Volleyball | 9/15/2015 3:55:00 PM

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What's Ahead...

MOORHEAD, Minn. – After opening the season with seven straight non-conference road games, the 7-1 Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team is eager to begin conference play in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this week.

First, the Dragons travel to Minot State in their conference opener and take on the Beavers on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Beavers are 3-4 thus far on the season. Last week, MSU played in the Upper Iowa Tournament where they went 1-3 on the weekend. Prior to that, the Beavers traveled to Alaska where they participated in the Alaska Fairbanks Nanook Classic and went 2-1 in the opening weekend of their season. The Beavers have been led in the 2015 season by senior middle hitter Tarah Dabovich's 1.78 kills per set (.230) and senior outside hitter Mallory Sall's 3.22 kills per set and 3.13 digs per set. As a team, the Beavers have an attack percentage of .204 and add 14.8 digs per set.

Next, MSUM will host the University of Mary in their home opener at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse. The Marauders are 5-4 overall and are under new leadership with first year head coach Thais Franca. In their last weekend of play, Mary traveled to the University of Nebraska-Kearney's New Victorian Inn & Suites/Runza Fall Classic Tournament where they went 3-1. On the season, the Marauders have exhibited excellent defensive play amassing 67 total blocks and averaging 15.4 digs per set. They are led by junior libero Alex Brown's 5.03 digs per set. On the offensive side of the ball, sophomore outside hitter Lauren Randall is leading the team with 3.29 kills per set (.210).

Dragon head coach Tammy Blake is in her 21st season.

A Look Back At Last Week...

In their final week of non-conference play, the Dragons traveled to Sioux Falls, S. D., where they took part in the Augustana Volleyball Showcase, going 3-1 in the tournament.

In their first match on Friday, the Dragons beat Southwest Baptist, 25-14, 25-8, and 25-19 bringing their record to 5-0 on the season. The defense dominated as they held the Bearcats to an unbelievable .000 hitting percentage. They also recorded 21 total blocks compared to just four assisted blocks by the Bearcats. Senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle led the way with 11 kills with sophomore hitter Carly Masloski right behind her with nine. Junior middle blocker Kelsey Hartkopf was strong at the net with eight total blocks and senior libero Amber Krenske added 16 digs.

Next, MSUM faced eighth ranked Grand Valley State that would take five sets to decide, the largest margin of victory for either team being just four points. It was truly a team victory as senior setter Casie Baer posted a career high 62 assists, Masloski had 23 kills, VanWinkle added 19 more, and senior hitter Abby Wolpern and sophomore hitter Claire Grimm collected 12 apiece. Redshirt freshman Monica Vega led the defense with 22 digs while Krenske added 20 more.

The Dragons split in the final day of the tournament, beating Black Hills State 25-13, 25-15, and 25-12, but falling in a five-set heartbreaker to Northwest Missouri State, 25-20, 25-19, 24-26, 21-25, and 21-19.

In their match against Northwest Missouri State, the Dragons trailed 2-0 but won the third and fourth sets to force a decisive fifth set. The final set was an intense battle with 16 ties and eight lead changes. VanWinkle's 20 kills and Krenske's 18 digs led the Dragons. The loss ended a six match winning streak for the Dragons.

Although there were early lead changes in their match against Black Hills State, the Dragons were never truly challenged as they swept the Yellow Jackets in three sets. They were led by Baer's 37 set assists and VanWinkle's 14 kills.