Mankato, Minn. – For the third time this season the Minnesota State volleyball team will square off with the #1 seed, Concordia-St. Paul, on Wednesday evening in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. The match will take place in St. Paul, Minn., with the first serve set for 7:00 p.m.

MSU has earned the eighth seed in the NSIC Tournament after finishing its 2015 regular season with a 16-12 overall record and a 10-10 record in NSIC play.

Looking Back: The Mavericks split a pair of matches last weekend at Taylor Center to conclude their regular season schedule. MSU took on #2 Southwest Minnesota State on Friday and fell in straight sets to the Mustangs, before the Mavericks rebounded on Saturday with a sweep win over Sioux Falls.

Junior Krista Hassing [Blue Earth, Minn.] led the MSU offensive attack once again over the weekend, as she nabbed a team-high 21 kills and tied for a team-high five total blocks in the two matches. Junior Courtney Anderson [Tripoli, Iowa] tied for team-high 13 kills in last Saturday's win over Sioux Falls and added match-high's of a .462 attack percentage and four total blocks in the contest.

Junior Lexi Platz [Lafayette, Minn.] pitched in with 15 kills on the weekend, while senior Rachel Ott [Stoughton, Wis.] tallied 13 kills and 16 digs. Senior Ellie Van De Steeg [Hutchinson, Minn.] ended the weekend with a team-high 57 assists, along with eight kills and seven digs. Junior Haley Fogarty [Belle Plaine, Minn.] posted a career-high five kills in last Friday's loss to #2 Southwest Minnesota State, while freshman Maddie Keute [Grand Rapids, Minn.] led MSU with a team-high 22 digs over the weekend as she recorded 11 digs apiece in each match.

Concerning #1 Concordia-St. Paul: In the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, the Golden Bears sit right a top the list for the third straight week. CU has posted a 24-4 overall record, including an 18-2 record in NSIC play. The Golden Bears have won 10 straight matches coming into Wednesday's contest and own an 11-1 record at home this season.

Roaming the sidelines for the Golden Bears is 13th year coach Brady Starkey who has compiled a 425-43 overall record so far during his time. Wednesday's matchup will be the 27th all-time meeting between the two schools and will mark as the third time the Mavericks and Golden Bears have met up this season alone, as MSU has fallen both times to CU by way a sweep. Wednesday's match will also be the second straight year MSU and CU have faced off with each other in the first round of the NSIC Tournament. Last season, MSU fell to CU in four sets up in St. Paul, Minn.

This season, CU ranks in the top-five in the NSIC in every major offensive and defensive statistical category. The Golden Bears rank first in the NSIC in blocks per set with 2.6, which places them seventh in all of Divison II. CU sits third in the NSIC in attack percentage (.277), assists per set (13.6) and service aces per set (1.4). Lastly, the Golden Bears rank fourth in the conference in kills per set (14.3) and digs per set (16.7).

Individually, the Golden Bears had conference-high five players earn First-Team All-NSIC honors this season. The players include senior middle blocker Heather Schiller and four juniors in, middle blocker Riley Hanson, Emma Lange, outside hitter Anna Schlaak and setter Kasey Williams.

Schiller leads the Golden Bears with 129 total blocks and sits atop the NSIC in blocks per set with 1.28. Schiller has also added 205 kills with a .314 attack percentage. Hanson ranks second on the team with 320 kills, third with 90 total blocks and leads the team with an impressive .406 attack percentage, which is third best in the NSIC.

Lange is third on the team with 278 kills, while also tallying a .333 attack percentage and has the second most total blocks with 97.  Schlaak leads the Golden Bears squad with 331 kills and is second on the team with 301 digs. Rounding out the five is Williams, who  leads the team with 1,225 assists this season and ranks third in the NSIC and fourth in Division II in assists per set with 12.25.

Freshman outside hitter Hope Schiller leads CU with 29 service aces, while senior libero Taylor Dordan leads the Golden Bears with 441 digs (4.32 per set).
Statistically Speaking: Through 28 matches, the Mavericks finished its regular season ranked eighth in the NSIC in attack percentage with a .227 clip and seventh in opponent hitting percentage with a mark of .185. MSU also placed fourth in the conference in blocks per set with 2.19, eighth in assists per set with 12.14 and kills per set with 12.95. 

Where they Rank: For the first time in her career junior Krista Hassing eclipsed the 400 kills mark this season after posting 21 kills this past weekend. Hassing leads the Mavericks with 410 kills and currently sits in third in the NSIC in kills per set with 4.14 and fifth in blocks per set with 1.12 with a total of 111 blocks. The Blue Earth, Minn. native ranks sixth in Division II in points per set with 5.06 and is the only player in the NSIC with at least 400 kills and 100 total blocks this season.

Junior Haley Fogarty ranks fifth in the NSIC in digs per set with 4.72, while senior Ellie Van De Steeg currently sits eighth in the NSIC in assists per set with 10.49 and has recorded a team-leading 829 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 moved up to #2 on the list this past weekend. She currently sits with 4,409 career assists. Van De Steeg also ranks eighth in the NSIC this season in assists per set with 10.49.
 

Rank	Name (Years Played)	Career Assists
1	Brittany Stamer (2008-11)	4,718
2	Ellie Van De Steeg (2012-Present)	4,409
3	Jen Blendermann (1999-2002)	4,367
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 1,308 career assists and ranks third on the all-time list. Haley leads the Mavericks this season with 467 digs and currently sits 
fifth in the NSIC in digs per set with 4.72
 

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)	1,308
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