MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Minnesota State Moorhead volleyball will look to stretch its win streak this week in NSIC competition. The Dragons travel to take on Minnesota Crookston on Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. Moorhead will conclude the week at home hosting Bemidji State on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Live video and stats will be available at msumdragons.com. Moorhead opened the home portion of its 2026 schedule last weekend in convincing fashion. The Dragons swept both Minot State and UMary to collect its first pair of 2026 NSIC victories. 

Matchup History...Moorhead enters Thursday's contest with the Golden Eagles having one each of the last four meetings between the two schools. The Dragons defeated Minnesota Crookston twice a season ago. Since 2009, MSUM is 20-4 versus the Golden Eagles, including winning nine of the last 10 matches. Bemidji State and MSUM have split the last four meetings between them. Moorhead holds the most recent victory, winning at home on October 16, 2025 in four sets. Prior to the last four matches, MSUM had won the last 11 matchups dating back to the 2015 season. Since 2009, Moorhead is 21-3 against the Beavers. 

A Pair Of Leaders...After a potent offensive weekend, Moorhead had a pair of players at the top of the NSIC's weekly statistical leaders. Mya Pfeifer led the conference in overall hitting percentage for the week, clipping a .542 percentage across a pair of matches. Pfeifer had nine kills at a .750 clip against Minot State on Friday, following that up with six kills and a .333 percentage against UMary. The senior also tallied four total blocks in MSUM's victories. Additionally, freshman Miracle Jensen paced the NSIC in the aces per set category (0.83). Jensen had a pair of aces versus the Beavers on Friday before dropping in three against the Marauders in a three-set win. 

Martini Tabs Another...Senior outside hitter Maci Martini logged her seventh double-double of the season against UMary. Martini spiked 10 kills to go along with 15 digs in the Dragon victory. The Pequot Lakes, Minn., native was also efficient on the attack all weekend, holding a .370 clip on 46 total attempts at the net. In her career, Martini has 15 double-double performances. 

Filling In The Gaps...Along with Pfeifer, fifth-year Ava Wild and junior Leah Laqua have been strong performers on both ends of the net for Moorhead. Wild turned in another pair of impressive outings last weekend, beginning with six kills and three blocks against Minot State. The Fargo, N.D., product would turn in another six kills against UMary on Saturday. Laqua spiked 10 total kills while also adding to her impressive block total. The junior had five total blocks across the two matches, moving her season total to 46, which is third in the Northern Sun. 

Colby's Getting Closer..Senior setter Madi Colby amassed 1,000 career assists during MSUM's non-conference surge. Colby enters this weekend having dished out 1066 career assists in her MSUM career, including a team-high 234 in 2026. Currently, Colby sits just outside the top ten all-time in program history for assists, needing four assists to surpass Emily Skalicky (2022-2025) for 10th all-time. 

Kari Thompson is in her fourth season as MSUM's head volleyball coach. 

Opponent Scout

Minnesota Crookston
2026 Record: 3-9 (1-3 NSIC)
2025 Record: 6-22 (0-20 NSIC)
Head Coach: Kathleen Rustad (1st Season)
Nickname: Golden Eagles
Top Returner: Madison Cartsen (Sr., 439 SP, 118 kills, 118 digs)

Bemidji State
2026 Record: 10-2 (2-2 NSIC)
2025 Record: 7-21 (4-16 NSIC)
Head Coach: Hahni Johnson (1st Season)
Nickname: Beavers
Top Returner: Ella Kratochvil (Jr., 41 SP, 145 kills, .304 hit percentage)