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What's Ahead...

The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team begins its final weekend of regular season play with matches at the University of Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State University.

On Friday, the Dragons will travel to Duluth to face the 20-7 Bulldogs who are 13-5 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play this season. The game is slated to begin at 7 p.m. In their previous matchup this season, the Bulldogs swept the Dragons in three sets, 22-18, 25-19, and 25-22. As a team, the Bulldogs have 1400 total kills this season averaging 14.7 kills per set (.296). They have 13.9 set assists per set and are averaging 0.8 aces per set. Defensively, UMD has 14.1 digs per game and at the net they have 202.5 total blocks averaging 2.1 blocks per set.  

Saturday afternoon the Dragons will wrap up regular season play at St. Cloud State at 4 p.m. The Huskies are 9-17 overall on the season with a conference record of 5-13. Earlier this year, the Dragons defeated SCSU in a three-game sweep, 26-24, 25-13, and 27-25. The Huskies have 1113 total kills this season averaging 11.7 kills per set with an attack percentage of .168. They have 11.2 assists per set and 82 total service aces. On the defensive side of the ball, the SCSU has 16.5 digs per set and at the net they are averaging 1.8 blocks per set with 22 solo blocks and 297 assisted blocks.
 
A Look Back at Last Week...

Last week the Dragons swept the competition going 2-0 on the weekend. They defeated Minnesota Crookston in four sets, 22-25, 25-13, 25-22, and 25-21. On Saturday, the Dragons took the Beavers of Bemidji State in three sets, 25-20, 25-12, and 25-13.

In the match against Crookston, senior Kaitlin VanWinkle led the team with 14 kills and four block assists.

All five Dragon seniors played a role in the win. VanWinkle also hit .370 for the match and had nine digs.  Middle blocker Kelsey Hartkopf had 11 kills and three block assists, while setter Casie Baer had 48 assists. Senior libero Amber Krenske had 27 digs while Baer had 11. Senior hitter Abby Wolpern had eight kills, nine digs and two block assists for MSUM.

Sophomore outside hitter Carly Masloski had 13 kills for MSUM, which hit .217 for the match. UMC hit just .120, led by Maggie Perrel with 11 kills.

After falling in the first set 25-22, MSUM's hitting attack warmed up in the second.  The first set was tied at 2-2 before MSUM rattled off three points in a row — one coming from a kill from Wolpern and another on a block by Baer and VanWinkle — to built a 5-2 lead.  The Dragons steadily added to the lead and were up 18-12 before taking firm control. They scored seven of the next eight points to secure a 25-13 win. Hartkopf had two kills and a block assist during that run to spark MSUM.

The Dragons jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third set — with Hartkopf contributing a kill — and led the rest of the way, including by as many as seven points.  UMC fought back and was within 24-22, but a Golden Eagle attack error gave the Dragons the set point in a 25-22 win.

The fourth set was tied at 3-3 before MSUM went on a 4-0 run — which included two kills from sophomore hitter Claire Grimm — to take a 7-3 lead. The Dragons maintained the lead for the rest of the set but UMC cut the advantage to 23-21 late.  Back-to-back kills from Masloski and Wolpern helped MSUM take a 25-21 win.

On Saturday, the Dragons dominated Bemidji State in its home finale on Saturday, sweeping the Beavers. In its home finale, the Dragons clinched a winning season with the victory and moved to within one game of eighth-place Minnesota State for the final NSIC tournament spot with two matches remaining.

Senior setter Casie Baer had 40 set assists and 14 digs for MSUM, while senior libero Amber Krenske had 19 digs.  Senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle had 14 kills, followed by senior right-side hitter Abby Wolpern with 11 and sophomore outside hitter Claire Grimm with 10.  VanWinkle also had six block assists, a match high.

The Dragons hit .245 for the match, compared to .019 for Bemidji State.

MSUM set the tone early, opening the first set on a 13-4 run,  sparked by four kills from sophomore hitter Carly Masloski and three from VanWinkle.  Bemidji State cut the lead to 24-20 late but Baer recorded a kill off of a battle at the net to give MSUM a 25-20 lead.

It was more of the same in the second set was MSUM built a 6-2 lead, thanks to two kills from Wolpern.  The Dragons led 19-11 and scored five points in a row — thanks to two kills and a block assist from VanWinkle — to push the advantage to 24-11. MSUM was never challenged in a 25-12 win.

The Dragons opened the third set on a 10-2 run, sparked by four kills from Grimm, and were never threatened in a 25-13 win.

VanWinkle Reaches Massive Milestone
 
Senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle achieved a massive milestone last weekend as she became the all-time total blocks leader at Minnesota State Univeristy Moorhead. VanWinkle has 468 total blocks on her career beating the record set by Mary Sampson (466) during the 1986-89 seasons. VanWinkle is is just 4 block assists away from reaching the number one spot on the all-time block assists leaderboard. She is also fourth on the solo block leaderboard, only two solo blocks away from moving into third.

Krenske Named NSIC Defensive Player of the Week

Senior libero Amber Krenske was named defensive player of the week this week in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. She had 46 digs over two games last week averaging 6.57 digs per set. Krenske now has 467 total digs on the season along with 21 total service aces.