THIS WEEK

The No. 13 ranked SMSU volleyball team concludes conference play this weekend on the road with a pair of matches, both with NSIC Tournament implications.

The Mustangs face Minnesota State on Friday at 6 p.m., before concluding regular season action against No. 15 ranked St. Cloud State the next day at 2 p.m.

All matches are listed in central time.

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 face Minnesota State for the 66th time with the Mavericks leading the series 33-32.

The Mustangs have lost the last two matches, and three of the last four played in Mankato. Tyler Boddy holds a 4-2 record against MSU as SMSU head coach.

The Mustangs meet St. Cloud State for the 57th time on Saturday with SMSU holding a 29-27 record all time.

The 'Stangs broke a three-match losing streak to the Huskies earlier this season, however SMSU has not won against SCSU in St. Cloud since 2017. Coach Boddy holds a 3-4 record against SCSU as Mustangs head coach. 

RECAP OF LAST WEEK

The Mustangs went 2-1 in a three-match week, sweeping No. 2 ranked Wayne State on Tuesday, and sweeping Winona State on Friday, before dropping a five-set match to No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday.

Leah Jones led the Mustangs with 42 kills across 11 sets, hitting .381 across the two matches.

Natalie Pilney added 34 kills (13 vs. WSC, nine vs. WSU, 12 vs. CSP) while leading the team with 10 total blocks. 

Sydney Thein paced the Mustangs offense with 72 assists (29 vs. WSC, 19 vs. WSU, 25 vs. CSP) adding 13 digs. Tatem Schmidt added 58 assists and 21 digs.

Two-time NSIC Defensive Player of the Week Ashlynn Schroeder combined for 72 digs, including a career-high 27 against CSP, and averaged an NSIC-leading 6.55 digs per set.

The Mustangs as a team hit .227 in the three matches combined.

MUSTANGS BY THE NUMBERS

SMSU returns 11 letter winners from the 2025 team that won 21 matches last season. The 2026 team features three seniors, four juniors, three sophomores, two redshirt freshman, and five true freshmen.

The Mustangs have collected 1255 kills over the first 25 matches with a team hitting percentage of .260. SMSU is holding teams to a hitting percentage of .174. 

Senior outside hitter Leah Jones leads the Mustangs with 283 kills and 3.29 kills per set. The Marshall, Minn., native has 15 matches with double-digit kills, including a career-high 27 kills against Northern State. Jones ranks ninth all time in kills at SMSU.

Middle blocker Natalie Pilney and outside hitter Mollie Rupp are second and third on the team in kills, with 215 and 205 respectively. Pilney, who is averaging 2.5 kills per set and hitting .317, leads the team with 91 total blocks, averaging 1.06 blocks per set. Rupp, a transfer from Minnesota Duluth, is averaging 2.41 kills per set, and is hitting .304 on the season. 

Mya Krystosek is fourth on the team with 171 kills, averaging 2.06 kills per set. The fifth-year outside hitter is second in digs (247) and digs per set (2.98), while leading the team in service aces with 34 on the year.

Fellow fifth-year Ashley Peltier is fifth on the team with 158 kills. Peltier has four matches with double-digit kills, and reached a season-high 13 kills against Jamestown.

Freshman middle blocker Lindsay Kruse is sixth on the team with 149 kills hitting a team-best .355. Kruse has five matches with nine or more kills and seven matches hitting .500 or better, while ranking second in blocks with 70.

Sophomore libero Ashlynn Schroeder is currently pacing the Mustangs defensively with 417 digs and 4.85 digs per set. Schroeder has 15+ digs in 16 matches this year including three matches with 25+ digs (9/3 v. Missouri Western, 10/10 v. Northern State, 10/31 v. Concordia-St. Paul).

Junior Paige Steinmetz ranks third in digs with 231, and a digs per set ratio of 2.69. Steinmetz has 10 matches with double-digit digs, with a season-high 16 against CSP (10/31).

Freshman setter Tatem Schmidt currently leads the Mustangs with 540 assists and an assist per set ratio of 6.28. Schmidt is also fourth on the team in digs with 208. The Huxley, Iowa, native has had 20 or more assists in 19 of 25 matches, and racked up 26 digs against Missouri Western.

Senior setter Sydney Thein has collected 485 assists and 5.64 assists per set. Thein has 11 matches with 20+ assists and five matches with eight or more digs.

SMSU AND THE NSIC IN THE POLLS

SMSU moved up two spots to No. 13 in the recent AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, released Monday afternoon.

The Mustangs are one of five teams from the NSIC ranked in this week's poll. Wayne State falls two spots to No. 4 following their loss to SMSU. CSP moves up one spot to No. 8, while St. Cloud State drops two spots to No. 15. Minnesota Duluth falls four spots to No. 23, and Northern State is receiving votes. 

Following the AVCA poll released on Nov. 2, the Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 264 of the last 265 rankings, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.

SMSU IN THE NCAA POWER INDEX RANKINGS

SMSU is listed No. 6 in the third NCAA Power Index (NPI) Central Region rankings released on Monday morning.

The NPI is the new metric NCAA tournament teams will be selected in all Division II sports for the 2026-27 season. At-large teams will be selected using the NPI, the system that houses the division's statistical data and objectively applies the selection criteria to the data based on the sport committee's established weighted criteria.

NPI rankings will be announced Nov. 9. NPI rankings will be pushed daily starting with the rankings released on Monday morning. The NPI rankings used for selections will be posted after the selection show airs on NCAA.com on Nov. 15 at 9 p.m. (CT).

SMSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKS  

The Mustangs and individuals rank high in several NCAA statistical leaderboards.

SMSU is ranked second in both assists per set (13.80) and kills per set (14.59).

The Mustangs are also ranked No. 14 in attacks per set (38.58), as well as No. 19 in both digs per set (17.78), and in hitting percentage (.260).

Ashlynn Schroeder is No. 48 in digs per set (4.85). Natalie Pilney is ranked No. 53 in blocks per set (1.06). Lindsay Kruse is ranked No. 58 in hitting percentage (.355). 

SMSU IN THE CONFERENCE RANKS  

The Mustangs and individuals rank high in several NSIC statistical leaderboards (conference matches only).

SMSU is ranked first assists per set (13.75), kills per set (14.47) points per set (18.45), and aces per set (1.94) while ranking second in digs per set (17.63), and fourth in hitting percentage (.254).

Mya Krystosek ranks third in service aces per set (.48). Ashlynn Schroeder is third in digs per set (5.03). Natalie Pilney ranks sixth in blocks per set (1.08). Lindsay Kruse is ninth in hitting percentage (.335) and Leah Jones ranks ninth in kills per set (3.33)

NSIC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

SMSU's Ashlynn Schroeder was once again named NSIC Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 2 for her performances against Wayne State, Winona State, and Concordia-St. Paul.

Schroeder led SMSU defensively with 72 in the Mustangs three matches this past week. The native of Eau Claire, Wis., had 21 digs in an upset against then No. 2 ranked Wayne State in straight sets. She then led paced the team in a sweep of Winona State with 24 digs, before setting a career-high 27 digs in a five-set defeat to No. 9 ranked Concordia-St. Paul. Schroeder led the NSIC averaging 6.55 digs per set during that span.

This was Schroeder's third Defensive Player of the Week award in the last four weeks, and the third individual weekly award the Mustangs have received this season.

HEAD COACH TYLER BODDY  

Tyler Boddy is in his fifth season as head coach in 2026 and has a career record of 110-31 overall, including 71-24 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 nine NCAA tournaments, including finishing as NCAA national runners-up in 2014. SMSU has a combined record of 335-95 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.

PREVIEWING MINNESOTA STATE

2026 Record: 10-16, 8-10 NSIC

Head Coach: Corey Phelps, 7th season

NSIC Preseason Rank: 6

The Mavericks enter their final regular-season week with a 10-16 overall record and an 8-10 mark in NSIC play. Minnesota State has earned notable conference victories over Minnesota Duluth, Sioux Falls and Minnesota State Moorhead.

Junior setter Jadyn Lester earned First Team All-NSIC honors in 2025 and currently leads Minnesota State with 839 assists, averaging 9.32 assists per set, and has added 244 digs. Junior middle blocker 

Avery Rosenberg earned Second Team All-NSIC honors in 2025 and currently has 188 kills and 66 total blocks. 

Junior outside hitter Avery Klein leads the Mavericks with 234 kills, averaging 2.63 kills per set, while hitting .269 and recording 38 total blocks. 

PREVIEWING NO. 15 ST. CLOUD STATE

2026 Record: 19-8, 12-6 NSIC

Head Coach: Chad Braegelmann, 12th season

NSIC Preseason Rank: 3

The Huskies enter their final regular-season week with a 19-8 overall record and a 12-6 mark in NSIC play. St. Cloud State has earned notable victories over No. 8 Concordia-St. Paul, and then No. 14 ranked Minnesota Duluth.

Senior outside hitter Shelby Kimm earned AVCA Second Team All-America honors in 2025 and was selected to the First Team All-NSIC. She currently leads the Huskies with 287 kills, averaging 3.3 kills per set, while adding 315 digs. 

Junior setter Braya LaPlant also earned AVCA Second Team All-America honors in 2025 and currently leads St. Cloud State with 977 assists, averaging 11.1 assists per set, while recording 186 digs. 

Junior libero Laurin Hamann leads the Huskies defensively with 432 digs, averaging 4.65 digs per set, and has added 41 service aces.

ON THE HORIZON

SMSU begins play in the NSIC Tournament next Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. The Mustangs will know their opponent  after Saturday's match against SCSU.