MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The MSU Moorhead volleyball team makes its 2023 home court debut this week against the Bemidji State Beavers at 6 p.m. on Friday. In the second match of the weekend, the Dragons will battle the Golden Eagles of Minnesota Crookston on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Live stats and video are available at msumdragons.com
 
About the Dragons

Led by first-year head coach Kari Thompson, the Dragons (3-5) come into this week hoping for a pair of home victories. They competed at the Hampton Inn Invitational last weekend and it was an up and down weekend, winning one match, but dropping three. Through the first eight games of the season, MSUM has had many players step up and perform well so far. 

Defensively for the Dragons, they have 53 blocks early in the season, which is more than their opponents have had against them. Sophomore middle blocker Jocelin Feutz leads the team with 16 blocks on the season. In the blocks per set category, freshman middle blocker Ruby Bones leads the team with 1.0 block per set for a total of 12 blocks. As a team, they have 417 digs over the eight contests so far, with senior outside hitter Bridget Witzmann leading the team with 84 digs. Junior libero McKenna Crews has tallied 71 digs in the 30 sets she has played in so far this season. 

On the attack for the Dragons this season, Witzmann leads the team with 99 kills and 3.2 kills per set mark. The senior also adds 14 service aces. Junior outside hitter Jadyn Feist has also been very solid for the Dragons early this season with 68 kills so far. Freshman middle blocker Raiah Mandell adds 47 kills to the mix. Leading the team in hitting percentage has been junior middle blocker Abby Thompson, who is hitting .409 and tallying 35 kills. Setting the ball up for the Dragons has been sophomore Emily Skalicky. She has averaged 6.2 assists per set for 181 assists overall. As a team the Dragons average 10.9 kills per set and 10.0 assists per set. 
 
Scouting Bemidji State

The Beavers (3-5) are coming off of a five set thriller against Western Colorado where they took the last set 16-14 to claim the victory. They come to Moorhead with the same record as the Dragons. They will be hoping for a victory, but the Dragons have had their number as of late, winning 11 straight games against the Beavers. At home, the Dragons are 44-20-1 all-time against the Beavers. A couple standouts for Bemidji that the Dragons will have to watch out for are junior outside hitter Ashley Crowl and senior middle blocker Rylie Bjerklie. Crowl leads the team in kills with 80, and she adds eight blocks. Bjerklie is the team leader in blocks with 21, while also being effective attacking with 68 kills and a .341 hitting percentage.

The Beavers are coached by Kevin Ulmer.
 
Scouting University of Minnesota Crookston

The Golden Eagles (2-6) are coming off of a 0-3 loss to Eastern New Mexico, but don't be fooled, because the Golden Eagles played them close in all three sets. The first set was 27-25, second 25-19, and third 26-24. They also won a match last week against Southwest New Mexico, 3-0. The Golden Eagles are playing pretty good volleyball despite the deceiving record. Offensively they are led by two young standouts, freshman outside hitter Madison Carsten, and sophomore outside hitter Audrey Cariveau. They both have tallied 64 kills so far this season, with six and eight service aces respectively. Senior middle hitter Mara Weisensel leads the team in blocks with 12. Freshman Kailee Waasdorp leads the Golden Eagles in digs with 137.

The Golden Eagles are coached by head coach Nick Meseck