MANKATO, Minn. – The Minnesota State volleyball team (18-8, 10-8 NSIC) qualified for its first NSIC Tournament appearance with wins over Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston last weekend as the team clinched the seven-seed in the tournament. Now, the Mavericks will face off against the two-seed, Concordia-St. Paul (21-5, 16-2 NSIC) in a match on Tuesday, November 19 at 6 p.m. in the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul.
 
About the Mavericks
Minnesota State made its first NSIC Tournament since 2018 with a pair of wins over the Beavers and the Golden Eagles last weekend. The Mavericks defeated BSU 3-1 on Friday, and senior middle Kiya Durant ended the match with four solo blocks and a block assist in the match. She put up 13 kills against Minnesota Crookston on Saturday, but Emma Loveall tallied 14 kills on attacks against UMC, as the Mavericks won 3-1, also.
 
Both seniors mentioned above have had excellent final seasons for Minnesota State. Durant was named to the NSIC' All-Conference Second Team for the second time in a row. She led the team with 96 total blocks in regular season play and recorded a hitting percentage of .313 in 2024, good for 11^th in the NSIC. Durant also finished the regular season with 195 kills. Loveall is second on the team with 259 kills, the most in a single season of her career. She recorded a career-high 23 kills in the Mavericks' upset win against No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State at home. The Spirit Lake, Iowa native also has 33 total blocks this season.
 
Minnesota State's kills leader is another senior, Toryn Richards. Richards is an all-around player for the Mavericks, as she ended with 262 regular-season kills, 235 digs and 18 service aces in her last year in the program. Her digs total was good for second-most on the team.
 
Arguably the best player for the Mavericks has been freshman phenom Avey Klein. Hailing from New Prague, Minn., Klein was the only MSU player on the NSIC All-Conference First Team in her rookie season. Klein led the team in kills in conference play in 2024, as she tallied 216 kills against NSIC opponents. She ended up with the third-most kills on the squad with 254 kills. Klein also recorded 48 total blocks and 159 digs. Her best game also came against SMSU, as she set new career-highs in kills (20), digs (23) and blocks (4) in the upset.
 
Emily Kern is also having another solid season for Minnesota State. The junior middle blocker put up 92 total blocks and 136 kills this year. Junior teammate Ellie Kline also was key to the Mavericks' success as the team's libero. Kline led the team with 377 digs in 2024, which ranked 10^th in the NSIC. Kline was also effective from the service line, as she ended the regular season with 22 aces.
 
Senior setter Brooke Bolwerk led the team with 770 assists during the regular season. Bolwerk also ended with 17 total blocks and 233 digs. Freshman Jadyn Lester also got some time as the team's setter and she recorded 246 assists and led the team with 29 service aces in 2024. Junior defensive specialist Madisen Miller was right behind her, as the transfer from Florida International ended with 28 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 52-56 record with the Minnesota State volleyball team.
 
 
About the Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul has had an excellent season. Despite a difficult non-conference schedule, the Golden Bears started the season with a 5-3 record. After the team dropped its second conference match of the season to St. Cloud State, CSP won 13 straight matches before losing once again to the Huskies. The Golden Bears also closed out their season with wins against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State.
 
This Golden Bears team is not only second in the conference in terms of wins and losses, but they are also one of the best teams in the league when examining the stats, as well. Concordia ranks top-three in the NSIC in total points, team hitting percentage, assists, kills and service aces.
 
Six Concordia-St. Paul players found their way onto the NSIC All-Conference Teams. Senior outside hitters Sophia Andersen and Emma Schmidt both made First Team All-Conference, as well as senior setter Teagan Starkey. Andersen ended the year with 304 kills and 31 total blocks. Schmidt tallied 240 kills and 254 digs. Starkey led the conference with 1,243 assists and recorded 210 digs and 27 aces. Freshman Makenna Nold also made the First Team and was also named the NSIC Freshman of the Year. Nold recorded 251 kills, 83 blocks and 35 service aces in her rookie campaign.
 
Claudia Stahlke and Cassie Sieling made the NSIC All-Conference Second Team. Stahlke led the conference with 134 total blocks in 2024. She also finished the regular season with 210 kills. Sieling led the team with 430 digs this season. She is also second on the team, behind her sister Ellie Sieling, with 39 digs. Ellie ended with 40.
 
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. He also holds the best winning percentage across all three divisions of NCAA volleyball competition with a .883 all-time winning percentage.
 
Minnesota State has lost its previous 18 matches to Concordia-St. Paul. The team is 4-36 all-time against the Golden Bears. CSP won a four-set match against the Mavericks earlier this season in October.