are one of five NSIC schools ranked in the AVCA Top 25 with Concordia-St. Paul jumping one spot to No. 2 with three first place votes, Wayne State falling two spots to No. 3, receiving 18 first place votes, Minnesota Duluth hanging on at No. 4 and St. Cloud State staying at No. 7.

    MUSTANGS CRACK FIRST CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS

-The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team is in the first NCAA Division II Central Region rankings released Wednesday afternoon by the NCAA national committee. The rankings take into account matches played before Oct. 24.

-SMSU is one of five NSIC schools to appear in the region rankings along with Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, and Wayne State. The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) has four teams listed, with Central Missouri, Central Oklahoma, Nebraska-Kearney, Northwest Missouri State, and Washburn. The third conference in the region, the Great American Conference (GAC) does not have a team ranked.  

     MUSTANGS ON THE LEADERBOARDS

-SMSU can be found all over the NCAA DII Leaderboard

-The Mustangs attack ranks 21st in the nation in kills per set (13.82), and 26th in assists per set (12.60)

-The offense has also been powered by the 30th best hitting percentage in the nation (.245)

-The defense has also been a strength thanks to the 53rd most blocks per set (2.13) in the country.

-Senior Alisa Bengen has been the offensive catalyst, ranking 21st in the nation with 10.70 assists per set. 

-Sophomore Emma VanHeel and Freshman Karli Arkell has been efficient at the net, ranking 67th (86) and 74th (85) in total blocks.

    THE TYLER BODDY FILES  

-Tyler Boddy is in his first season as head coach at Southwest Minnesota State University after being named to the position on Dec. 17, 2021.

-He won 11 straight matches to begin his career, the most in Mustang history.

-Boddy, who has spent the past 10 years as an assistant coach at SMSU, becomes the fifth head coach in the program's 50-year history.

-Boddy joined the SMSU coaching staff in 2012 and since that time the program has appeared in seven NCAA tournaments, including finishing as NCAA national runners-up in 2014. SMSU has a combined record of 225-64 during his tenure which includes two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season titles and two NSIC tournament championships.

-Since joining the staff, Boddy has recruited or coached 37 All-NSIC honorees, 16 AVCA All-Americans, a three-time NSIC Player of the Year, a two-time AVCA National Player of the Year and three CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.

-For his efforts during his coaching career, Boddy was named a recipient of the Thirty Under 30 Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in April of 2019. He was promoted to associate head coach in the summer of 2021.

-Boddy, a native of New Ulm, Minn., came to SMSU after spending two seasons (2010-11) as an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Oshkosh and one season (2009) at Ripon College. Boddy has also had a successful coaching career in club volleyball with his Southwest Minnesota Volleyball Club teams winning national championships in 2014 and 2018.

-Boddy, a 2012 graduate of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, lives in Marshall with his wife, Alex, sons, Bronx and Wilke, and daughter, Rowan.

    SERIES HISTORY

-SMSU will match up with Concordia-St. Paul for the 69th time, with CSP holding a 40-28 advantage.

-The first meeting was in 1976 and the last meeting occurred in mid-September with the Mustangs dropping a road match in three sets.

-CSP has won six of the last eight meetings.

-SMSU is 11-13 all-time at home in the series.

-SMSU and Minnesota State will meet for the 61st time, with the Mavericks leading the series 31-29.

-Their first meeting came in 1971, and their most recent meeting came earlier this season, with the Mustangs surviving in five sets over the Mavericks.

-SMSU has won 21 of 25 meetings over MSU since 2006.

-SMSU is 17-12 all-time in Marshall against the Mavericks

    CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL PREVIEW

2022 Record: 22-2, 15-1 NSIC

Head Coach: Brady Starkey, 20th season

Mascot: Golden Bears

NSIC Preseason Rank: 1st

AVCA Rank: 3rd

Concordia-St. Paul Notes

-The Golden Bears have gone 3-0 in the last week, defeating Upper Iowa in four sets on Friday before sweeping Winona State on Saturday and Minnesota State on Tuesday.

-CSP is led by Jasmine Mulvihill, whose 347 kills lead the team, and Ellie Sieling, who leads the team with 285 digs.

    MINNESOTA STATE PREVIEW

2022 Record: 6-18, 5-11 NSIC

Head Coach: Corey Phelps, 2nd season

Mascot: Mavericks

NSIC Preseason Rank: 9th

Minnesota State Notes

-The Mavericks went 0-3 last week, losing to Winona State in four sets on Friday before getting swept by Upper Iowa on Saturday and Concordia-St. Paul on Tuesday.

-MSU is led offensively by Sophie Tietz, who has delivered 189 kills, and Kiya Durant, who has collected 99 blocks.

    KUEHL, BENGEN NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

-Saari Kuehl and Alisa Bengen were named to the All-Tournament Team at the Colorado School of Mines Classic Aug. 26-27.

-Kuehl led the Mustangs with 50 kills in four games, including a career-high 15 kills to help defeat Colorado Mesa.

-Bengen had a career weekend, recording 165 assists, including a career-high 57 assists against Mesa, and picked up a career-high 10 kills while hitting .833 in a win over Colorado School of Mines

-Also deserving of recognition, Halle Jansen closed the weekend with 45 kills on a .346 hitting percentage, recording a career-high 16 kills against Mesa and 15 kills against Mines. 

-Emma VanHeel collected 48 kills on a .263 hitting percentage topped her previous career-high of 12 kills twice, first with a 14 kill match against Mesa before a 14 kill effort against Mines, while also tallying 20 blocks on the weekend, third most in the NSIC.

-Rounding out our impressive performances are three freshmen, Karli Arkell, McKenzie Tolk, and Natalee Rolbiecki.

-Arkell had 14 kills in the Mesa victory, Tolk led the team with 41 digs, including a pair of double digit dig performances, and Rolbiecki had 39 digs, including a team-high 17 against Colorado Christian. 

    SMSU TABBED SEVENTH IN NSIC PRESEASON POLL

-The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team was picked to finish seventh in the annual 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll

-Concordia-St. Paul was selected as the preseason favorites to win the conference earning 217 points and nine first place votes (coaches can't vote for their own school). Defending NSIC regular season and tournament champion, St. Cloud State, earned 213 points and the remaining seven first place votes to finish in second place, followed by Wayne State with 189 points, Augustana with 179 points, while Minnesota Duluth and Northern State tied for fifth place with 149 points. SMSU rounded out the top seven earning 146 points.

    2022 OUTLOOK

-The Mustangs look to reach the NSIC tournament for the second consecutive season, returning eight letter winners and adding seven freshmen.

-Senior right-side hitter Meg Schmidt earned All-NSIC first team and AVCA All-American honorable mention accolades in 2021 after ranking second on the squad with 334 kills, while hitting a team-high .304. She finished among top three on the team in kills (334), points (409.5), assists (129), service aces (32) and blocks (64) a season ago.

-Sophomore middle blockers Emma VanHeel and Katelyn Nichols look to build off strong freshman campaigns that saw them finish third and fourth in kills, respectively, and top two on the team in blocks.

-Senior setter Alisa Bengen also returns after ranking first on the squad with 707 assists a season ago, while senior libero/defensive specialist Rachel Fink will look to anchor the defense after collecting 195 digs a season ago while also finishing with a team-high 43 service aces.

-Sophomore outside hitter Halle Jansen played in all 29 matches last season, finishing fifth on the team in kills with 92 and in blocks with 27.

    ON THE HORIZON

-SMSU closes its regular season with road matches against Upper Iowa at 6p.m., on Friday before traveling to Winona State for a 2 p.m., match on Saturday.