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Live Stats (Northern match)
Live Stats (USF match)
Live Stats (SMSU match)
MOORHEAD, Minn. -- A busy week of action in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference is ahead for the Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team as the Dragons will play three league matches -- one at home and two on the road. The week begins on Tuesday when MSUM plays host to Northern State for a 7 p.m. match, and concludes with matches at Sioux Falls (7 p.m. on Friday) and No. 10-ranked Southwest Minnesota State (4 p.m. on Saturday).

MSUM and Northern will meet for the 64th time in volleyball, with the Dragons holding a 46-17 edge in the series. The Wolves won a pair of five-set matches a year ago. MSUM and SMSU will meet for a 100th time with the Mustangs holding a 53-46 edge. SMSU won the lone meeting in four sets a year ago. The Dragons have won both meetings against Sioux Falls, including a sweep of the Cougars in Moorhead a year ago.

About MSU Moorhead
MSUM (8-2, 1-1 NSIC) split a pair of matches last week. The Dragons lost a five-set heartbreaker at Minot State on Thursday before coming back to beat Mary in four sets in their home opener on Saturday. MSUM is led in hitting by sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle, who has 122 kills and has a .355 hitting percentage. Junior Maggie Gruber has 102 kills, while sophomore Annie Palmquist has 89. Junior Sam Sullivan has 198 set assists while sophomore Casie Baer has 193. Freshman Katie Meyers has 128 digs while sophomore Morgan Gradishar has 125. VanWinkle leads the Dragons with 42 total blocks. Tammy Blake is in her 19th season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 325-241 at the school

About Northern State
The Wolves are 9-0 overall and 2-0 in the NSIC. The Wolves swept Mary and Minot in conference matches last week. Sophomore Kelsey Chambers leads the Wolves with 136 kills (4.53 per set), while sophomore Cari McGarvie has 85.  Sophomore Drew Smith has 357 set assists while senior Sami Nygaard leads with 127 digs. Freshman Tori Biach has 26 total blocks as well. As a team, the Wolves are hitting an impressive .319, which is tied for second-best in the NSIC.  Brent Aldridge is in his third season as Northern State's head coach with a record of 41-25 at the school.

About Sioux Falls
The Cougars are 8-2 overall and 1-1 in the NSIC. They will face SMSU prior to facing the Dragons on Friday. They split a pair of conference matches last week, losing at Wayne State in three sets before outlasting Augustana in five sets.  Junior Emily Johnson leads the Cougar hitting attack with 131 kills, while junior Kate Hart has 85. Senior Alexa Reed has 362 set assists, while senior Andrea Odbert leads with 157 digs. Freshman Jordan Calef has 33 blocks. As a team, USF is hitting .277. Joel McCartney, the former head coach at Georgia, is in his third season as USF's head coach with a record of 37-45 at the school.

About SMSU
The Mustangs, ranked No. 10 in the nation in the latest AVCA poll, are 7-3 overall and 2-0 in the NSIC. They will face USF and Northern State prior to facing MSUM. SMSU is coming off of a pair of four-set wins over Augustana and then-No. 7 Wayne State.  The Mustangs are led offensively by sophomore Abbey Thissen with 154 kills, followed by sophomore Whitney Burmeister with 113. Sophomore Emilee Gutzmer has 470 set assists while senior Rachel Westby leads with 194 digs. Sophomore Claire Sames has 34 blocks. As a team, the Mustangs are hitting .186. Terry Culhane is in his 10th season as SMSU's head coach with a record of 243-66.

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:
--Junior Sam Sullivan and sophomore Casie Baer share the setting duties for MSUM and in terms of statistics, could not be closer. Sullivan leads with 198 set assists, while Baer has 193. Sullivan is at 4.95 assists per set while Baer is at 4.82.

--Sullivan and freshman Katie Meyers share the team lead with 13 service aces each.

Last week's highlights
Sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle had a solid week for the Dragons as they went 1-1 in NSIC matches. She finished with 24 kills in the two matches, averaging 2.7 kills per set from her middle blocker position, and hit a solid .302 for the week. VanWinkle had 11 kills in the Dragons' win over Mary on Saturday. VanWinkle added eight block assists and one solo block. She leads the Dragon hitting corps with a .355 percentage this season.

Sullivan, part of the Dragons' two-setter attack, paced MSUM with 46 assists during its 1-1 week. Sullivan averaged 5.2 assists per set and also added 26 digs in the two sets.

Sophomore Morgan Gradishar was effective on defense at both the net and in the back row during the Dragons' 1-1 week. She had 30 digs in the two matches, averaging 3.0 digs per set, and also had three block assists and one solo block. Gradishar is second on the team with 125 digs on the season.