MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The MSU Moorhead Dragon volleyball squad will be up against two very tough road tests this weekend. The first coming against the Winona State Warriors at 6 p.m. on Friday. Saturday will see the Dragons head to the Twin Cities to take on the Concordia, St Paul Golden Bears in a 2 p.m. contest.

Live stats and video are available at msumdragons.com. The matches will be the final away contests for the Dragons in 2023. 

About the Dragons

The Dragons (7-16, 3-11 NSIC), dropped a pair of games last weekend to Augustana and Southwest Minnesota State University. The Dragons competed well against Augustana, taking them to four sets with a great third set. Leaders for the Dragons against Augustana were senior outside hitter Bridget Witzmann, and junior outside hitter Jadyn Feist. Witzmann put down 16 kills while only committing four errors. She also tallied 14 digs in the match. Feist totaled nine kills and two blocks on the day. Against SMSU, Witzmann again led the team with 11 kills, freshman setter Madi Colby added 10 assists and freshman defensive specialist Kiara Olesch made an impact as well, tallying 10 digs and an ace in the contest.

Over the season the Dragons have a .171 kill percentage, 10 assists per set and 1.8 blocks per set. Witzmann leads the squad in kills with 277 on the season, she also adds 27 service aces. Senior middle hitter Abby Thompson has a team best .325 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Emily Skalicky has racked up 348 assists and 19 service aces. Senior middle blocker Tori Thompson has been a blocking machine for the Dragons this season, knocking down 45 blocks. Freshman libero Emily Ramsay leads the squad in digs with 279 this season.

The Dragons are led by first year head coach Kari Thompson.
 
Scouting Winona State

The Warriors (16-7, 8-6 NSIC), are coming off of two losses of their own last weekend. However, they took a very talented St. Cloud State squad to five sets. The Warriors had 53 kills to the Huskies 59 in the match. So far this season, senior right side hitter Sidney Paulson leads the team in kills with 279. Sophomore setter Jaci Winchell has accumulated an impressive 831 assists for Winona State. Senior middle blocker Taylor Pagel is impressive in the blocks category, knocking down 71 total blocks this season. As a team they hit for a .211 hitting percentage.

The Warriors are led by head coach Joe Getzin. 

Scouting Concordia, St Paul

The fourth-ranked Golden Bears (21-2, 12-2 NSIC), are one of the most talented teams at the D-II level this year. They tallied two more in the win column last weekend, with victories against Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. The Golden Bears hit for an incredible .540 hitting percentage against Bemidji State, and .465 against Minnesota Crookston. They are led by senior outside hitter Jasmine Mulvihill who has put down 269 kills this season. Junior setter Teagan Starkey has eclipsed the 1k assists mark on the year, totaling 1,030 assists. Junior outside hitter Emma Schmidt leads the squad in digs with 280. The Golden Bears have seven ladies over the 25 block mark, so getting the ball over the net against them is a tremendous challenge. Throughout this season the Golden Bears average 15.3 kills per set. Meanwhile, their opponents manage 10.6 kills per set.

The Golden Bears are coached by Brady Starkey.