AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Week #10 Poll (Nov. 10, 2014)
2014 NSIC Volleyball Weekly Release No. 11 (Nov. 10, 2014)
2014 NSIC/U.S. Bank Tournament Homepage

The University of Minnesota Duluth opens the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference/U.S. Bank Tournament against the University of Sioux Falls for the second consecutive season on Tuesday night, when the teams meet for the second time in five days at Romano Gymnasium.

No. 2 UMD (28-1, 20-0 NSIC/1st), which remained second in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Top 25 poll with four first-place votes, would match the best start in program history (29-1, 2007) with a win on Tuesday night and go on to host the remainder of the NSIC playoffs this weekend as the top overall seed. The winner of the NSIC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA II Central Regional tournament, with the final preliminary regional rankings arriving Wednesday before the selection show on Sunday night.

The Central region boasts five of the top seven teams in the nation with No. 3 Concordia University, St. Paul staying put after a non-conference loss to UMD last week, and No. 5 Southwest Minnesota State moving up despite falling to UMD, followed by the University of Nebraska-Kearney at sixth and Wayne State (Neb.) College in seventh. Seven of the nation's top 25 are from the Central Region, and three more rank among the teams receiving votes just outside of the poll.

Junior setter Ashley Hinsch, last week named the NSIC Player of the Year, earned NSIC Setter of the Week honors for the sixth time this season on Monday. Hinsch averaged 13.75 assists per set (165 total for the week) as UMD hit .274 on the week. She had a double-double with 10+ digs in all three games while also adding seven blocks, six kills, and four service aces on the week.

QUICK HITS
• Sophomore middle blocker Sydnie Mauch knocked down 44 kills (3.67 average) as UMD picked up three wins, two over top-ten teams (No. 3 Concordia-St. Paul and No. 6 Southwest Minnesota) last week with a team-high .438 hitting percentage. She collected a season-high 19 kills in a 3-1 non-conference victory over Concordia-St. Paul on Tuesday evening and stood tall at the net all week with seven blocks. Junior outside hitter Mariah Sharf averaged four kills per set, collecting a team-high 48 kills on the week while also grabbing four blocks, two solo. Junior middle blocker Monica Turner led the Bulldogs at the net with nine.
• NSIC Libero of the Year, senior Julie Rainey averaged 4.83 digs per set on the week without a single reception error as UMD knocked off a pair of ranked opponents in three victories and had 15 digs and a pair of service aces in UMD's three-set sweep of Sioux Falls on Friday night.
• The Bulldogs made quick work of the Cougars on Friday night with a 25-18, 25-12, 25-5 win in Sioux Falls with four playershitting double-digit kills and senior outside hitter Katie Ledwell just missing the mark with nine to go with her 12 digs. UMD's first match-up with USF was much tighter when the Cougars came to Duluth, but the Bulldogs still prevailed in three: 25-17, 25-13, 25-20.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS (Tuesday, Nov. 11, 7:00 p.m.) - Live Stats | Live Video
• Sioux Falls (17-13, 11-9 NSIC/8th) fell in straight sets last season in Duluth in the NSIC Quarterfinals and will be looking for its first ever win against the Bulldogs as UMD is 5-0 all-time against the Cougars.
• Senior outside hitter Emily Johnson earned All-NSIC second team honors, finishing the regular season with a team-high 382 kills but had just five in two matches against UMD. Senior middle blocker Samantha Lovell finished sixth in the NSIC in hitting percentage at .333 with 209 kills. Senior outside Kate Hart had 348 kills but led the league in service aces, collecting 41 on the season.
• USF used a pair of freshman setters against the Bulldogs Friday night - Sydney Schaap and Kayla Crane - who collected just 23 assists on the night compared to 46 for UMD's Hinsch. Sophomore libero Abby Folk had 12 digs to lead the Cougars against the Bulldogs last week.

Opening serve of each of the NSIC Quarterfinal matches is set for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night.