THIS WEEK

• The No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team opens the 2025 regular season on the road this week with four matches at the West Florida SpringHill Suites Invitational in Pensacola, Fla.
• SMSU opens play on Thursday, Sept. 4, against the Spring Hill (Ala.) Badgers at 7 p.m.
• On Friday, Sept. 5, the Mustangs will play a pair of matches, first against tournament hosts West Florida at 2 p.m., then against Northern Michigan at 7 p.m.
• The Mustangs end the weekend playing against Wheeling (W. Va.) on Saturday, Sept. 6, at 12:30 p.m.
• All games are listed in central time.

MATCH COVERAGE

• Live stats and video for all matches will be available at SMSUmustangs.com
• More information on the tournament can be found at goargos.com
• Stay up to date on the Mustangs throughout the weekend by downloading the official SMSU Athletics app.

SERIES HISTORY

• SMSU will play Spring Hill for the third time in program history, with the series tied at 1-1. This will be the third straight season the Mustangs will face off against the Badgers.
• West Florida and SMSU will meet for the 10th time, with the Mustangs holding a 7-2 advantage.
• The first meeting was in 2011 and the last meeting came in 2024 with SMSU sweeping the then-No. 20 ranked Argonauts
• The Mustangs will play the Northern Michigan Wildcats for the fourth time since 1985, the latest being in 2019, holding a 2-1 series lead.
• SMSU and Wheeling (W. Va.) will meet for the sixth time, with the Mustangs holding a 4-1 series advantage.

LAST SEASON

• SMSU finished the 2024 season 23-6, 14-4 NSIC.
• The Mustangs started the season on a hot streak, winning each of their first 14 matches.
• SMSU received the No. 4 seed in the NSIC Tournament, before losing to Northern State in four sets.
• SMSU earned the No. 7 seed in the NCAA Central Region Tournament, falling to Central Oklahoma in the first round in five sets.

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.

SMSU IN THE AVCA POLL

• SMSU opens the 2025 season ranked No. 15 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Preseason Poll released on Aug. 27
• SMSU is one of five NSIC schools ranked in the top 25 with St. Cloud State leading the conference at No. 3 followed by Concordia-St. Paul at No. 13, while Wayne State comes in at No. 21, and Northern State at No. 25.
• Following the AVCA poll released on Aug. 27, the Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 241 of the last 242 rankings, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.

SMSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKS  

• The Mustangs finished the 2024 season with team and individual placements amongst the NCAA statistical leader boards.
• SMSU ranked seventh in the nation in kills per set at 14.47 and second in digs per set with 19.51
• The Mustangs finished third in assists per set with 13.73 and fourth in attacks per set with 40.91.
• McKenzie Tolk ended the year No. 21 in digs per set with 5.40 and No. 16 in total digs with 605.
• Sydney Thein ended the season seventh in assists per set with 11.55 and No. 10 in total assists with 1294.

NEWCOMERS

• The 2025 fall will see the arrival of six true freshmen for Tyler Boddy's Mustangs
• Maddy Range, an outside hitter from River Falls, Wisconsin.
• Ashlynn Schroeder, a defensive specialist from Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
• Gretchen Seagren, a middle blocker from Wahoo, Nebraska.
• Makenzie Sloan, a middle blocker from Indianola, Iowa.
• Trevyn Smith, a setter from Wellsburg, Iowa.
• Natalie Wahl, a defensive specialist from Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

HEAD COACH TYLER BODDY  

• Tyler Boddy is in his fourth season as head coach in 2025 and has a career record of 69-19 overall, including 43-14 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.

PREVIEWING SPRING HILL (ALA.)

• 2024 Record: 24-8, 19-0
• Conference: SIAC West
• Head Coach: Peggy Martin, 16th season
• SIAC West Preseason Rank: 1
• Spring Hill (Ala.) Notes
• The Badgers ended the season as SIAC Champions and the eighth seed in the NCAA DII South Regional Tournament, losing in three sets to Lynn in the first round.
• SHC is led by sophomore setter Camille McDermott and redshirt sophomore Ashlyn Whiteside. McDermott led the conference in assists with 712 assists with 8.9 assists per set. She was named SIAC Setter of the Year, along with being named to the SIAC All-Conference First Team, and the SIAC All-Tournament Team. Whiteside was voted to the 2025 All-SIAC Preseason First Team, and SIAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. In 2024, she led the team with 353 digs and 45 service aces, and was voted to the SIAC All-Conference Second Team.

PREVIEWING WEST FLORIDA

• 2024 Record: 27-6, 20-0
• Conference: GSC
• Head Coach: Melissa Wolter, 20th season
• GSC Preseason Rank: 1
• West Florida Notes
• The Argonauts won the GSC Tournament in 2024, defeating Alabama-Huntsville in four sets to capture the title, and received the No.6 seed in the NCAA DII South Regional Tournament, falling in the first round in three sets to Tampa.
• UWF is led by a junior duo in Emily Breazeale and Gabi Moulton. Breazeale tallied 265 digs and 256 kills, while earning a GSC Player of the Week on Oct. 22, and being named Second Team All-GSC. Moulton added 1205 assists, and finished No. 18 in DII in assists per set with 10.66. She was named, among other accolades, an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention, an AVCA D2 All-South Region member, and the GSC Player of the Year.

PREVIEWING NORTHERN MICHIGAN

• 2024 Record: 20-9, 13-4
• Conference: GLIAC
• Head Coach: Mike Lozier, ninth season
• GLIAC Preseason Rank: 4
• Northern Michigan Notes
• The Wildcats battled their way to the third seed in the GLIAC tournament, losing to Grand Valley State in five sets in the semifinals.
• Juniors Allie Barlow and Liesl Haugen are the players to watch for the Wildcats this season. Barlow was an All-GLIAC Second Team selection last season along with two GLIAC Setter of the Week awards. She finished the season with 1,175 assists. Haugen, a libero, was an All-GLIAC Honorable Mention, and was GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 2.

PREVIEWING WHEELING (W. VA.)

• 2024 Record: 27-11, 12-2
• Conference: MEC
• Head Coach: Christy Benner, 23nd season
• MEC North Division Preseason Rank: 1
• Wheeling (W. Va.) Notes
• The Cardinals fell to West Virginia State in four sets in the MEC tournament final. Wheeling was then awarded the No. 3 seed in the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championship, making their way to the Atlantic Regional Final before falling to Gannon in four sets.
• Leading WU will be junior middle blocker Katie Wilking, who was an All-MEC Second Team selection last year. Wilking  had 324 kills on the season, while averaging 2.55 kills per set. She was also second on the team with 82 total blocks. Sophomore Olivia Batch should make a name for herself as well. As the conferences' reigning Freshman of the Year, Batch knocked down 179 kills as well as finishing fourth on the team in digs with 217.

ON THE HORIZON

• SMSU heads to Pittsburg, Kan. to play three matches in the Pittsburg State Classic from Sept. 11-12. 
• The Mustangs begin NSIC play on the road at Bemidji State on Friday, Sept. 19, before facing off with Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Sept. 20.