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What's Ahead...

The Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragons are back on the road this week with matches against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents Bemidji State and University of Minnesota Crookston.

The Beavers of Bemidji State will host the Dragons during their homecoming week on Friday night. The Beavers are 4-10 on the season and 2-3 in conference play. They are averaging 9.9 kills per set and have an attack percentage of .126 as a team. BSU has 8.9 assists per set and 13.5 digs per set. At the net, they have 80 total blocks, with a block average of 1.5 blocks per set. The Beavers are ranked 11th in the conference in the NSIC standings this week. Leading the team is Amanda Tronick who has 158 kills on the season (2.98 kills per set) and 93 digs.

In the second match of the week, the Dragons will travel to 6-7 University of Minnesota Crookston who swept Minot State University last week. As a team, the Golden Eagles have 621 kills on 1797 attempts for a hitting percentage of .173 this season. They are averaging 11.0 assists per set and have an assist percentage of .331. Crookston has 73 aces (1.4 aces per set), and is strong on the defensive side of the ball averaging 16.8 digs per set. The Golden Eagles have posted an impressive 118.0 total blocks this year led by redshirt sophomore middle hitter Kelci Green's 58 total blocks (eight solo and 50 assisted).

A Look Back at Last Week...

Last week, the Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team faced three strong opponents, two of which were nationally ranked, one of which is number one in the country.

The Dragons started out the week against number 19 and undefeated Northern State where they fell to the Wolves in a five set thriller, 2-3. Prior to coming to Moorhead, the Wolves hadn't lost a single set all season. NSU took the first two sets 25-19 and 25-13, before the Dragons battled back and claimed the next two sets 25-22 and 25-16. The decisive fifth set was close for the first half, as the Wolves clung to a 7-6 lead. However, NSU scored three straight points to push the lead to 10-6, and MSUM was unable to get closer than 2 the rest of the way. The Wolves took the set 15-9, and with that, the game. In the match, the Dragons were led by sophomore outside hitter Claire Grimm's 15 kills (.225), and senior setter Casie Baer's 44 set assists. Senior libero Amber Krenske had 23 digs to lead the defensive attack for the Dragons.

The second match of the week brought St. Cloud State to Alex Nemzek where the Dragons came away with the sweep, taking the sets 26-24, 25-13, and 27-25. In the sweep, sophomore middle blocker Carly Masloski hit a solid .455 and added three block assists. Senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle added eight kills and three block assists while Krenske posted 14 digs.

In the third and final match of the week, the Dragons faced number 1 ranked University of Minnesota Duluth and the Bulldogs swept the Dragons, 25-18, 25-19, and 25-22. In the match, MSUM was led by VanWinkle's eight kills and three blocks and Masloski's seven kills. Baer had 24 assists and seven digs on the night and as a team, the Dragons hit .088 and had 40 digs.

MSUM competes in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Tammy Blake is in her 21st season as head coach of the Dragons.

Hartkopf Ranked First in NSIC in Blocks, 3rd in Nation

Junior middle blocker Kelsey Hartkopf is first in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in blocks per set with 1.52. On the season, she has 73 total blocks, 63 assisted and four solo.  The Dassel-Cokato graduate is also ranked third in the nation in blocks per set with 1.52.  She is second in the nation in total blocks with 73.

VanWinkle Continues to Climb

Senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle continues to lead the Dragon offense with 174 kills hitting .374. She posted eight assisted blocks last week which lands her at third on the all-time block assist leaders scoreboard with 333. VanWinkle needs 68 more block assists to hold the record in Dragon volleyball history. VanWinkle also is ranked 26th in the nation in hitting percentage (.374).
 
Grimm's Game Great

Sophomore outside hitter Claire Grimm had a strong week against quality opponents with 27 kills on 92 tries. She also added five total blocks and three digs to round out the week.  

Baer Closing in on 2,000

Senior setter Casie Baer is closing in on a career milestone. She sits at 1,926 set assists for her career, and is 74 away from becoming the ninth Dragon setter to surpass 2,000 for her career.  Baer is also ranked 23rd in the nation at 10.96 assists per set.