MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team (5-3, 0-0 NSIC) returns to action this week with one home match and one away.
On Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. the Dragons host Minot State (4-4, 0-0 NSIC) in Nemzek Hall for the first home match of the season. On Saturday, Sept. 17 MSUM takes to the road for a conference match against the University of Mary (5-4, 0-0 NSIC) at 5 p.m.
Last weekend, the Dragons split four games going 2-2 at the UW-Parkside Invitational in Kenosha, Wis. MSUM took matches from UW-Parkside, 3-1, and Lake Superior State, 3-0. Two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) teams got the best of the Dragons in Kenosha. Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan managed to take matches from the Dragons 3-1, and 3-0 respectively.
Junior captain hitter
Carly Masloski leads MSUM with 103 kills so far this season. She is averaging a team-high 3.22 kills/set with a .176 hitting percentage. Redshirt-freshman hitter
Sarah Hagler is having a great start to her first season as a Dragon. Hagler has 91 kills with a .293 hitting percentage. She leads the team with 29 total blocks and is second on the team with seven service aces.
Junior defensive specialist
Sydney Foss has 32 digs on the season and is serving .960 with one service ace. Senior captain defensive specialist
Katie Meyers has a serve percentage of .963 with four service aces. She also has 24 digs.
Liesemeyer Lays It On
After playing in just two matches opening weekend, junior hitter
Taylor Liesemeyer played in all four of the Dragon's matches over the weekend leading all plays in multiple offensive categories. Liesemeyer had a team-high 40 assists to go along with a .362 hitting percentage. She led the team with 2.86 kills per set and stood tall on the defense getting nine blocks.
Libero Love
Sophomore libero
Monica Vega has gotten off to a hot start in the 2016 season. Last weeks NSIC Defensive Player of the Week, she once again led the Dragons in digs amassing 67 digs. So far this season, Vega has accumulated 179 total digs averaging 5.59 digs/set. She had a career-high 37 digs against Central Methodist (Mo.) on Sept. 3. Vega was named the D2 Volleyball Hero of the Week by herosports.com.
Consistency is Key
Junior captain
Carly Masloski has been the constant force the young Dragons need to rely on. Last year's leader in kills, Masloski has had double-digit kills in six of the first eight games of 2016. She has hit over .350 on three separate occasions, and has a season-high hitting percentage of .444.
Set 'Em Up
Redshirt-freshman
Makayla Wenzel (Chaska, Minn.) has stepped into the setter role with poise. So far, the redshirt-freshman has amassed 350 assists in eight games averaging 10.94 assists/set. She ranks seventh in the NSIC for assists. Last weekend, Wenzel racked up 148 assists, a .308 hitting percentage and three service aces.
Up Next
MSUM plays three matches next week. The Dragons play Northern State on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. MSUM then returns home for two games against Wayne State and Augustana on Sept. 23 & 24 respectively.
