The University of Minnesota Duluth returns to Romano Gym this weekend for Homecoming, taking on a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foes before closing out its non-conference schedule with a home match on Tuesday.
The No. 2 Bulldogs (13-1, 4-1 NSIC) open a month of October in which they will leapfrog home and away weekends. UMD has played just three matches at home in 2013, and though they are undefeated, head coach
Jim Boos' team is still looking to establish the home-court advantage that they have enjoyed in years past. The hope would be that this weekend could be the spark his team needs as they enter the long haul of the NSIC schedule.
The Opponents
Upper Iowa University enter the weekend with a 6-8 overall record, winless in two road matches, and 2-3 in the NSIC. Head coach Aaron Nelson is in his third season at the helm of the Peacocks. Offensively, his team is led by a pair of young outside hitters in freshman Chelsea Berry and sophomore Jennifer Mundt. Mundt's 186 kills are good for third in the conference as she offers a 3.26 per-game average. Junior setter Hailey Brown has 411 assists on the season and has been UIU's strongest weapon serving with 22 aces in 2013. Junior libero Amanda Weiss leads the team with 176 digs, but the Peacocks boast four players who have totalled over 100.
The Bulldogs are 7-0 all-tme against Upper Iowa, including a three-set sweep when the two teams met in Duluth on Oct. 19 last season.
Winona State University heads out on the road having won their last two despite a 5-9 record (2-3 NSIC). Head Coach Dave Simon is in his fifth season pacing the sidelines for the Warriors. Senior outside hitter Bekah Saugen leads WSU offensively with 152 kills in 2012, good for a 2.87 per-set average. Three players each have 180 assists for the Warriors as the team boasts a trio of senior setters that have split time across the board. Sophomore libero Leah Perri has defensive digs, a 3.5 per-set average, but Saugen and senior outside hitter Katie Froehle have also contributed 180+ saves in 2013.
UMD boasts a 68-1 all-time record against the Warriors. The Bulldogs knocked WSU out of the 2012 NSIC tournament with a 3-0 win on Nov. 16 last season.
Northern Michigan University boasts a 10-4 record, but face a pair of conference opponents this weekend before heading to UMD on Tuesday afternoon. Dominic Yoder returns for his seventh season as the head coach of the Wildcats in 2013. Senior outside hitter Lina Lopes leads NMU with 188 kills and also has tallied the second-most digs for her Wildcats in 2013 with 161. Senior setter Kellisha Harley has 560 assists on the year while also earning 20 service aces and 100+ digs. The team's libero is sophomore Alex Berger, who has 167 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Sarah Hamilton tops NMU with 38 total digs in 2012.
Having scrimmaged in the preseason, the Bulldogs and Wildcats are familiar with each other in 2013. UMD is 23-15 all-time against Northern Michigan included a three-set sweep on Sept. 4, 2012.
The Storylines
Coach Boos surpassed Pati Rolf for most all-time with his 311th career win last weekend, and his team will look to keep adding to that total in the coming days.
At this point, it sounds like a broken record to say that senior outside hitter
Kate Lange is close to moving up the all-time kill ranks at UMD, but at 1,680 career kills, she sits just 16 behind Joleyn Young ('91) for third-place. Also moving up in the record books is junior libero
Julie Rainey, whose 1,386 career digs places her at sixth, just 22 saves away from cracking the top five. Sophomore setter
Ashley Hinsch has entered the top ten in assists in just her second season. Her 1,729 career total is ninth all-time, just under 300 away from moving into eighth place.
On the road for 11 of their first 14 matches, the second-ranked Bulldogs will be happy to enjoy their home court for at least a few days. Live video for all three matches will be available by
clicking here, or you can follow along with live statistics
here.
UMD starts Homecoming weekend with a 7:00 p.m. opening serve against Upper Iowa on Friday and will have a quick turnaround as they take on Winona State at 4:00 p.m. Saturday. Tuesday's match against Northern Michigan will be another 7:00 p.m. start.
