THIS WEEK

The No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team continue NSIC play this week, first against Sioux Falls on Tuesday, Sept. 23

SMSU will make their home debut on Friday against MSU Moorhead, and will play again on Saturday against Minnesota Crookston.

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

SMSU will play Sioux Falls for the 25th time, with the Mustangs holding a 20-4 advantage.

The Mustangs have won three straight matches against the Cougars.

The Mustangs will meet MSU Moorhead for the 117th time, with the Mustangs holding a 70-46 advantage all time.

SMSU has won 25 straight matches against the Dragons.

The Mustangs will face off for the 41st time against Minnesota Crookston, holding a 39-1 record all time.

The lone win for the Golden Eagles against the Mustangs came in 2003.

PREVIEWING SIOUX FALLS

2025 Record: 6-4, 1-1 NSIC

Current NSIC Ranking: 10th (as of Sept. 23)

Head Coach: Dan Matthews, 5th season

The Beavers finished last season 15-12, 10-8 NSIC, losing in the first round to eventual tournament champions St. Cloud State. In the 2025 NSIC Preseason poll, Sioux Falls was picked to finish 6th in the conference.

Last weekend the Cougars broke even in their away trip, losing to Minnesota Duluth in a five set thriller, and defeating Bemidji State in four sets.

Preseason 'Player to Watch' Sadie Voss currently leads the Cougars with 115 kills, averaging 3.03 kills per set, while hitting .248. She is also second on the team in digs with 83.

PREVIEWING MSU MOORHEAD

2025 Record: 7-3, 1-1 NSIC

Current NSIC Ranking: 9th (as of Sept. 23)

Head Coach: Kari Thompson, 3rd season

The Dragons finished last season 9-17, 4-14 NSIC. MSU Moorhead were picked to finish 12th in the 2025 NSIC Preseason poll.

Last weekend the Dragons played a pair of home matches, first winning in five sets against Augustana, before dropping a four set match against No. 17 Wayne State.

Preseason 'Player to Watch' Raiah Mandell currently leads MSU Moorhead with 122 kills, with 3.05 kills per set while hitting .343.

PREVIEWING MINNESOTA CROOKSTON

2025 Record: 6-4, 0-2 NSIC

Current NSIC Ranking: 12th (as of Sept. 23)

Head Coach: Nick Meseck, 5th season

The Golden Eagles finished last season 7-19, 4-14 NSIC. Minnesota Crookston was picked to finish t-11th in the 2025 NSIC Preseason poll.

Last weekend the Golden Eagles played a pair of home matches, losing to both Augustana and Wayne State in three sets.

Preseason 'Player to Watch' Kailee Waasdorp currently leads Minnesota Crookston with 211 digs, with 6.21 per set.She is currently in the top 5 in DII in digs and digs per set. 

LAST WEEK

The Mustangs started NSIC play with two away matches, first defeating Bemidji State in three sets, before dropping their first match of the season against No. 24 Minnesota Duluth.

Against Bemidji State, Leah Jones led the Mustangs with 14 kills, hitting .325. Ashley Peltier, with 12 kills, hit .407 in the match.

McKenzie Tolk had 12 digs, and Sydney Thein had 34 assists and 10 digs.

In a match that the Mustangs would like to forget, five different players had seven kills. Karli Arkell led the team in blocks with four total.

McKenzie Tolk led the team in digs with 18, and Sydney Thein had 32 assists.

SMSU IN THE AVCA POLL

SMSU moves down two spots, from No. 6 to No. 8 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Week 3 Poll released on Sept. 22.

SMSU is one of six NSIC schools ranked in the top 25 with the Mustangs leading the conference at No. 8 followed by Concordia-St. Paul at No. 13, Wayne State at No. 14, St. Cloud State at No. 15, Minnesota Duluth at No. 16, and Northern State at No. 18. Minnesota State is recieving votes.

Following the AVCA poll released on Sept. 15, the Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 244 of the last 245 rankings, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.

SMSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKS  

The Mustangs have started the 2025 season with team and individual placements amongst the NCAA statistical leader boards.

SMSU rank ninth in DII in kills per set (14.5), T-No. 14 in digs per set (17.85), and No. 27 in hitting percentage as a team (.258)

The Mustangs are currently fifth in assists per set (13.76) and are in the top 50 in total assists (468)

Leah Jones is top 50 in kills per set with 3.65.

Natalie Pilney is ninth in hitting percentage in DII, hitting .434 on the season.

Sydney Thein is currently No. 12 in DII with 398 assists and fourth with 11.71 assists per set.

HEAD COACH TYLER BODDY  

Tyler Boddy is in his fourth season as head coach in 2025 and has a career record of 77-20 overall, including 44-15 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with two NCAA tournament appearances (2023 & 2024). 

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. 

During his tenure at SMSU, the program has appeared in nine NCAA tournaments, including finishing as NCAA national runners-up in 2014. SMSU has a combined record of 317-89 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.
 

2025 OUTLOOK

SMSU returns 12 letter winners from its 2024 team that finished with a 23-6 overall record and made the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in program history. The 2025 team features three seniors, four juniors, five sophomores, a redshirt freshman, and six true freshmen.

SMSU senior libero, McKenzie Tolk, was named an NSIC 'Player to Watch'. Tolk earned AVCA All-American honorable mention honors in 2024, leading the Mustangs with 605 digs, while averaging a school single-season record 5.4 digs per set. A two-time All-NSIC second team honoree, Tolk enters the 2025 season ranking 10th in team history with 1,354 digs.

Junior outside hitter Leah Jones returns to the team after earning All-NSIC second team honors last season, and ranking second on the team with 326 kills and first with 1,073 attacks.

Junior right-side/middle blocker Ashley Peltier, an All-NSIC second team honoree, returns after finishing fourth on the team in 2024 with 295 kills, while hitting .284 on 728 attacks.

Sophomore setter Sydney Thein received 2024 All-NSIC first team honors, while dishing out a team-high 1,294 assists and was third on the squad with 370 digs. Thein was seventh in the NCAA with 11.55 assists per set.

SMSU VOTED THIRD IN NSIC PRESEASON POLL

SMSU was picked to finish third in the annual 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.

The defending NSIC regular season and tournament champions, St. Cloud State, was selected as the preseason favorites to win the conference earning 212 points and 8 first place votes (coaches can't vote for their own school). 

Concordia-St. Paul earned 208 points and four first place votes to finish in second place, while SMSU ranked third with 202 points and receiving the same votes as Concordia-St. Paul. 2023 regular season champions Wayne State finished fourth in the polls with 188 points, and Northern State rounded out the top five earning 170 points.

ON THE HORIZON

The Mustangs go back on the road for two matches next weekend.

SMSU plays first against preseason favorites, and current No. 15 ranked St. Cloud State on Friday, Oct. 3.

The Mustangs then play on Saturday against Minnesota State.

All games are available on the NSIC Network.