BURNSVILLE, Minn. – The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced on Thursday that Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball player Meg Schmidt was named first team All-NSIC, while Alisa Bengen and Emma VanHeel were named second team All-NSIC.
 
The all-conference awards are voted upon by the league's head coaches.
 
Schmidt, a senior right-side hitter from Jordan, Minn., leads SMSU with 277 kills, while recording a .280 hitting percentage. She also ranks third on the team with 53 blocks. In NSIC play, Schmidt ranks second in kills (249) and eighth in kills per set (3.56). 
 
Schmidt has been on fire to close the season, recording an NSIC best 201 kills, and is second in the conference with 4.02 kills per set in her last 12 matches. Earlier this season, she became the 16^th player in school history to record 1,000 career kills. 
 
Bengen, a senior setter from Janesville, Iowa, has done a little of everything this season. She has dished out 1045 assists, 189 digs, 105 kills, and 30 blocks, ranking top six on the team in each category. She is currently ranked first in conference play in assists (730) and sixth in assists per set (10.58). Bengen ranks 21st in the nation with 10.74 assists per set, and has reached double digits in digs seven times. Earlier this season, she became the 10^th player in program history to record 2,000 career assists. 
 
VanHeel, a sophomore middle blocker from Otsego, Minn., has been a force on the front line of the SMSU defense ranking first in the NSIC with 26 solo blocks in conference play and is fifth in the nation with 34 solo blocks overall. She is also 10^th in the NSIC with 60 total blocks in conference play, while ranking 66^th nationally with 93 total blocks on the season. VanHeel has also taken a step forward offensively, picking up 248 kills and 2.51 kills per set. 
 
Southwest Minnesota State (21-5, 13-5 NSIC), ranked No. 7 in this week's AVCA Top 25 poll and No. 7 in the NCAA Central Region Rankings 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. The Mustangs have clinched an NSIC Tournament berth, and can place anywhere between 4th place and 7th place with two games to go.