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MOORHEAD, Minn. -- With a four-match homestand now in the books, the Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team returns to the road this weekend for a pair of conference matches. The Dragons will play at No. 2-ranked Minnesota Duluth on Friday at 7 p.m. and conclude the weekend at St. Cloud State for a match that begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

MSUM will meet UMD for a 74th time, with the Bulldogs holding a 56-17 series lead. The Dragons and Huskies will square off for a 54th time with SCSU holding a 35-18 advantage in the all-time series. UMD is the third ranked opponent MSUM will have faced in 2013.

The Dragons finished 1-3 in the homestand, with two of the losses coming in five sets. They capped off that stretch with a sweep of Bemidji State on Oct. 12.

Sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle leads the Dragons with 196 kills. She is hitting .360, which is tied for sixth-best in the NSIC. Junior Maggie Gruber has 177 kills while junior Annie Palmquist has 160 and sophomore Morgan Gradishar 146. Junior Sam Sullivan has 425 set assists while sophomore Casie Baer, who has missed the past two weekends with injury, has 258. The Dragons are hitting .202 as a team.

On defense, freshman Katie Meyers leads with 224 digs, while Gradishar has 207 and sophomore Amber Krenske 189. Krenske is second in the NSIC with 5.11 digs per set. VanWinkle has 74 blocks and is second in the NSIC at 1.10 blocks per set.

Tammy Blake is in her 19th season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 325-245 at the school.

About Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs are 18-1 overall and 8-1 in the NSIC. UMD has won six matches in a row, including road sweeps of Mary and Minot State last weekend. The Bulldogs are led by one of the league's top players in senior hitter Kate Lange, who leads the NSIC in kills (336), kills per set (5.25) and points per set (5.90). She is hitting .321. Monica Turner is hitting .409 with 161 kills. Ashley Hinsch has 793 set assists for UMD, which is hitting .315 as a team, second-best in the NSIC. On defense, Julie Rainey has 339 digs, best in the NSIC. Turner leads with 50 blocks. Jim Boos is in his 12th season as UMD's head coach with a record of 312-58 at the school.

About St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State is 12-5 overall and 6-3 in the NSIC. The Huskies have won four in a row, including road wins over Mary and Minot State last weekend. They will face Northern State on Friday prior to facing MSUM. SCSU has a balanced hitting attack, led by Ellie Dietzen with 179 kills and Dani Domeier with 156. Erin Ohlemann has 475 set assists for the Huskies, who are hitting .213 as a team. Brianne Stamer leads with 266 digs while Kellan Flynn has 46 blocks. Michelle Blaeser is in her fourth season as St. Cloud State's head coach with a record of 42-59 at the school.

Last week's highlights
Maggie Gruber (MB, 6-2, Jr., Belgrade, Minn./Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa HS) led the Dragon offense with 33 kills in too matches last week. She had 18 kills in a five-set home loss to Minnesota Crookston on Friday and followed with a solid 15-kill match during the Dragons' sweep of Bemidji State on Saturday. In the Bemidji State win, Gruber hit .333 in 30 attack attempts. Gruber also had 10 total blocks on the week.

Amber Krenske (L/DS, 5-7, So., Faribault, Minn. / Faribault HS), had a solid weekend in the libero spot, recording 43 digs in two matches. She had 25 digs in a three-set win over Bemidji State on Saturday after recording 18 on Friday in a loss to Minnesota Crookston. She averaged a league high 5.38 digs per set for the week. Krenske was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts.

Sam Sullivan (S, 5-11, Jr., Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS) had solid week setting for MSUM, recording 89 assists in two matches. Sullivan averaged 11.12 assists per set for the week. She had 54 set assists in a five-set loss to Minnesota Crookston and followed with 35 assists in a sweep of Bemidji State on Saturday.