THIS WEEK

The No. 13-ranked Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team closes out its non-conference schedule in Missouri for the Drury/Southwest Baptist Classic on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 2-3.

The Mustangs face Missouri Western State at 1:30 p.m., and Drury (Mo.) at 5:30 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 2, in Springfield, Mo.

SMSU closes the classic with Southern Arkansas at 9 a.m., before a match-up against Rockhurst (Mo.) at 12:30 p.m., on Saturday, Sept. 3 in Bolivar, Mo. 

    LAST WEEK  

The Mustangs rolled through the Colorado School of Mines Classic, going undefeated to open the season. 

SMSU opened the Tyler Boddy era with a bang, sweeping Western Colorado 25-19, 25-14, 25-13 on to open the classic.

The Mustangs  opened the season 2-0 for the fifth time since 2015 after a 27-25, 25-22, 25-15 sweep over Colorado Christian.

SMSU closed out the Colorado School of Mines Classic defeating Colorado Mesa 12-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13, before upsetting No. 11 Colorado School of Mines 25-21, 20-25, 25-23, 25-23

    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 last weekend.

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. 

    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 has won four straight matches to begin his career, second all-time behind Terry Culhane, who began his career with six consecutive wins.

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 and Missouri Western State will meet for the tenth time, with the Mustangs winning six of the nine previous meetings. 

Their first meeting came in 1991, and their most recent meeting came in 2018, which resulted in a three-set victory for SMSU.

Drury and SMSU will meet for the fourth time in history with Drury leading the series 2-1.

The first meeting was in 1991 and the last meeting occurred in 1993 with Drury winning in five sets.

Southern Arkansas and SMSU will meet for the second time in history.

Their only meeting came in 1990, with the Mustangs winning in four sets. 

Rockhurst and SMSU will meet for the fourth time, with Rockhurst winning all three previous meetings.

The first meeting was in 1999 and the last meeting came in 2001 with SMSU losing in three sets.

    SMSU AND THE NSIC IN THE POLLS  

After four wins in Golden, Colo., including a four-set victory against then No. 11-ranked Colorado School of Mines, the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team jumped nine spots to No. 13 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Poll released on Monday afternoon.

SMSU is one of six NSIC schools ranked in the AVCA Top 25 with Concordia-St. Paul leading the way at the No. 6 spot, St. Cloud State placing at the No. 8 spot ahead of the Mustangs. Wayne State sits at No. 15, Minnesota Duluth moved into the rankings at No. 21, and Winona State rounds out the rankings at No. 25.

    MISSOURI WESTERN STATE PREVIEW

2022 Record: 1-3

Conference: MIAA

Head Coach: Jessica Fey, first season

Mascot: Griffons

MIAA Preseason Rank: 8th

Missouri Western State Notes

The Griffons are 1-3 after a win against Minnesota State and three losses to Black Hills State, Hillsdale College, and Rockhurst University.

MWSU is led by Danielle Moje, whose 44 kills and 19 blocks lead the team, and Jessica Sachen, who has started the season with 85 digs in four games.  

    DRURY PREVIEW

2022 Record: 0-4

Conference: GLVC

Head Coach: Jennifer Bahner-Hill, seventh season

Mascot: Panthers

GLVC Preseason Rank: 6th

Drury Notes

The Panthers are 0-4 after getting swept by St. Cloud and three tough luck losses to Minnesota Duluth, Winona State, and Concordia-St. Paul.

Chloe Rear ranks first on the team with 40 kills, and Kayli Duncan has lead the defense with 22 blocks.

    SOUTHERN ARKANSAS PREVIEW

2022 Record: 0-4

Conference: GAC

Head Coach: Alli O'Banion, first season

Mascot: Muleriders

GAC Preseason Rank: 12h

Southern Arkansas Notes

The Muleriders are 0-4 after losses to Missouri S&T, Missouri-St. Louis, Emporia State, and St. Leo.

    ROCKHURST PREVIEW

2022 Record: 4-0

Conference: GLVC

Head Coach: Trent Jones, third season

Mascot: Hawks

AVCA Rank: RV

RMAC Preseason Rank: 3rd

Rockhurst Notes

The Hawks are 4-0 after dominating the Rockhurst Invitational, including a four-set victory over Hillsdale College.

Rockhurst is led by Kenzie Hines' 49 kills and Maureen Reilly's 100 digs.

    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 opens their conference schedule at home, hosting Winona State and Upper Iowa. 

The Mustangs will take on the Warriors at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, before facing Upper Iowa at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10