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MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team begins the 2013 season this week at the Winona State tournament. The Dragons, who will play four nonconference matches at the event, open play on Friday against Michigan Tech. Later that day they will face Northwest Missouri State, and conclude the tournament with nonconference matches against Upper Iowa and Winona State on Saturday.

The Dragons will meet Michigan Tech for a eighth time, with MSUM leading the all-time series 5-2. MSUM and NWMS will meet for a seventh time with the series tied at 3-3.  Upper Iowa and MSUM will meet for a 14th time with the Dragons holding a 10-3 lead. The Dragons also hold a 60-29 edge in the series with Winona State.

About MSUM
The Dragons graduated four senior starters and do not have a senior on the roster but do return seven players who started at least nine matches a year ago, led by junior Annie Palmquist, who had a team-high 314 kills a year ago, and junior Maggie Gruber, who had 254 kills a year ago. The team will also be boosted by the return of setter Sam Sullivan, who was lost midway through the year in 2012 with an injury. Sophomore Amber Krenske steps into the libero role after recording 275 digs a year ago. Also returning with experience in the hitting corps are sophomores Kaitlin VanWinkle and Abby Wolpern. Tammy Blake, the dean of NSIC volleyball coaches, is in her 19th year at MSUM with a record of 317-239.

About Michigan Tech
The Huskies were 12-19 a year ago and are entering their second year under the direction of Head Coach Matt Jennings. The team was picked to finish seventh in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference North Division in the preseason coaches poll. The team's top hitter as a year ago, junior Shelby Jones, returns after recording 365 kills a year ago. Setter Madeline Haben also is back after leading the team with 1,068 assists a year ago, while the team's top back-row player, Jacqueline Aird, returns after posting 443 digs a year ago.

About Northwest Missouri State
The Bearcats were picked to finished sixth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.  Their top returner is junior hitter Brooke Bartosh, who led the team with 361 kills a year ago. Also returning is junior Abby Graves, who had 348 kills.  Senior Bridget Hanafin had 252 set assists a year ago as well. The Bearcats have two seniors on their roster along with five juniors.  Amy Phelps is in her second season as head coach at NWMS with a record of 15-17.

Upper Iowa
The Peacocks, who finished 16-13 overall and 10-10 in the NSIC. The Peacocks have just one senior on the roster, and that is senior Melanie Behnke, who had 397 kills and was named to the All-NSIC second team a year ago. Setter Hailey Brown had 330 assists a year ago, while junior Amanda Weiss is back after leading the team with 451 digs. In the NSIC, Upper Iowa was picked to finish 10th in the preseason coaches poll. Aaron Nelson is in his third season as Upper Iowa's head coach with a record of 31-28 at the school.

Winona State
The Warriors are coming off of a 20-11 season in 2012 when they also posted a 12-8 NSIC record. They were picked to finish sixth in the NSIC preseason poll. The team's top returner is two-time All-NSIC selection Bekah Saugen, who had 309 kills and 319 digs a year ago to lead the team in both categories. Winona State returns three experienced setters, led by Elena Kruesel (449 assists in 2012). Dave Simon is in his fifth season as Winona State's head coach with a record of 58-62.

More MSUM notes…
While MSUM graduated four seniors who made huge impacts on the Dragon program, the cupboard is far from bare entering 2013.

In fact, the Dragons return their top hitter, statistically, from a year ago (Annie Palmquist, 314 kills), along with junior Maggie Gruber (third on the team with 254 kills)and sophomore Kaitlin VanWinkle (fourth on the team with 231 kills).  Setter Casie Baer was second on the team with 368 assists. VanWinkle led the team with an impressive 124 total blocks. Sophomore Amber Krenske was second on the team with 275 digs while Baer was fourth at 231.

VanWinkle also ranked in the NSIC's season stats, ranking fifth in blocks per game at 1.14.

MSUM will also be bolstered by the return of sophomore Morgan Gradishar, who missed the 2012 season with an injury, and the return of setter Sam Sullivan, who had 82 kills and 155 set assists a year ago before suffering a season-ending injury midway through the season.

The Dragons also have two redshirt freshmen on the roster and welcome five true freshmen to the roster this year.