Mankato, Minn. – The Minnesota State volleyball team will wrap up its regular season this weekend at Taylor Center as #2 Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls comes to town. The Mavericks will host SMSU on Friday at 7:00 p.m., and USF on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Saturday's match will also mark as 'Senior Day" for the volleyball team and it will be the final opportunity for MSU students to participate in the $10,000 serve contest.

Looking Back: Minnesota State went 0-2 this past weekend after being swept by #20 Augustana and #3 Wayne State on the road. With the two losses, the Mavericks' overall record sits at 15-11 overall and 9-9 in NSIC play. 

The top eight teams in the NSIC make the conference tournament and currently MSU sits in the eighth slot going into the final weekend of the regular season.
 
Concerning #2 Southwest Minnesota State: The Mustangs enter the week in a three-way tie for first in the NSIC with #4 Northern State and #1 Concordia-St. Paul, as they sit with a 16-2 conference record and a 23-3 overall record. SMSU has won its last 14 matches and is coached by Terry Culhane who is in his 12th season at the helm. 

Friday's matchup will mark the 52nd all-time meeting between MSU and SMSU. The Mavericks own a 28-23 all-time record over the Mustangs. However, SMSU owns the upperhand in the series as it has defeated MSU in 10 of the last 11 matches. The Mustangs swept the Mavericks earlier this season back on Sept. 26 in Marshall, Minn.

In the match, the Mavericks were defeated by the scores of 25-14, 25-16 and 25-21. MSU finished the contest with just a .213 attack percentage and committed 10 service errors, while SMSU ended the match with a .274 attack percentage and four service errors. The Mavericks also posted a season low 26 digs in the loss to the Mustangs, as MSU is averaging 14.75 digs a set this season.

Junior Krista Hassing [Blue Earth, Minn.] led MSU's offensive attack with 13 kills and .417 attack percentage, along with two total blocks. Junior Lexi Platz [Lafayette, Minn.]added seven kills with a .357 attack percentage and freshman Nevena Vukomanovich [Maplewood, Minn.] pitched in with five kills, six digs and two total blocks. Senior Ellie Van De Steeg [Hutchinson, Minn.] posted a team-high 27 assists and sophomore Vikolia Meade [Solon, Iowa] led MSU with three total blocks. 

This season the Mustangs lead the NSIC in opponents attack percentage (.151), opponents kills per set (10.5) and opponents assists per set (9.8). SMSU also tops the conference in aces in per set at 1.7.  The Mustangs own a .264 attack percentage and 13.3 assists per set, which ranks fourth and fifth in the NSIC, respectively. Lastly, the Mustangs rank fifth in the NSIC in blocks per set  with 2.2.

Senior Abbey Thissen leads the Mustangs with 349 kills this season and has also racked up 163 digs, 49 total blocks and 28 service aces. Thissen ranks fifth in the NSIC in total kills and sits sixth in the NSIC in kills per set with 3.64. Junior Sarah Parker is second on the team with 264 kills and a .330 attack percentage. Parker also leads SMSU with 76 total blocks and ranks eighth in the NSIC blocks per set with 0.83.

Freshman Taylor Reiss leads the Mustangs with a .346 attack percentage which places her eighth in the conference. Reiss has also racked up 201 kills (3.47 per set), 61 digs, 58 total blocks and 20 service aces. Sophomore setter Megan Larson leads the team with 1,142 assists and ranks fourth in the NSIC in assists per set with 11.90. Larson has also accumulated 222 digs, 40 total blocks and 27 service aces. Sophomore Kenzee Beekman has also tallied 27 service aces on the season, while senior Whitney Burmeister leads the Mustangs with 30 service aces and 406 digs.

Concerning Sioux Falls: The Cougars enter the week just shy of .500 with a 13-14 overall record and 5-13 in NSIC play. USF owns a 2-8 record at home and is 5-6 on the road so far this season. The Cougars head coach is Joel McCartney who is in his fourth season at the school. 

Saturday's matchup will mark as the sixth all-time between MSU and USF as the Mavericks own a 3-2 all-time record against the Cougars. MSU squeaked by USF earlier this season in Sioux Falls, S.D., as the Mavericks defeated the Cougars in five sets. The match was a back and forth affair as USF took set one and four, while MSU won sets two and three. The Mavericks regained momentum in the back and forth contest with a 15-13 fifth set win.

The match was a 'block party" for the Mavericks as they recorded 18 total team blocks which marked a program-high dating back to at least 2011. Four MSU players posted at least five or more block assists in the win, including junior Krista Hassing leading the way with 10 block assists and two solo blocks. Senior Ellie Van De Steeg finished with seven block assists, junior Lexi Platz collected six block assists and sophomore Vikolia Meade rounded out the bunch with five block assists and one solo block.

The match also saw five Mavericks record seven or more kills in the win. Hassing led the way with a match-high 21 kills, followed by Platz with 13 kills, freshman Nevena Vukomanovich tallying 10 kills, junior Sydney Geisness [St. Croix Falls, Wis.] finishing with nine kills and Meade ending with seven kills of her own.

This season, the Cougars rank third in the NSIC in blocks per set with 2.5 a set and sit in the middle of the pack in other notable stats in the conference. USF ranks seventh in aces per set (1.3), ninth in attack percentage (.206), 10th in both kills per set (12.5) and assists per set (11.5) and finally 14th in digs per set (14.1).

The Cougars have three players currently with 200 or more kills this season which are led freshman Makenna Rockeman who has posted 297 kills (2.78 per set) and ranks second on the team with 250 digs. Junior Jordan Calef is second on the team with 253 kills with a team-leading .334 attack percentage. Calef also leads USF with 129 blocks (1.21 per set) and sits third in the NSIC in blocks per set. Senior Michelle Ritland is third player to have eclipsed 200 or more kills on the team as she has tallied 201 kills on the season. 

Freshman Megan Hamstad leads the Cougars with 494 assists (4.89 per set) and sophomore Kayla Crane sits right behind with 482 assists (4.97 per set) of her own. Sophomore Janelle Lam leads USF with 26 service aces and is third on the team with 235 digs, while junior Abby Folk leads the team with 439 digs and is second on the team with 25 service aces. The Cougars have one other player with 100 or more total blocks in freshman Lexi Scott who owns 103 total blocks (0.98 per set) who ranks ninth in the NSIC in blocks per set.

Statistically Speaking: Through 26 matches, the Mavericks rank eighth in the NSIC in attack percentage with a .228 clip and seventh in opponent hitting percentage with a mark of .181. MSU also sits in fourth in the conference in blocks per set with 2.20, eighth in assists per set with 12.19 and kills per set with 12.94. 

Where they Rank: Junior Krista Hassing leads the Mavericks with 389 kills and currently sits in third in the NSIC in kills per set with 4.18 and fifth in blocks per set with 1.14 with a total of 106 blocks. The Blue Earth, Minn. native still ranks fifth in Division II in points per set with .511.

Junior Haley Fogarty ranks fifth in the NSIC in digs per set with 4.88, while senior Ellie Van De Steeg currently sits seventh in the NSIC in assists per set with 10.58 and has recorded a team-leading 772 assists on the year. 

Moving on Up: Back on Oct. 4, 2014 against Bemidji State, senior Ellie Van De Steeg became the sixth MSU player to join the 3,000 career assist club. Van De Steeg continues to rise up the career list as she currently sits with 4,352 career assists which places her third in the all-time career assists lists at MSU. Van De Steeg also ranks seventh in the NSIC this season in assists per set with 10.58.
 

Rank	Name (Years Played)	Career Assists
1	Brittany Stamer (2008-11)	4,718
2	Jen Blendermann (1999-2002)	4,367
3	Ellie Van De Steeg (2012-Present)	4,352
4	Heidi Schnagl (1991-94)	3,963
5	Nicole Roethig (1995-98)	3,804
6	Stef Sandstrom (2004-07)	3,471

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 1,295 career assists and ranks third on the all-time list. Haley leads the Mavericks this season with 454 digs and currently sits fifth in the NSIC in digs per set with 4.88.
 

Rank	Name (Years Played)	Career Digs
1	Jen Jacobs (2000-03)	1,623
2	Ali Rice (2008-11)	1,342
3	Haley Fogarty (2013-Present)	1,295
4	Lindsay Childers (1999-2002)	1,253
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