BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State university volleyball team was picked to finish fifth in the annual 15-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll that was released on Wednesday.
Concordia-St. Paul was selected as the preseason favorites to win the conference earning 190 points and eight first place votes (coaches can't vote for their own school). The defending NSIC regular season champion, Wayne State, earned 189 points and the remaining seven first place votes to finish in second place. In third place was Minnesota Duluth with 165 points, while the defending tournament champion, St. Cloud State had 154 points. SMSU rounded out the top five earning 142 points.
SMSU, under second-year head coach
Tyler Boddy, opens fall practice on Monday, Aug. 14.
SMSU senior setter,
Alisa Bengen, was named an NSIC 'Player to Watch'. Bengen earned All-NSIC second team in 2022 after a season where she finished with 1,154 assists, averaging 10.69 assists per set, including a career-high 62 assists in the match against Missouri Western.
"Alisa is a great leader for us and brings a lot of experience and competitiveness to our team," said SMSU head coach
Tyler Boddy. "She is a great athlete and has been a wonderful mentor for teammates around her. She has committed to playing her fifth year with us and we look forward to what she can continue to provide to our program."
Taya Beller, a junior middle/right side hitter from Wayne State, was named the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year.
SMSU returns nine letter winners from its 2022 team that finished with a 23-6 overall record. The 2023 team features two seniors, four juniors, four sophomores, three redshirt freshmen and three true freshmen.
Junior middle blocker
Emma VanHeel looks to build off a strong sophomore season that saw her named to the All-NSIC second team. VanHeel finished second on the team in points (331), second in blocks (96) and third in kills (252).
Junior outside hitters,
Saari Kuehl and
Halle Jansen, return after ranking second and fourth on the team in kills, tallying 293 and 197 respectively.
Returning sophomores
Natalee Rolbiecki,
McKenzie Tolk and
Karli Arkell will look to continue their strong defensive play from their freshmen campaign, as Rolbiecki and Tolk were top two on the team in digs and Arkell led the Mustangs in blocks.
"We have a really nice group of student-athletes this year and I think they will work really hard in the classroom and on the court," Boddy said. "I am looking forward to the competition we will have in each position."
The Mustangs will host their annual 'Late Show' preseason scrimmage, which is open to the public, on Thursday, Aug. 17, at 7 p.m. inside the PE Gym. SMSU opens the regular season on Sept. 1-2 with two matches at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. and two more at West Florida in Pensacola, Fla. SMSU begins its 18-match NSIC season with its home-opener on Thursday, Sept. 14, versus Minnesota State.
