Live Stats
Live Video Stream

What's Ahead...

The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team begins their final homestand of the season this weekend with matches against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State University.

Minnesota Crookston comes to Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse on Friday evening with the match slated to start at 7 p.m. The Golden Eagles are 7-17 on the season with a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference record of 3-13. In their previous game this season, the Dragons fells to UMC in four sets, 3-1. Crookston is averaging 10.7 kills per set and 9.8 assists per set. They have 104 total service aces with 1.1 aces per set. Defensively, the Golden Eagles have 15.1 digs per set and at the net they have 188 total blocks, averaging 2.1 blocks per set.

Saturday afternoon the Beavers of Bemidji State come to town to face the Dragons for the second time this season. Earlier this season, the Dragons defeated the Beavers in four sets, 3-1. On the year, BSU is 6-19 and 4-12 in the NSIC. Offensively, the Beavers have 876 total kills on the season, averaging 9.6 kills per set. They are dishing out 8.8 assists per set and have 13.2 digs per set. At the net, BSU has 142 total blocks, knocking down 1.6 blocks per set.
 
A Look Back at Last Week...

The Dragons went 1-1 in NSIC play last weekend, defeating No. 20-ranked Augustana in a five set thriller, but falling to No. 6-ranked Wayne State in three sets.

The first match of the weekend brought the Vikings to town where the Dragons would rally after falling in the first two sets to beat the Vikings in five sets, 22-25, 25-27, 25-21, 25-21, and 15-6.

A key story of the evening was service aces, as the Dragons had seven compared to just one for the Vikings. In the match, the Dragons were led by sophomore outside hitter Carly Masloski's 19 kills while senior right-side hitter Abby Wolpern added 15 more. Junior middle blocker Kelsey Hartkopf was a huge force at the net with eight total blocks and senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle contributed 14 kills and five monster blocks to lead the Dragons to victory. Senior setter Casie Baer dished out 61 assists and had three service aces to add to her resume this evening.
 
After falling in the first two sets, the Dragons fought hard and took the next three sets from the Vikings to seal the match victory.
 
MSUM took a 6-5 lead on a huge kill by sophomore outside hitter Claire Grimm. The Dragons would go on a five point run, bringing their lead to 13-9 on a dominant block by Hartkopf and Baer. A kill by VanWinkle would give the Dragons a 23-20 lead before they would take the set, 25-21 on a kill by Masloski.
 
The fourth set went back and forth with no solid lead by either team. Another monster block by Hartkopf and Masloski would give the Dragons a 16-12 lead and they would hold onto that lead the remainder of the game. MSUM brought the set to game point on a kill by Masloski, but Augustana would not go away just yet. The Vikings took the next two points from the Dragons before MSUM took the set 25-21 on a kill from Masloski. The Dragons hit .360 in set four.
 
The decisive fifth set was controlled by the Dragons as they led nearly the entire set. The Vikings would tie the set at three on an attack error by the Dragons, however, MSUM wouldn't look back from that point on.  MSUM would take a commanding 8-3 lead on a service ace by senior libero Amber Krenske, forcing an Augustana timeout. Out of the timeout, the Dragons would score six of the next seven points, bringing the score to 14-5. Another kill by VanWinkle sealed the set and the match victory, 15-6.

On Saturday, the Dragons fell to No. 6-ranked Wayne State in three sets, 27-25, 25-20, and 25-21.

The Dragons' back-row defense was stellar in the match, finishing with 85 digs. Senior libero Amber Krenske had a match-high 28 digs while senior setter Casie Baer had 20 and senior hitter Abby Wolpern had 15.

Baer had 35 set assists while sophomore outside hitter Claire Grimm led with 11 kills. Senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle had 10 kills, a solo block and three block assists. Sophomore outside hitter Carly Masloski had nine kills and three block assists.

MSUM hit .099 for the match, with 39 kills and 24 errors in 151 attempts. Wayne State hit .194 with 44 kills and 14 errors in 155 attempts.

The Dragons faced an 11-4 deficit in the opening set but scored six points in a row, keyed by a serving run by VanWinkle, to climb within 11-10. Masloski had three kills and a block assist during that run while junior middle blocker Kelsey Hartkopf had a kill and a block assist. VanWinkle added an ace.

Hartkopf and Masloski teamed up for a block to put MSUM up 20-19, and from there, the set was close. The Dragons staved off a pair of WSC set points before the Wildcats prevailed 27-25. The first set had eight ties and four lead changes.

MSUM led 6-5 in the second set after a Wildcat serving error, but the Wildcats scored eight of the next nine points to take a 13-7 lead. A service ace by redshirt freshman defensive specialist Monica Vega brought MSUM within 24-20 but the Dragons got no closer and fell 25-20.

The Wildcats built a 13-8 lead in the third set — which featured 10 ties and four lead changes — but MSUM scored six of the next eight points to cut the lead to 15-14. Junior defensive specialist Katie Meyers had a service ace during that stretch while VanWinkle had two block assists.

MSUM was within 23-21 after a Wolpern kill but got no closer as the Wildcats secured a 25-21 win.

Vega led with two service aces while Wolpern had six kills.

Strong Senior Class to be Recognized
 
Senior day will be held on Friday's match against Minnesota Crookston. During the match, MSUM will recognize five senior athletes in Amber Krenske, Kaitlin VanWinkle, Casie Baer, Abby Wolpern, and Kelsey Hartkopf. Between the five of them, they have played 1,708 sets over the course of their career. They have also made their mark in MSUM volleyball history as three of the five have their names on the all-time leaderboard in five of the six categories represented.

VanWinkle Continues to Make Her Mark

Senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle continues to climb up the leaderboard as she has done all season. VanWinkle is now second all-time in Dragon history in block assists with 376 and is fourth all-time in solo blocks with 82. She is just two blocks away to clench the number three spot on the solo blocks leaderboard.