THIS WEEKEND
• The No. 7 SMSU volleyball team returns for homecoming this weekend with a pair of matches against UMary (2-12, 0-6 NSIC) and Minot State (1-12, 0-6 NSIC).
• The Mustangs match up against the Marauders on Friday, Oct. 11, with first serve slated for 6 p.m.
• SMSU faces off with the Beavers on Saturday, Oct. 12, with match time set for 1 p.m.

MATCH COVERAGE
• Live stats and video for all matches will be available at SMSUmustangs.com
• Stay up to date on the Mustangs throughout the weekend by downloading the official SMSU Athletics app.

SERIES HISTORY
• Friday will be the 27th meeting between SMSU and UMary, with the Mustangs leading the series 26-0.
• The teams met for the first time this season on Sept. 21, with the Mustangs sweeping the Marauders on the road.
• SMSU is 13-0 all-time at home against UMary.
• SMSU and MSU will meet for the 16th time, with the Mustangs leading the series 15-0.
• The teams met for the first time this season on Sept. 20, which resulted in a sweep for SMSU.
• SMSU is 7-0 all-time at home against Minot State.

MORE ON UMARY
• Mary is 2-12 on the season and last played on Oct. 5 suffering a 3-0 loss to then-No. 12 Concordia-St. Paul at home. The Marauders are 0-4 on the road this season.
• Charli Blackman leads the Beavers offense with 2.62 kills per set with a team-high 131 kills and adds 17 blocks on defense.
• Gabby Caskey follows behind with 112 kills while coming in second on the team with 30 blocks.
• Kaia Sueker leads the team on the back line with 214 digs while supporting the offense with 20 assists and seven service aces.
• Maddy Freed leads UMary with 458 assists while supporting the attack with 11 kills and 16 service aces.
• UMary is averaging 10.6 kills per set on 14.0 percent hitting while opponents average 13.3 kills on 23.7 percent hitting.

MORE ON MINOT STATE
• MSU last played on Oct. 5 suffering a 3-0 loss at home to Winona State. The Beavers are 0-4 on the road this season. 
• Paulina Kowalska leads Minot State with 104 kills and comes in third on the team with 26 blocks.
• Maddy Boop follows with 76 kills while ranking fourth on the squad with 74 digs.
• Bailee Brommenschenkel offers a bit of everything on the floor, leading the Beavers with 34 blocks and eight service aves, while ranking third with 60 kills.
• Emily Barker and Jaina Macauley take turns supporting the attack, as Barker leads MSU with 159 digs and Macauley follows with 118. Kelci Madrid leads the back line with 114 digs and adds four service aces.
• MSU is averaging 9.3 kills per set on 9.5 percent hitting while opponents average 14.0 kills per set on 24.2 percent hitting.

LAST TIME OUT
• Ashley Peltier unloaded for 15 kills to lead the No. 7 SMSU volleyball team to a 25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 28-26 win over the Augustana Vikings in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball on Tuesday evening at the Elmen Center. 
• Ashley Peltier was the key player for the Mustangs in the win, leading the SMSU attack with a match-high 15 kills on .400 hitting while adding five block assists. Emma VanHeel followed with 12 kills on .321 hitting while adding four assists and jumping for six block assists. Saari Kuehl added 11 kills and Karli Arkell chipped in 10.
• Sydney Thein supported the offense with 43 assists and aided the attack with four kills. Thein helped on the back line with nine digs and an ace.
• McKenzie Tolk anchored SMSU defensively with a team-high 19 digs.
• SMSU out-hit AU .226-.168, tallying 61 kills to the Vikings' 53.

SMSU ON HOMECOMING WEEKEND
• The Mustangs are 29-7 (1982-present) all-time in homecoming matches and have won three of the last four.
    SMSU homecoming matches since 2010
    2023    St. Cloud State (W, 3-1), Minnesota Duluth (W, 3-1)
    2022    Minnesota Duluth (L, 2-3), St. Cloud State (W, 3-2)
    2021    Minot State (W, 3-0), UMary (W, 3-0)
    2018    Minnesota Duluth (W, 3-1), St. Cloud State (L, 1-3)
    2017    St. Cloud State (W, 3-0), Minnesota Duluth (W, 3-0)
    2016    Northern State (W, 3-0), MSU Moorhead (W, 3-0)
    2015    Concordia-St. Paul (L, 1-3), Minnesota State (W, 3-0)
    2012    Upper Iowa (W, 3-0), Winona State (W, 3-1)
    2011    Minnesota Duluth (L, 2-3), Bemidji State (W, 3-1)
    2010    MSU Moorhead (W, 3-0), Minnesota Crookston (W, 3-0)

JONES, THEIN EARN NSIC VOLLEYBALL WEEKLY HONORS
• The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference office announced on Sept. 30 that Leah Jones and Sydney Thein earned weekly player honors following a 3-0 week at home, including a pair of five-set victories. 
• Jones, a native of Marshall, Minn., earns NSIC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career. The sophomore outside hitter was the cornerstone of the SMSU offense last week, posting a team-high 4.00 kills per set (52 total) on a .244 hitting percentage, while assisting the offense with four assists and three service aces.
• Jones batted down a match-high 18 kills while adding 17 digs and a pair of blocks for a double-double in the 3-2 non-conference win over Augustana. In the five-set win over No. 22 Northern State, Jones swung for a career-high 19 kills on .250 hitting while again adding 18 digs for another double-double.
• She would end the weekend with a match-high 15 kills on a season-best .379 hitting percentage in the sweep over MSU Moorhead. Jones is a 2023 graduate of Marshall High School.
• Thein, a native of Clara City, Minn., earns NSIC Setter of the Week honors for the second consecutive week. The redshirt freshman shined over the week posting 12.38 assists per set, while leading the Mustangs to a .285 team hitting percentage.
• Thein recorded a then-career-high 56 assists against Augustana, then logged a career-high 64 assists in the win over No. 22 Northern State.
• She would end the weekend with a career match-high 13.67 assists per set (41) against MSU Moorhead, while boasting 7.67 digs per set (23) in the win. Thein also had a standout weekend defensively, posting 4.15 digs per set.

THEIN EARNS NSIC SETTER OF THE WEEK HONORS
• SMSU redshirt freshman setter Sydney Thein was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Setter of the Week on Monday, Sept. 23, following her performances in SMSU's 2-0 weekend in North Dakota.
• Thein, a native of Clara City, Minn., shined over the week, ranking first in the league in assists per set (12.17), while leading the Mustangs to an NSIC-best .313 team hitting percentage.
• Thein recorded 36 assists in the sweep over Minot State on Sept. 20, then logged 37 assists in the 3-0 win over UMary on Sept. 21.
• She would end the weekend with 12.17 assists per set while hitting .250 and recording 17 digs. She is the first Mustang to win an NSIC weekly honor since Oct. 9, 2023, when Emma VanHeel earned defensive honors, and is the first SMSU setter to earn the honor since Emma Thomssen won the weekly accolade in 2018. 

MUSTANG MACHINES
• SMSU ranks first in NSIC play in assists per set (14.80), second in kills per set (15.60), third in digs per set (19.04), and fourth in team hitting pct. (.274).
• Senior outside hitter Saari Kuehl leads SMSU in hitting with 198 kills (3.47 per set), followed by sophomore outside hitter Leah Jones with 175 kills (3.07 per set). Sophomore right side hitter Ashley Peltier comes in third with 155 kills while senior middle blocker Emma VanHeel adds 148 kills. 
• VanHeel also leads the Mustang blockers with 60 blocks.
• Redshirt freshman setter Sydney Thein anchors the offense with 671 assists (11.77 per set) while supporting the attack with 48 kills on .342 hitting. Thein adds 198 digs and 16 service aces.
• Junior libero McKenzie Tolk leads the defense with 310 digs (5.44 per set) while supporting the offense with 57 assists.

SMSU AND THE NSIC IN THE POLLS
• SMSU dropped to  No. 7 in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II poll released on Oct. 7.
• SMSU is one of six NSIC schools ranked in the top 25 with St. Cloud State coming in at No. 5, followed by Wayne State at No. 6 and Concordia-St. Paul at No. 13, while Minnesota Duluth ranks No. 20. Northern State clocks in at No. 21.
• Following the AVCA poll released on Oct. 7, the Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 234 of the last 235 rankings, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.

SMSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKS  
• The Mustangs currently hold multiple team and individual placements amongst the NCAA statistical leader boards.
• SMSU ranks first in the nation in assists per set (14.43), and second in Division II in digs per set (19.93) and kills per set (15.11).
• The Mustangs sit at No. 4 in total assists (817), No. 9 in total kills (861), and No. 11 in total digs (1,115).
• Sydney Thein comes in at No. 5 in assists per set (11.77) and No. 7 in total assists (671), while McKenzie Tolk ranks No. 18 in digs per set (5.44) and No. 14 in total digs (310).

HEAD COACH TYLER BODDY  
• Tyler Boddy is in his third season as head coach in 2024 and has a career record of 61-14 overall, including 35-10 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.
• Boddy, who spent 10 years as an assistant coach at SMSU, became the fifth head coach in the program's 50-year history on Dec. 17, 2021. 
• In that time, the program has appeared in eight NCAA tournaments, including finishing as NCAA national runners-up in 2014. SMSU has a combined record of 309-84 during his tenure which includes two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season titles and two NSIC tournament championships.
• 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.

ON THE HORIZON
• The Mustangs continue their home stand with a pair of matches next weekend.
• SMSU is scheduled to play Winona State for its annual "Red Out" on Friday, Oct. 18, with first serve at 6 p.m.
• The Mustangs then welcome Concordia-St. Paul the following day, with match time set for 4 p.m.