THIS WEEK
-The Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team closes its regular season schedule on the road, taking on Upper Iowa at 6 p.m., on Friday before going up against Winona State in its regular season finale at 2 p.m., on Saturday.
 
                NSIC TOURNAMENT
-The Mustangs currently rank fourth in the NSIC, tied with St. Cloud State at 13-5 in conference action. 
-SMSU has clinched an NSIC Tournament berth, and can place anywhere between 4th place and 7th place. 
-The NSIC Tournament will be held at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul, Minn., on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul. 
 
                 ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE   
-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 was ranked in the top five of the AVCA poll the previous two weeks, marking the second and third time the Mustangs were ranked in the top five since the 2018 preseason poll.
-Meg Schmidt leads the Mustangs with 277 kills, while Saari Kuehl has recorded 267 kills, and Emma VanHeel contributing 248 kills.
-Schmidt has been on fire as of late, recording an NSIC best 201 kills, and is second in the conference with 4.02 kills per set in her last 12 matches.
-Karli Arkell has made a great adjustment to the college game, recording 182 kills while hitting .300.
-Alisa Bengen has done a little of everything from the setter position, dishing out 1045 assists, 189 digs, 105 kills, and 30 blocks.
-The defense is anchored by Natalee Rolbiecki and McKenzie Tolk, a pair of freshmen from Minneota who lead the team with 305 digs and 247 digs, respectively.
-VanHeel and Arkell have held down the front line defensively, recording 93 and 85 blocks, respectively.
 
                SMSU AND THE NSIC IN THE POLLS  
-After a 1-2 weekend that included a pair of five-set losses, the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team fell a pair of spots to No. 7 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 Wayne State (15 first-place votes) and Concordia-St. Paul switching spots to second and third, respectively, Minnesota Duluth falling a spot to No. 5 and St. Cloud State dropping to No. 8.
 
                MUSTANGS SLOT NO. 7 IN SECOND CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS
-The Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team is ranked No. 7 in the second NCAA Division II Central Region rankings released Wednesday afternoon by the NCAA national committee.
-SMSU is one of five NSIC schools to appear in the region rankings along with Wayne State (No. 1), Concordia-St. Paul (No. 2), Minnesota Duluth (No. 3), and St. Cloud State (No. 10). The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) also has five teams listed, in Northwest Missouri State (No. 4), Nebraska-Kearney (No. 5), Central Missouri (No. 6), Central Oklahoma (No. 8), and Washburn (No. 9). 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 22nd in the nation in kills per set (13.87), and 27th in assists per set (12.66)
-The offense has also been powered by the 32nd best hitting percentage in the nation (.246)
-The defense has also been a strength thanks to the 60th most blocks per set (2.09) in the country.
-Senior Alisa Bengen has been the offensive catalyst, ranking 21st in the nation with 10.74 assists per set. 
-Sophomore Emma VanHeel has been efficient at the net, ranking 66th in the nation with 93 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 has defeated Upper Iowa in 27 of their previous 28 meetings, with Friday marking their 29th meeting.
-The first meeting was in 2004 and the last meeting occurred in September, with the Mustangs sweeping the Peacocks in Marshall.
-The Mustangs have been dominant in the matchup, losing just 12 sets to the Peacocks all-time
-SMSU is 11-1 all-time in Fayette.
-SMSU and Winona State will meet for the 103rd time, with the Mustangs leading the series 68-33-1.
-Their first meeting came in 1974, and their most recent meeting came in September, which resulted in a three-set victory for SMSU.
-The Mustangs have won 18 of 22 meetings over the Warriors since 2007.
-SMSU is 30-8-1 all-time in Winona
 
                UPPER IOWA PREVIEW
2022 Record: 14-11, 8-10 NSIC
Head Coach: Aaron Nelson, 12th season
Mascot: Peacocks
NSIC Preseason Rank: 10th
AVCA Rank: 3rd
 
Upper Iowa Notes
-The Peacocks went 0-2 last weekend, losing in five sets to Augustana and Wayne State on the road.
-UIU is led by Zoe Semelroth, whose 268 kills lead the team, and Kaci Beesecker, who leads the team with 423 digs.
 
                WINONA STATE PREVIEW
2022 Record: 12-13, 8-10 NSIC
Head Coach: Joe Getzin, 9th season
Mascot: Warriors
NSIC Preseason Rank: 8th
 
Winona State Notes
-The Mavericks went 0-2 last weekend, losing in three sets at Wayne State on Friday before dropping a five-set match to Augustana on Saturday.
-UIU is led offensively by Sidney Paulson, who has delivered 296 kills, and Mikenna Joerger, who has collected 85 blocks.