Volleyball | 10/3/2018 1:50:00 PM
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Live Stats (Winona)
Live Stats (Upper Iowa)
Game notes (pdf)
The Minnesota State University Moorhead volleyball team is now 9-7, 5-4 NSIC. Last week, the Dragons fell to Minnesota State University-Mankato, 3-0. MSUM then faced No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul and fell 3-0. This week the Dragons are back on the road to take on Winona State University on Friday at 7 p.m. and Upper Iowa University on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Dragons will return home to take on No. 2 Northern State on Oct. 9 at 6 p.m.
Winona State University
Winona State is 8-9 overall and 5-4 in the NSIC. Last week, the Warriors picked up two wins over Minot State (3-1) and U-Mary (3-0). The Warriors are hitting .200 as a team this season and have posted 143 total blocks, compared to 127 from their opponents. Winona currently ranks second in the NSIC in blocks per set (2.27). Megan Flom is the offensive leader with 190 kills (3.11 k/s) and Cori Meyers follows with 140 kills (2.64). Taylor Goar has returned to the front row after an injury had her seeing time in the backrow. Goar has contributed double-digit kills in each of her last five outings. Becca Pagel is the team's leader in digs with 3.98 digs per set and Goar follows with 3.20 digs per set. Bre Maloney runs the offense and has 612 assists (9.71 a/s) on the year. Sophie Wilker is the team's blocking leader with 1.17 blocks per set which ranks third in the NSIC. Last time the two teams met, the Warriors won 3-0.
Upper Iowa University
Upper Iowa is 11-6 overall and 4-5 in the NSIC. Last week, the Peacocks picked up two 3-0 wins over U-Mary and Minot State. The Peacocks are hitting .206 this season compared to .155 from their opponents. Upper Iowa also applies pressure from the service line and averages 1.52 aces per set while limiting the opposition to .86 aces per set. Offensively, Anna Winter leads the team with 3.50 kills per set. Lauren Wombles and Kaitlin Niedert have 131 and 130 kills on the year, while Wombles is hitting at a .280 mark to lead the team. Setter Malissa LeClaire is averaging 10.53 assists per set, upping her average from last season where she dished out 9.53 assists per set. Bethany Lovhaug is the Peacock's top blocker and averages 1.10 blocks per set. LeClaire averages .48 aces per set which ranks second in the NSIC, and Haley Poula averages .41 aces per set to sit fifth in the NSIC. Haley Weepie averages 4.24 digs per set to lead the team. Last time the two teams met, the Peacocks won 3-0.
No. 2 Northern State
No. 2 Northern State is 16-1 overall and 8-1 in the NSIC. Last week, the Wolves defeated the former No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul 3-2 and Minnesota State 3-1 at home. The Wolves are hitting .330 this season and hold their opponents to a .138 hitting percentage. Hailey Busch leads the offense with 4.02 kills per set, while Jenna Reiff, Laura Snyder, and Sally Gaul each contribute over 2.0 kills per set. Setter Ashley Rozell averages 12.36 assists per set and leads the NSIC with .64 aces per set. Defensively, Jaiden Langlie leads the team with 4.28 digs per set and four players average over two digs per set. The team ranks first in the NSIC in both hitting percentage and aces. The Dragons faced off against the Wolves once this season, with the Wolves winning 3-0.
More About MSUM…
Vega Keeps Digging
Senior libero
Monica Vega has a career total of 1,645 digs after two matches last week. Vega currently ranks fourth all-time in career digs for MSUM. She needs 163 digs to surpass Emily Hegg's 1,807 digs from 1994-1997. With 11 regular-season matches to be played, she will need to average over 14.7 digs per match to move into third place. The senior also ranks third in the conference in digs per set with 5.07.
Freshman Contributors
In NSIC play, several freshmen have stepped-up into major roles.
Amanda Carlson increased her production since the start of conference play. She increased her kills per set average from 2.98 to 3.16 in conference action. Her hitting percentage also improved to .187 in NSIC play from her overall average of .177. Layla Sanati-Zaker saw consistent playing time against Concordia-St. Paul and led the team with seven kills. Sanati-Zaker has been a versatile attacker and has moved from the middle blocker position to the right side.
Katelyn Selensky has remained a steady contributor from the setter position where she averages 3.93 assists per set. In NSIC play, Selensky has averaged 2.75 digs per set which is second on the team.
Strength in Blocking
The Dragons continue to out-block their opponents and hold a 2.2 to 1.6 blocks per set edge. The team has increased their productivity in conference play where they average 2.41 blocks per set and hold their opponents to a 1.56 b/s average. MSUM ranks fourth in the NSIC in blocks per set.
Kylie Kanwischer averages 1.05 blocks per set to rank sixth in the NSIC, while
Kaylyn Jenkins sits in eighth place with 1.02 blocks per set.
Tough Road Ahead
In the remaining 11 matches of the regular-season, the Dragons will be facing seven teams that have been either ranked or have received votes in the AVCA Top 25 this season. This includes the current No. 2 Northern State, No. 5 Minnesota Duluth, and No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State.
Returning Home
The Dragons will have a full-week of home games starting with Northern State on Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. MSUM continue to play host to Augustana University on Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. and Wayne State on Oct. 13 at 2 p.m.
