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MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team concludes a stretch of four straight road matches with contests at Augustana on Friday (7 p.m. first serve) and No. 18 Wayne State on Saturday (4 p.m. first serve).

MSUM enters the week 14-10 overall and 7-9 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Dragons are tied for eighth in the league with three other teams; the top eight teams in the league qualify for the conference tournament.

MSUM and Wayne State will meet for a 39th time with the Wildcats holding a 22-16 series lead. The Dragons will meet Augustana for 25th time with the Vikings leading the series 18-6. MSUM lost to the Wildcats at home in three sets on Oct. 4, and also lost to Augustana the next night in five sets.

The Dragons lost a pair of matches on the road last weekend, including a four-set decision to No. 1-ranked Concordia-St. Paul on Friday and a four-set loss to Minnesota State the next night.

Sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle leads MSUM with 258 kills, while junior Maggie Gruber has 223 and junior Annie Palmquist 191. Junior Sam Sullivan has 543 set assists while sophomore Casie Baer has 377 for the Dragons, who are hitting .191 as a team. On defense, sophomore Amber Krenske has  301 digs while sophomore Morgan Gradishar has 283 and  freshman Katie Meyers has 270. VanWinkle has 100 blocks, an average of 1.18 per set, which leads in the NSIC.  Tammy Blake is in her 19th season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 328-249 at the school.

About Augustana
The Vikings, who are receiving votes in the latest Division II poll, are 18-6 overall and 10-6 in the NSIC. They split a pair of matches on the road last weekend, sweeping Bemidji State on Friday before being swept at Minnesota Crookston on Saturday. Augustana is 2-3 in its last five matches. Holly Hafemeyer leads Augustana with 343 kills while Courtney Ysker has 333. Marissa Johnson leads the Vikings, who are hitting .264 as a team, with 1,037 set assists. On defense, Kayla Wallerich has 349 digs while Hafemeyer, who is second in the NSIC in blocks per set behind VanWinkle, has 95 blocks. Ashley Buckley is in her sixth year as Augustana's head coach with a record of 102-75 at the school.

About Wayne State
No. 18-ranked Wayne State is 19-7 overall and 10-6 in the NSIC. The Wildcats have won three in a row and four of five matches, including road wins at Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State last weekend. Cori Hobbs leads Wayne State with 313 kills while Alyssa Frauendorfer, the reigning NSIC Offensive Player of the Week, has 252. Leisa McClintock has 963 set assists for the Wildcats, who are hitting .230 as a team. On defensive, Courtney VanGroningen leads with 416 digs, while Frauendorfer has 86 blocks. Scott Kneifl is in his ninth season as Wayne State's head coach with a record of 221-77 at the school.

Last Week's MSUM Highlights
Maggie Gruber (MB, 6-2, Jr., Belgrade, Minn. / Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa HS) had a solid week for the Dragons, recording 16 kills in two matches, averaging 2.00 kills per set. Gruber hit .238 in 42 attack attempts. She had 10 kills in a four-set loss at Minnesota State on Saturday after recording six kills in a loss at No. 1-ranked Concordia-St. Paul. Gruber also added four service aces, two solo blocks and a team-best seven block assists for the week.

Sam Sullivan (S, 5-11, Jr., Woodbury, Minn. / Woodbury HS) led the Dragons' two-setter attack with 37 assists during two matches, an average of 4.62 per set. She had 19 assists, two kills and seven digs in a loss at No. 1-ranked Concordia-St. Paul on Friday and then had 18 assists and four digs in a loss at Minnesota State on Saturday.

Amber Krenske's (L/DS, 5-7, So., Faribault, Minn. / Faribault HS) had a team-best 31 digs during the Dragons' two matches last week. She had 21 digs in a four-set loss at Minnesota State on Saturday after recording 10 in a loss to No. 1-ranked Concordia-St. Paul on Friday. She averaged 3.88 digs for the week. Krenske leads MSUM with 301 digs on the season and an average of 4.93 digs per set.