Mankato, Minn. –  The Minnesota State volleyball team will hit the road to play a pair of NSIC teams this weekend as it will take on #2 Minnesota Duluth on Friday night at 7 p.m., before facing off with St. Cloud State at 4 p.m., on Saturday.

Scouting the Bulldogs: #2 Minnesota Duluth comes into the week with an overall 15-1 record and 8-0 record in NSIC play.  The Bulldogs are coached by Jim Boos who is in his 13th season at the helm. Offensively, UMD has three players with at least 140 kills on the year as junior outside hitter Mariah Scharf leads the team with 190 kills (3.80 per set). Middle blockers, Maddy Siroin and Monica Turner have 144 and 140 kills, respectively. Junior setter Ashley Hinsch leads the team with 659 assists (13.18 per set). Defensively, it is reigning NSIC Libero of the Year, Julie Rainey with her conference leading 289 digs (5.78 per set). Turner and Siroin lead the team in total blocks with 43 and 39, respectively.

Scouting the Huskies: The St. Cloud State Huskies are coached by Michelle Blaeser, who is in her fifth season with the program. The Huskies come into the week owning a 7-9 overall record and a 1-7 record in conference. SCSU is led by a pair of outside hitters in senior Kaitlin Doughty and sophomore Shannon Klink who have each posted 130 kills on the year. Senior setter Erin Ohlemann leads the team with 522 assists (10.44 per set). Junior libero Brianne Stamer leads the team with 270 digs (5.40 per set) as junior middle hitter Kellan Flynn leads the team with 40 total blocks. 

From Last Week: The Minnesota State University volleyball team hosted a pair of NSIC matches this past weekend. The Mavericks faced off with Minnesota Crookston on Friday as MSU lost in four sets, 3-1. On Saturday, the Mavericks bounced back as they swept Bemidji State, 3-0.

Milestone Reached: Junior setter Ellie Van De Steeg (Hutchinson, Minn.) reached the 3,000 career assist milestone this past Saturday against Bemidji State. She is just the sixth member to join the MSU 3,000 assist club. Van De Steeg currently sits at 3,019 career assists.

Career High: Sophomore middle blocker, Courtney Anderson,  had a career high in kills with a 11 against Minnesota Crookston on Friday. 

How We Stack Up: As a team the Mavericks rank fourth  in the NSIC with 769 assists (13.49 per set) and second in opponents assists with 567 (9.95 per set). MSU currently sits in fourth place with 804 kills (14.11 per set) and sits second on the opponent kills list with 596 kills (10.46 per set). The Purple and Gold lead the NSIC in service aces with 102 (1.79 per set)

Killin' It: Sophomore middle blocker Krista Hassing comes into the week sitting in the top-ten of the conference in kills per set. Hassing is sixth in the NSIC, averaging 3.86 per set with a total of 220 kills.

Assisting the Way: Ellie Van De Steeg comes into the week ranked fourth in the NSIC with an average of 12.02 assists per set, giving her a total 685 assists on the year.

Ace in Your Face: Senior defensive specialist Haley Doran comes into the week ranked fifth in the NSIC in service aces per set with 0.38 giving her 21 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 ninth in the conference

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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