AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Week #9 Poll (Nov. 3, 2014)
2014 NSIC Volleyball Weekly Release No. 10 (Nov. 3, 2014)
The University of Minnesota Duluth will be on the road to close out the regular season, beginning with a non-conference rematch with No. 3 Concordia University, St. Paul on Tuesday night (Nov. 4). The Bulldogs remained second in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Top 25 Poll released Monday, but did take one first place from the top-ranked University of Tampa, now with four.
No. 2 UMD (25-1, 18-0 NSIC) clinched a share of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season title last weekend but have a pair of ranked foes on the schedule this week, including No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State University in the conference finale. SMSU eked out a pair of five-set victories last week to move up two spots, while No. 8 Wayne State moved up three spots despite falling in five sets to UMD on Friday night. Seven teams from the NCAA II Central Region remain in the top 25 with four more among the teams receiving votes. The second official regional rankings by the NCAA will be released Wednesday, and the UMD-CU match-up will certainly have implications as the teams ranked first and second in the
initial top 10 released last week.
Junior setter
Ashley Hinsch earned her fifth NSIC Setter of the Week honor of 2014 on Monday. She led a Bulldog offense that hit .316 last week by averaging 11.73 assists per set (129 total) including a season-high 63 in UMD's five-set win over No. 11 Wayne State. She added seven kills, a pair of service aces, 23 digs, and six blocks in three victories for the Bulldogs. Four different Bulldogs have earned NSIC Player of the Week awards on 12 different occasions this season.
QUICK HITS• Junior outside hitter
Mariah Scharf knocked down a team-high 49 kills last week, including a career-high 26 in Friday night's 3-2 victory over No. 11 Wayne State while hitting .365 and averaging 4.45 kills per set with just 11 errors in 104 swings. She also collected three blocks (one solo) and six digs to go with her offensive numbers
• Senior libero
Julie Rainey averaged 5.27 digs per set, collecting 58 on the week, while opponents hit just .099 against the Bulldogs. She had 20 digs in a three-set victory over St. Cloud State on Tuesday night while also adding 23 in the Bulldogs' 3-2 win over No. 11 Wayne State on Friday.
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• No. 3
Concordia-St. Paul has been dominant since the start of conference play and have won 17 of 18 matches including nine in a row since falling to the Bulldogs on Oct. 11 including victories over three ranked opponents. UMD owns a 22-18 edge over CU in the all-time series.
• Freshman outside hitter Mariya Sampson led the Golden Bear attack in Duluth with 11 kills and just a pair of errors, hitting .391 for the match. Junior outside Anna Schlaak has been CU's top attacker all season, averaging 3.71 kills per set, but collecting 10 errors against UMD compared to eight kills. Junior Kasey Williams ranks third in the NSIC averaging 12.20 assists per set.
• The Golden Bears are second in the conference in total blocks, averaging 2.31 per game. Junior middle blocker Heather Schiller is second in the league with 103 total blocks and has the most solo blocks in the conference (22). Senior libero Taylor Dordan averages 3.43 digs per set for Concordia.
The Bulldogs and Golden Bears will take the court at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul at 7:00 p.m.
