Mankato, Minn. –  The Minnesota State volleyball team will travel west this weekend to take on Sioux Falls on Friday before ending the weekend against #5 Southwest Minnesota State.

Scouting the Cougars: Sioux Falls comes into the week with a 13-10 overall record including a 7-6 record in conference play. The Cougars are coached by Joel McCartney, who is in his fourth season as coach. Offensively senior outside hitter Emily Johnson leads USF with 293 kills (3.33 per set) as senior outside hitter Kate Hart is second on the team with 257 (2.95 per set) and first with 38 service aces. Defensively, sophomore libero Abby Folk leads the Cougars with 306 digs (3.52 per set), with sophomore middle blocker leading Sioux Falls with 85 total blocks on the year.   

Scouting the Mustangs: #5 Southwest Minnesota State owns a 16-5 overall record with a 11-2 record in NSIC play. The Mustangs are coached by Terry Culhane who enters his eleventh season at the helm. SMSU offensively is led by right side junior Abbey Thissen who has posted 256 kills while freshman outside hitter Kenzie Beekman isn't too far behind with 243 of her own. Defensively, the Mustangs have five players with at least 130 digs as junior outside hitter Whitney Burmeister leads the charge with 316 digs. Freshman outside hitter Eisha Oden leads SMSU with 70 total blocks on the year. 

From Last Week: The Minnesota State University volleyball team went 2-1 as it beat Upper Iowa in four sets this past Tuesday before splitting a pair of NSIC matches this past weekend. The Mavericks lost in four sets to #12 Wayne State on Friday before coming from behind to beat #20 Augustana in five sets on Saturday. 

Career-Highs for Everyone: Three Mavericks posted career-highs in their match against #20 Augustana. Senior outside hitter Chandra Honebrink recorded 25 kills against the Vikings with an impressive .373 attack percentage. Junior setter Ellie Van De Steeg tallied 27 digs as sophomore defensive specialist Rissi McNallan posted 17 digs.

Consistent Play: Out of the 20 matches played by the Mavericks, sophomore middle blocker Krista Hassing has recorded double digit kills in 18 of the matches. Junior setter Ellie Van De Steeg has recorded at least 30 assists in every match but one, including  eight matches with at least 50 assists.

How We Stack Up: As a team the Mavericks rank fifth  in the NSIC with 1023 assists (13.29 per set) and second in opponents assists with 778 (10.10 per set). MSU currently sits in fifth place with 1076 kills (13.97 per set) and sits second on the opponent kills list with 819 kills (10.64 per set). The Purple and Gold rank third in the NSIC in service aces per set with 1.58 per set.

Killin' It: Sophomore middle blocker Krista Hassing and senior outside hitter Chandra Honebrink come into the week sitting in the top-ten of the conference in kills per set. Honebrink is eighth in the NSIC, averaging 3.74 per set with a total of 277 kills, while Hassing sits in ninth averaging 3.74 per set with a total of 288 kills.

Assisting the Way: Ellie Van De Steeg comes into the week ranked fourth in the NSIC with an average of 11.82 assists per set, giving her a total 910 assists on the year.

Ace in Your Face: Senior defensive specialist Haley Doran comes into the week ranked seventh in the NSIC in service aces per set with 0.36 giving her 27 on the year.

Can You Dig It?: Sophomore libero Haley Fogarty finds herself  in the top ten of the conference in digs per set. The Belle Plaine, Minn. native comes into the week sitting eighth in the conference with 4.32 for a total of 333 digs.

Returning Roster: The Mavericks return 14 players from their 2013 season, including six seniors Chandra Honebrink, Haley Doran, Jenna McNallan, Tiana Runck, Kaitlyn Braun and Olivia Kuker.

New Faces: MSU has three freshman on its roster for its 2014 campaign. They are Sydney Powell from Lindstrom, Minn., Jackie Jones hailing from Osseo, Minn., and Vikolia Meade from Solon, Iowa.

Preseason Prognosis: The Mavericks are predicted to finish 8th out of the 16 teams in the 2014 NSIC Volleyball Coaches Poll. Concordia-St. Paul was voted to finish first by years end. Junior setter, Ellie Van De Steeg, was chosen as a player to watch in 2014 campaign for the Mavericks.

Conference Honors: Both senior outside hitter Chandra Honebrink (Waconia, Minn.) and junior setter Ellie Van De Steeg (Hutchinson, Minn.) received second team all-conference honors for their efforts on the court last year. Honebrink recorded 306 kills and 178 digs during her junior campaign. Van De Steeg posted 1,100 assists with an average of 10.78 assists per set.

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