The No. 2 University of Minnesota Duluth will look to extend its nine-match winning streak into the postseason as the Bulldogs take on the University of Sioux Falls in the opening round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament on Wednesday.

UMD (28-2, 18-2 NSIC) boasts a pair of NSIC Players of the Week for last weekend's action in senior outside hitter Kate Lange and junior libero Julie Rainey. Lange led the league in kills, including an effort of 31 in a win over then-No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul. Rainey set the new UMD career digs record, with 30 against CU and now 1,710 for her career.

Sophomore setter Ashley Hinsch had 94 assists on the weekend, an average of 11.75 per game. Hinsch had six kills as she set UMD to a .286 attack percentage on the weekend, including .337 against Minnesota State on Friday night. She added eight blocks and 10 digs in the pair of wins.

About the Cougars
Sioux Falls (19-11, 10-10 NSIC) doubled its NSIC win total from its inaugural season in the league in 2012. Junior outside hitter Emily Johnson and middle blocker Samantha Lovell each received second team All-NSIC honors last week. Johnson posted a 3.34 kill per-set average during the regular season with 32 service aces and 58 blocks, including eight solo. Lovell had 88 blocks, including 19 solo.

The Bulldogs swept USF in straight sets at Romano Gym on Nov. 1, with UMD holding the Cougars to a .139 hitting percentage to improve to 2-0 all-time against the NSIC newcomers.

All four NSIC quarterfinal matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night with the winning teams going to the top seed remaining for the semifinals on Saturday afternoon and the NSIC Championship game on Sunday.