MANKATO, Minn. – Minnesota State volleyball (13-5, 5-5 NSIC) plays one road match and one at home this week. On Thursday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m., the Mavericks travel to Concordia-St. Paul (14-4, 9-1 NSIC) to take on the Golden Bears. Then, on Saturday Oct. 26 at 11 a.m., MSU hosts a match against the Augustana Vikings (10-10, 6-5 NSIC).
 
About the Mavericks
The Mavericks are arguably in the toughest stretch of their season thus far. Last weekend, Minnesota State sustained two losses; First, on the road, MSU fell to Sioux Falls, 3-1. Emma Loveall ended the match one kill shy of her career-best with 20 kills. Then, on Saturday, Minnesota State dropped its second straight match to No. 8 Wayne State, taking one set from the Wildcats in another 3-1 loss. Freshman Avery Klein set a career-high in kills with 16 against WSC.
 
Minnesota State sits in ninth place in the NSIC rankings heading into the week. Augustana sits one spot ahead of the Mavericks with a 5-4 conference record. 10 of the 15 teams in the conference have 10 or more wins in 2024, including six teams in the AVCA Top 25 poll.
 
The Mavericks are still one of the better blocking teams in the conference; the team ranks fourth in both blocks per set (2.33) and opponent blocks per set (1.71) amongst NSIC teams. MSU is also good at serving and receiving, sitting in fourth in opponent aces per set (1.21) and fifth in service aces per set (1.76). Minnesota State averages the third highest digs per set in the conference, as the team averages 17.44 digs per set.
 
Senior Toryn Richards leads the team with 185 kills on the season, which ranks 13^th in the conference. She also has 192 digs, 21 total blocks and 16 service aces this season. Both Loveall and Klein sit behind her in kills, with 165 and 147 on the season, respectively. Klein ranks fourth on the team with 33 total blocks in her freshman season.
 
Speaking of blocks, senior middle Kiya Durant leads the Mavericks with 67 total blocks this season. Durant also has 110 kills on the season. Junior Emily Kern is second with 54 blocks in 2024. The Cleveland, Minn. native earned NSIC Player of the Week honors in the second week of the season for her excellent performance at the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational. She is four kills shy of the century mark in 2024.
 
Senior libero Ellie Kline is the digs lead for Minnesota State, with 224 on the season. She also has 15 service aces this season, including seven between the two matches against Sioux Falls and Wayne State. Madisen Miller ranks third in digs (147) and second in service aces (19).
 
Minnesota State's two setters are senior Brooke Bolwerk and freshman Jadyn Lester. Bolwerk leads the team with 414 assists in 2024; she surpassed 2,000 career assists in the match against UMary and had 45 assists in each of the previous two matches, a season high. Lester has 246 assists and leads the Mavericks with 26 service aces.
 
Mavericks head coach Corey Phelps has led this team to a great start. This is his fourth season as full-time head coach; He served as the interim head coach for a year and a half before earning the head coaching job. Phelps has a 47-53 record with the Minnesota State volleyball team.
 
 
About the Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul is on a tear in late September and early October. After falling to St. Cloud State in a sweep early in the conference season, the No. 11 Golden Bears have won eight consecutive matches. Last week, CSP played just one match against the then-No. 7 Southwest Minnesota State. After falling down 2-0, the Golden Bears came back and won the match in a five-set thriller, 3-2. Setter Teagan Starkey had 63 assists and three aces in the match, earning her NSIC Setter of the Week honors for the third-straight week.
 
The Golden Bears are one of the absolute best teams in the conference. The team ranks first in the NSIC in points scored per set (18.63), second in assists (924) and service aces per set (1.92), and third in kills per set (14.74).
 
Sophia Anderson is the Concordia kills leader, with 199 this fall. Mehlayna Straub and Makenna Nold rank second and third on the team in kills, with 168 and 161 on the season, respectively. Claudia Stahlke is fourth on the team in kills (152) and is also the blocks leader with 92 total blocks this season, which is the highest in the NSIC.  
 
As previously mentioned, Starkey has been the best setter in the NSIC this season. She has 849 assists and four NSIC Setter of the Week Awards this season.
 
The Sieling sisters, Cassie and Ellie, are the Golden Bears' two best servers and receivers. Ellie leads the team in aces with 25 and is second with 189 digs. Cassie ranks first on the squad in digs with 291 and also has 25 service aces.
 
Brady Starkey is the head of the CSP volleyball program. In 21 years with the Golden Bears, Starkey has amassed a 635-84 record, 14 NSIC titles and nine NCAA Championships.
 
Minnesota State is 4-35 all-time against Concordia. The Golden Bears have won 17-straight matches against the Mavericks.
 
 
About the Vikings
Augustana has been up and down all season, sitting with an even 10-10 record, starting the conference season 6-5. The Vikings have battled all season, competing in seven five-set matches. Augustana ended a four-game losing streak with a sweep of Sioux Falls last Saturday.
 
The Vikings are another great blocking team in the NSIC, currently ranking second in blocks per set (2.42) and first in total blocks (191.5).
 
Reagan Jansen is one of the best attackers in the conference, currently in fifth place in the NSIC with 224 kills. She also has 32 blocks in 2024. Maya Wente is second in both kills (213) and blocks (85) on this Vikings team and has the eighth-highest hitting percentage in the conference with a .333.
 
Lucy Bartee is the team's leading setter with 787 assists this season. Bartee ranks second in digs behind Gabby Jones with 199 digs. Jones has 283.
 
Sydney Tims is the Vikings' leader in blocks (86) and service aces (24).
 
Augustana's head coach is eighth year coach Jennifer Jacobs. Jacobs has been with the Vikings volleyball program since 2017 and has amassed a 113-84 record so far in her career in Sioux Falls.
 
The Mavericks are 17-34 against the Vikings and Augustana has won three-straight against MSU.