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Live Stats (Mary match)
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference season commences for the Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team this week. The Dragons travel to Minot State for an NSIC match at 7 p.m. on Thursday, and conclude the week with their home opener against Mary at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

The Dragons are 8-0 all-time against Minot State, including a pair of wins over the Beavers last year. MSUM has never lost to Mary, holding a 19-0 all-time series lead. The Dragons swept the Marauders in both matches a year ago.

About MSU Moorhead
Paced by all-tournament selections Maggie Gruber and Kaitlin VanWinkle, MSUM went 3-1 at the Peggy Martin Challenge hosted by Central Missouri, which was held in Warrensburg, Mo. The Dragons earned wins over Pittsburg State, Emporia State and McKendree and suffered their only loss of the weekend to No. 7 Central Missouri in four sets. VanWinkle leads MSUM with 98 kills, while Gruber is at 85 and junior Annie Palmquist is at 73. Sophomore Casie Baer has 151 set assists while junior Sam Sullivan has 150. Freshman Katie Meyers has 96 digs, Sophomore Morgan Gradishar has 95  while VanWinkle leads with 33 total blocks. As a team, the Dragons hit .209. Tammy Blake, the dean of NSIC volleyball coaches, is in her 19th year at MSUM with a record of 324-240.

About Minot State
The Beavers are 4-5 on the season. They went 2-2 at the NSIC Challenge in Sioux Falls last week.  Minot State has won three of five games after opening 0-3.  Mallory Sall leads Minot with 3.25 kills per set, while Jen Dixon is at 3.00. Emily Byrne leads at 9.58 set assists per set while Alexis Boutin is at 3.55 digs per set. Minot State is hitting .235 as a team so far this season. Travis Ward is in his third season as Minot State's head coach with a record of 28-45 at the school.

About Mary
Mary is 3-4 on the season. The Marauders, who will face Northern State on Thursday prior to facing MSUM, enter the week on a two-game winning streak after going 2-1 at the Mount Olive Tournament in North Carolina last week. Mary opened with a loss to Armstrong Atlantic State but beat Alabama-Huntsville and Mount Olive to close the weekend.  Alexis Jacobs leads Mary with 75 kills while Janell Finkbeiner leads with 149 set assists. Alex Brown has 107 digs while Paige Smith leads with 26 total blocks. Steve Novacek is in his fourth season as Mary's coach with a record of 8-56 at the school.

2013 Schedule
MSUM completed its nonconference schedule with a strong 7-1 mark. Now the Dragons turn their focus to the rugged NSIC schedule.  Four NSIC teams are ranked in the top 10 in the AVCA Division II Poll: Minnesota Duluth (first), Concordia-St. Paul (second), Wayne State (seventh) and Southwest Minnesota State (10th). Augustana, which is 8-0, is receiving votes in the poll. The Dragons have already faced one ranked team -- then No. 7-ranked Central Missouri.

MSUM Notes:
--MSUM is ranked 38th in Division II in kills per set with 13.32, and also ranked 61st in digs per set at 16.35.

--Sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle is ranked 57th in Division II in hitting percentage (.365) and 61st in the nation in blocks per set (1.06). VanWinkle is ranked second in the NSIC in blocks per set as well.

--Junior Sam Sullivan and sophomore Casie Baer share the setting duties for MSUM and in terms of statistics, could not be closer. Baer leads the team with 151 assists, while Sullivan is at 150. Baer averages 4.87 assists per set while Sullivan is at 4.84.

--A pair of true freshmen have become immediate contributors for MSUM. Freshman defensive specialist Katie Meyers is first on the team with 96 digs, averaging 2.87 digs per set. Freshman hitter Brianna Atkins has 37 kills through eight matches and is averaging 1.24 kills per set. Both freshmen have appeared in all 31 sets this season.

--Sophomore Morgan Gradishar, who sat out 2012 with an injury, has returned to the floor and been a key player in the team's 7-1 start. She is fourth on the team in kills (57) and second on the team in digs with 95.