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What's Ahead...

The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team will host Minnesota State Mankato and No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul this week during its homecoming in Northern Sun Intercollegiate play.

The Mavericks of Minnesota State will travel to Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse on Friday and the match will take place at 7 p.m. Minnesota State is 12-5 on the season and 6-3 in the conference. As a team, the Mavericks hold an attack percentage of .243, or 13.3 kills per set. They are averaging 12.6 assists per set and have 77 service aces. Defensively, they have 14.7 digs per set and at the net they have earned 145 total blocks this season.

On Saturday, the No. 1 ranked Concordia St. Paul Golden Bears come to town to face the Dragons at 5 p.m. The Golden Bears hold an overall record of 14-3 and are 8-1 in the conference. They have 890 total kills this season (.272), averaging 14.4 kills per set. Concordia-St. Paul is strong at the net, with 154 total blocks, averaging 2.5 blocks per set. They have 84 service aces, 13.6 assists per set, and 16.7 digs per set this year.

A Look Back at Last Week...

Last week, the Dragons continued conference play traveling to No. 24 Winona State and Upper Iowa where they fell to both opponents.

In the first match of the weekend, the Dragons traveled to Winona, Minn., where they Warriors would take the game in four sets, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, and 17-25.

Despite the loss, senior setter Casie Baer would surpass 2,000 set assists on her career early in the match. Baer now has 2,035 career set assists and is only the eighth Dragon player all-time to surpass that total.

Senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle and sophomore middle blocker Carly Masloski had 11 kills apiece and hit .194 and .162, respectively, to pace MSUM. VanWinkle added five blocks and Masloski had four. Senior outside hitter Abby Wolpern had nine kills and sophomore hitter Claire Grimm had eight. Senior setter Casie Baer handed out 36 assists and 19 digs while senior libero Amber Krenske added 23 digs.

The Warriors took the first and second sets before the Dragons would come out firing in set three. With the set tied 13, MSUM would take the lead at 14-13 on a kill by Wolpern. The set was tied at 19 before the Dragons would get a spark on a block by Masloski and Hartkopf and would not trail the remainder of the set, winning the set 25-20.
 
The Dragons kept the fourth set close throughout, but the Warriors would pull away at the end taking the set 25-17, and the match, 3-1.

Saturday, the Dragons lost a 5-set heartbreaker to Upper Iowa. The Dragons took the first two sets, but the Peacocks of Upper Iowa rallied to win the next three in a row, 11-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-16, and 15-10.

On the match, Senior setter Casie Baer had 49 set assists and 15 digs for MSUM, while senior libero Amber Krenske had 20 digs.

Sophomore hitter Claire Grimm had 15 kills while sophomore hitter Carly Masloski had 13. Senior hitters Abby Wolpern and Kaitlin VanWinkle had 12 kills each. VanWinkle and Masloski each had one solo block and four assists.

MSUM's offensive attack started strong, hitting .419 in the first set on the way to a 25-11 win.Wolpern had four kills during the opening set.  Upper Iowa was within 9-6 at one point but MSUM took control with six straight points – keyed by kills from Masloski and junior middle blocker Kelsey Hartkopf – to take a 15-6 lead.

In the second set, MSUM led 10-9 but scored five in a row to take a 15-9. Grimm had a kill during that run. MSUM pulled away for a 25-16 win.

The Dragons hit just .091 in the third set and lost 25-21, and hit .000 in the fourth set and fell 25-16.

The decisive fifth set saw the Dragons take a 5-4 lead. The Dragons were within 9-8 before Upper Iowa scored six of the final seven points to secure a 15-10 lead.
 

Baer Surpasses 2,000 Set Assissts on Her Career

Senior setter Casie Baer has officially joined the ranks of just eight other Dragons to surpass 2,000 set assists on her career. She now has 2,035 set assists.

Krenske Climbs Into Top 10

Senior libero Amber Krenske has been a steady force for the Dragons' back-row defense during her four-year Dragon career. She is at 1,420 career digs, which puts her seventh all-time in school history. She is just 51 digs out of fifth place. This total is impressive considering she missed 14 matches with injuries in both her sophomore and junior years.

VanWinkle Nearing the Top

Senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle has 346 career block assists and is third all-time in school history in that category. She trails second-place Laura Tvrdik by three with 11 regular-season matches remaining. The all-time leader in the category is Mary Sussenguth (390). VanWinkle is tied for fifth all-time in school history with 77 solo blocks. VanWinkle, who surpassed the 1,000-kill milestone earlier this season, is also ninth all-time in career kills with 1,098.

Block Party

MSUM continues to lead the NSIC in blocks. The Dragons have 174 total blocks to lead the league, and their average of 2.64 per set leads the conference as well. Junior Kelsey Hartkopf has been a force at the net for MSUM; she has 87 total blocks on the season and is second in the league at 1.34 per set.

Homecoming
 
It's homecoming week at Minnesota State University Moorhead! There will be eight athletic events and many other opportunities for the community to show their Dragon Pride throughout the week. Below is an overview of the week's events:

Tuesday, Oct. 13
- Battleship, 9 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 14
- Torch's Ice Cream Palooza: 12 - 3 p.m., Campus Mall
- Scorch's Glow in the Dark Run: 9:15 p.m., Nemzek Fieldhouse

Thursday, Oct. 15
- Dean's Chili Feed: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Campus Mall
- Bubble Soccer: 6:30 p.m., Scheels Field
-Distinguished Alumni Celebration: 5:30 p.m., CMU Ballroom

Friday, Oct. 16
- Athletic's Parent & Family Social: 4 - 7 p.m., Courtyard by Marriott
- Dragon Swim Meet: 4 p.m., Nemzek
- Dragon Athletics Hall of Fame Dinner: 5:30 p.m., CMU Ballroom
- Dragon Volleyball: 7 p.m., Nemzek
- Coronation, Burning of the M, and Fireworks: 9 p.m., Nemzek

Saturday, Oct. 17
- Dragon Swim Meet: 10 a.m., Nemzek
- Parade: 11 a.m., Campus
- Dragon Zone Tailgate: 11:30 a.m.- 2 p.m., Nemzek
- Dragon Soccer: 12 p.m., Soccer Field
- Dragon Football: 2 p.m., Scheels Field
- Dragon Volleyball: 5 p.m., Nemzek

Sunday, Oct. 18
- Dragon Soccer: 1 p.m., Soccer Field