Mankato, Minn. – After three straight home matches last week, the Minnesota State volleyball team will have four straight NSIC matches on the road over the next couple of weeks. The Mavericks will begin with a road trip up north to Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State this weekend. MSU will take on UMC on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and BSU on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Looking Back: The Mavericks rebounded this past weekend after picking up a couple of NSIC wins over #8 Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State. MSU upset UMD in four sets (25-14, 16-25, 25-21, 27-25) last Friday and swept (25-23, 25-17, 25-20) St. Cloud State last Saturday.

MSU showed off a very balanced offensive attack in its two wins. In last Friday's win over #8 UMD, six players posted five or more kills, as juniors Lexi Platz [Lafayette, Minn.] and Sydney Geisness [St. Croix Falls, Wis.] led the way with 11 kills apiece. The next day it was more of the same as freshman Nevena Vukomanovich [Maplewood, Minn.]set a new career-high of 12 kills, while Platz added another 11 kills in the sweep win.

Overall in the two matches, MSU was able to collect a .258 attack percentage, while it held its opponents to just a .147 attack percentage. The Mavericks also showed off it defensive presence at the net as they tallied 16 total team blocks from the two matches, while their opponents manged just seven total team blocks on the weekend.

With the two wins, the Mavericks record improved to 14-8 overall and 8-6 in NSIC play.
 
Concerning Minnesota Crookston: The Golden Eagles come into the week owners of  a 7-15 overall record and a 3-11 record in NSIC play after losing seven straight contests. UMC is coached by Lee Anderson who is his ninth season at the helm. 

Friday's matchup will mark as the 16th all-time meeting between the Mavericks and Golden Eagles. MSU owns an 11-4 all-time record against UMC, however the Golden Eagles have the last laugh in the series. Last season, UMC defeated MSU in four sets at Taylor Center after the Mavericks took set one and then the Golden Eagles rallied back and won the next three sets for the win.

In the match, junior Krista Hassing [Blue Earth, Minn.] led the Mavericks offensive attack as she posted 18 kills along with three total team blocks. Junior Courtney Anderson  [Tripoli, Iowa] added 11 kills and three total blocks of her own, while junior Haley Fogarty [Belle Plaine, Minn.] tallied a match-high 25 digs in the loss.

This season the Golden Eagles rank seventh in the NSIC in blocks per set with 2.1 and own the fourth best opponent blocks per set with 1.5 UMC also places 11th in service aces per set (1.2) and second to last in attack percentage (.153), kills per set (10.8) and assists per set (9.9).

Sophomore Maggie Perrel leads the Golden Eagles with 236 kills this season and has also collected 187 digs and 28 total blocks. Senior Stephanie Pearson is second on the team in kills with 197 and leads UMC with 265 digs currently. 

Sophomore Kelci Green owns 150 kills and leads the team with 89 total blocks so far this season, which currently places her sixth in the NSIC blocks per set with 1.09. Junior Erin Schwartz has collected 136 kills with a team-best, .340 attack percentage which  puts her eighth in the NSIC. Schwartz is also second on the team in total blocks with 69, while junior Sierra Trost leads the Golden Eagles with 753 assists (9.18 per set) this season and ranks 10th in the NSIC assists per set.

Sophomore Kaycie Hagen ranks second in the NSIC in service aces this season as she averages 0.33 aces a set and has posted 27 total service aces on the year. 

Concerning Bemidji State: The Beavers enter the week with a 5-18 overall record and a 3-11 record in NSIC play after losing nine of their last 10 matches. BSU is coached by Wayne Chadwick who is in sixth season on the job. 

Saturday's matchup will be the 52nd all-time meeting between the Mavericks and Beavers. MSU owns a 34-17 all-time record over BSU and the Mavericks have won 27 straight meetings between the two schools.

Last season, MSU swept BSU at home by scores of 25-14, 25-15 and 25-22. In the match the Mavericks accumulated a .317 attack percentage, while the Beavers posted just a .078 attack percentage. Junior Krista Hassing led MSU with 16 kills, while junior Haley Fogarty added a match-high 15 digs in the sweep win.

Junior Jesscia Yost leads the Beavers this season with 252 kills (3.07 per set) and 26 service aces (0.32 per set) and is second in digs with 215. Yost ranks 15th in the NSIC in kills per set and fifth in service aces per set.

Junior Amanda Tronick is second on the team with 232 kills and has also recorded 166 digs and 27 total blocks. Freshman Kori Leist leads the Beavers with 57 total blocks so far this season, while senior Ashley Kiecker leads BSU with 522 assists (6.37 per set). Senior Kayla DeJong leads the Beavers with 339 digs this season and ranks second on the team with 21 service aces.

Statistically Speaking: Through 22 matches, the Mavericks rank eighth in the NSIC in attack percentage with a .225 clip and sixth in opponent hitting percentage with a mark of .176. MSU also sits in fourth in the conference in blocks per set with 2.23, eighth in assists per set with 12.24 and kills per set with 12.96. 

Receiving Votes: After picking up two wins this past weekend over #8 Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State, the Mavericks are receiving eight votes in the latest installment of the AVCA Coaches Poll.

Upset Win: After defeating #8 Minnesota Duluth, MSU has now beaten three ranked teams (#20 Northwest Nazarene and #19 Augustana) this season and Friday's win is the Mavericks first win against a top-ten team since last season. MSU  took down #2 Concordia-St. Paul in four sets at Taylor Center on Sept. 16, 2014.
 
Double-Doubles: The Mavericks have recorded nine double-doubles this season after freshman Nevena Vukomanovich set a new career-high of 12 kills and also added 12 digs in last Saturday's sweep win over St. Cloud State.

Where they Rank: Junior Krista Hassing currently sits in third in the NSIC in kills per set with 4.13 and fourth in blocks per set with 1.14. The Blue Earth, Minn. native still ranks sixth in Division II in points per set with 5.07.

Junior Haley Fogarty ranks fourth in the NSIC in digs per set with 4.86, while junior Rissi McNallan [Andover, Minn.] currently sits fourth in the NSIC in service aces per set with 0.32 and has recorded 21 service aces on the year. 

1,000 Career Digs Club: Junior libero Haley Fogarty became the 11th member to join the 1,000 career digs club at MSU after reaching the milestone on Sept.17, 2015 in a win over Winona State. Fogarty joins her sister Chelsea Fogarty and cousin Cassie Wolpern on the list. Currently the Belle Plaine, Minn. native sits with 1,225 career assists and ranks fourth on the all-time list. Haley leads the Mavericks this season with 384 digs and currently sits fourth in the NSIC in digs per set with 4.86
 

Rank	Name (Years Played)	Career Digs
1	Jen Jacobs (2000-03)	1,623
2	Ali Rice (2008-11)	1,342
3	Lindsay Childers (1999-2002)	1,253
4	Haley Fogarty (2013-Present)	1,225
5	Stef Sandstrom (2004-07)	1,199
6	Brittany Stamer (2008-11)	1,180
7	Nichole Rose (2000-03)	1,169
8	Cassie Wolpern (2004-06)	1,168
9	Chelsea Fogarty (2009-12)	1,161
10	Ashley Nachreiner (2005-08)	1,036
11	Jessica Oolman (2000-03)	1,017