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What's Ahead
MOORHEAD, Minn. – In its first home stretch of the season, the Minnesota State University Moorhead team won two out of three matches to get back to .500 at 7-7. The Dragons return to the road with two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches this week on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, MSUM travels to Sioux Falls, S.D. to face the No. 16 Augustana Vikings. Augie has posted a record of 11-3 this season and owns two impressive victories over top-15 opponents. In the Oredigger Classic, the Vikings defeated No. 12 Grand Valley State in four sets. Last Tuesday, Augie traveled to then No. 7 ranked Southwest Minnesota State and beat the Mustangs in five sets. The Vikings have a 4-2 record in the NSIC so far and will host No. 24 Northern State on Saturday, one day after MSUM comes to town. Junior outside hitter Courtney Ysker leads the Viking offensive attack with 205 kills (3.80 per set) while freshman defensive specialist Tahlyr Banks leads the defense with 253 digs (4.69 per set).
Next, MSUM travels to Wayne, Neb. to face the Wayne State Wildcats. The Wildcats are currently 12-2 on the season and posses a No. 13 ranking in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll. After losing to Grand Valley State in the second game of the season, the Wildcats won ten straight matches with key victories over Minnesota State and No. 16 Augustana. Wayne State has won five out of six NSIC matches this season. Wayne State's offense is led by a balanced attack; the Wildcats have three players who have between 155 and 163 kills. Junior outside hitter Katie Hughes has 163, junior outside hitter Elizabeth Gebhardt has 158, and sophomore middle blocker Alyssa Frauendorfer has 155. Gebhardt also leads the team in blocks this season with 42 total blocks.
A Look Back at Last Week
MSUM enjoyed its first home stand of the year last week, winning two out of three matches, including its first two NSIC victories of the season.
On Tuesday, the Dragons beat Minot State in three sets 28-26, 25-14, and 25-21. Senior Maggie Gruber led the Dragons in kills with 12 and hit an impressive .346 in 26 attacks. Junior Morgan Gradishar posted one of her better games of the season, adding 10 kills, hitting .409 in 22 attacks. Junior Casie Baer led the team in assists with 25 and junior Kaitlin VanWinkle led the team in total blocks with three.
The Dragons dropped a match to Winona State on Friday night in three sets, 25-20, 25-17, and 25-23. McKenna Larsen had a big match for the Warriors, posting 27 assists, eight digs, and five kills. Gruber had another impressive match for the Dragons, recording 19 kills while hitting .484 in 31 attacks. Senior Sam Sullivan led the team in assists and digs with 16 and 10, respectively.
On Saturday, MSUM got back in the win column against Upper Iowa, defeating the Peacocks in four sets 25-21, 25-16, 20-25, and 25-16. Junior Kailtin VanWinkle led all players in kills with 20 and hit a remarkable .548 in 31 attacks. She also led the Dragons in blocks in the match with three. Gruber finished off an impressive week with 14 kills. Freshman Sydney Foss filled in nicely in the libero-role and posted 29 digs in the match. Baer led the Dragons in assists with 26.
Gruber's Big Week
Gruber had a very impressive week, posting 45 kills and leading the Dragons in kills in two out of three matches. Gruber hit very effectively in the matches against Minot State and Winona State, hitting .346 and .484 respectively. Her 19 kills against Winona State matched a career high for Gruber and the 31 attacks and .484 hitting percentage were a season high. Gruber has 140 kills this season, posting double-digit kills in right of 14 matches.
VanWinkle leads charge over the Peacocks
VanWinkle posted her second 20-kill match of the season when she led all players with 20 kills in the victory over Upper Iowa on Sunday. She also posted an incredible .548 hitting percentage on 31 attacks in the match. VanWinkle has now compiled 174 kills on the season and is hitting .345. Her hitting percentage is good enough to be ranked 7th in the NSIC. VanWinkle is also ranked fourth in blocks per set and eighth points per set. She has posted 1.10 blocks per set and 4.11 points per set.
Foss Steps into Bigger Role
Foss has seen her role increase in her first season as a Dragon. On Friday night against Winona State, she put the libero shirt on for the first time. She responded with nine digs, a service ace, and an assist against Winona State. Foss shined in the win over Upper Iowa, recording 29 digs and a service ace. Her four service aces over the week increased her total to 23 and put her at 3rd in the NSIC with 0.44 service aces per set.
Ziemer Sees the Court
Sophomore Kara Ziemer saw her first action of the season on Friday night against Winona State and added five digs. With one game under her belt on the season, Ziemer settled in nicely on Saturday and posted 14 digs and two service aces in the victory over Upper Iowa.
No Place Like Home
After competing in its first 11 matches away from home, the Dragons finally got to play in the three matches in the comfort of Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse last week. The Dragons utilized an excited home crowd and pulled off victories in two out of three matches. Since 2009, the Dragons are 34-26 at home, highlighted by a 10-4 record in 2010. The Dragons have posted a 5-5 record in the last two seasons at home.
