The University of Minnesota Duluth will play four teams receiving national recognition over its next five rmatches making the final stretch of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season the Bulldogs' toughest yet.

No. 2 UMD (23-1, 16-0 NSIC) picked up a three-set sweep on Tuesday night against St. Cloud State and will now turn its attention to rematches with No. 11 Wayne State (Neb.) College and Augustana (S.D.) College. The Bulldogs picked up a pair of three-set sweeps over Wayne and Augie earlier this season. Saturday's match will be the home regular season finale at Romano Gym.

QUICK HITS
• Senior right-side hitter Maddy Siroin had a pair of 10-kill matches against the Wildcats and Vikings earlier this season. Sophomore middle blocker Sydnie Mauch hit .455 in the pair of sweeps, including a 12-kill performance without a single error on 18 swings to lead the Bulldogs over WSC. Junior setter Ashley Hinsch averaged 12.67 assists per set, collecting 76 on the weekend.
• Defense played a big role in UMD securing the weekend sweep, with four Bulldogs hitting double-digit digs in the (25-20, 25-18, 25-14) win over Wayne State on Sept. 27. Senior libero Julie Rainey led the way with 39 digs on the weekend, including 24 against the Wildcats, for an average of 6.50 per game.  The Bulldogs knocked down 14 blocks, eight against Wayne, with Siroin playing a part in 10 in the two matches.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS (Friday, Oct. 31, 7:00 p.m.) - Live Stats | Live Video
• No. 11 Wayne State (21-4, 13-3 NSIC) comes to Duluth on a four-match winning streak and will have revenge on its mind from a 3-0 UMD victory on Sept. 27 earlier this season. The Bulldogs are 21-5 all-time against the Wildcats.
• Errors doomed WSC in the first meeting, accounting for 31 points for UMD. Wayne hit just .070 as a team, but junior outside hitter Katie Hughes collected nine kills against the Bulldogs while junior right side Elizabeth Gebhardt added seven. Junior setter Leisa McClintock had 22 assists in the match and is currently fifth in the NSIC, averaging 11.00 per set.
• Wayne State knocked down five blocks from five different players, but sophomore middle blocker Alex Opperman played a part in two including one solo. Junior libero Chelsea VanGroningen is eighth in the NSIC in digs per set at 4.37 but had just ten against UMD with Hughes pulling down 15 in the match. Sophomore outside hitter Michael Mestl is right behind VanGroningen at ninth, averaging 4.35 digs per game.

SCOUTING THE VIKINGS (Saturday, Nov. 1, 4:00 p.m.) - Live Stats | Live Video
• Augustana (15-9, 8-8 NSIC, RV) has dropped two in a row and five of its last six entering the weekend. The Bulldogs knocked off the then-No. 21 Vikings 3-0 on Sept. 26 earlier this season and own a 29-8 all-time record against Augustana.
• Senior outside hitter Courtney Ysker had nine kills against UMD and is currently third in the NSIC averaging 4.02 kills per set. Freshman middle blocker Ashley Wilson is sixth in the NSIC with a .335 attack percentage. Junior setter Marissa Johnson collected 18 assists and is tenth in the NSIC this season, averaging 7.96 per game. The Vikings hit just .103 as a team against UMD, but hit .220 on the season, seventh-best in the NSIC.
• Augie leads the NSIC in blocks as a team, averaging 2.46 per set. The Vikings collected seven against UMD, including five by Wilson, including one solo. Sophomore middle blocker Becca Finley, who also threw down a solo blockagainst the Bulldogs, currently leads the NSIC with over a block per set herself (1.23). Johnson finished off the second-half of a double-double with 13 digs against the Bulldogs while freshman libero Tahlyr Banks led Augustana with 15.

BULLDOG 'BYTE
""It's certainly not an easy finish if you look at our schedule. We're at home with [No. 11 Wayne State and Augustana] and then we go on the road to face No. 3 and No. [8] to finish it out. So, it's good lead up to hopefully what can go from there as well. You come into that one hoping you can control the ball well and disrupt some of the things they want to do. Wayne State's a physical team that doesn't make a lot of mistakes, so it's about playing clean volleyball against them. Augustana has a tremendous outside attack with Courtney Ysker, who's a senior. They're a physical team who gave us a lot of trouble down at Augie. We're in for a battle with both of them." - head coach Jim Boos on what it will take to continue UMD's 17-match winning streak this weekend (YouTube)

UMD and Wayne State open the final home weekend of the regular season Friday night at Romano Gym. Opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m.