The top-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth suffered a rare defeat against a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe earlier this week when the Bulldogs slipped in non-conference play against No. 3 Concorida University, St. Paul on Tuesday night. No. 1 UMD (13-3, 6-1 NSIC) will have a tough task ahead of it as it tries to bounce back and avenge a defeat in the 2014 NCAA II Central Region Tournament finals when the Bulldogs travel to Marshall, Minnesota to take on No. 5 Southwest Minnesota State University dipping back into league play against the Mustangs.

After its revenge match against SMSU, UMD will travel to the University of Sioux Falls. Unlike in October when the Bulldogs spent the majority of its time on the road, they'll be back at home every other week

SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS | 12-3, 5-2 NSIC
No. 5 Southwest Minnesota State has won three straight since being up-ended by the same Concordia-St. Paul squad late last month ... the Mustangs were also bested by No. 10 Wayne State (Neb.) College in conference play and also fell to No. 4 Ferris State University in its lone defeat of the interconference schedule ... SMSU returns nearly its entire cast from a team that made the NCAA II National Championship game last seaosn including 2014 NSIC Freshman of the Year, middle blocker Eisha Oden ... senior right-side hitter Abbey Thissen leads the Mustang attack with 3.65 kills per game, with Oden and junior middle blocker Sarah Parker not far behind at 2.80 and 3.13, respectively ... Oden also ranks sixth in the NSIC knocking down 1.09 blocks per game on the year ... head coach Terry Culhane is in his 12th season coaching at Southwest Minnesota State ... the Bulldogs are 63-15 all-time against the Mustangs but did fall last time out 3-1 on Nov. 22, 2014 in the NCAA II Central Region tournament ... opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m. Friday night.

SCOUTING THE COUGARS | 8-8, 0-7 NSIC
Sioux Falls has been slow out of the gates in NSIC play after an 8-0 start to the year ... the Cougars took Upper Iowa University to five sets last weekend as well as Minnesota State University Mankato (R.V.) the week before ... freshman outside hitter Makenna Rockeman leads the USF attack averaging 2.89 kills per game while junior middle blcoker Jordan Calef is hitting .351 with 2.38 k/g ... head coach Joel McCartney is in his fourth season leading the Cougars ... UMD is 6-0 all-time against Sioux Falls, but the pesky Cougars took them to five games last time out in the NSIC Tournament on Nov. 11, 2014 ... the two teams will take the court in Sioux Falls for a 2:00 p.m. first serve.

OUTSIDE HITS
Prior to falling against CU on Tuesday night, UMD locked up the No. 1 ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II Top 25 Poll for the fourth-straight week - a first in program history ... junior outside hitter Taylor Wissbroecker earned her first career NSIC Player of the Week honor last week, posting 5.17 kills per game, and had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs against Concordia-St. Paul ... senior setter Ashley Hinsch earned her 12th career NSIC Setter of the Week honor averaging 14.17 assists per game including a season-high for three-set matches with 49 against Minot State last Saturday night. She had 53 assists Tuesday against the Golden Bears ... senior middle blocker Monica Turner's next kill will be no. 1000 in her career, the 17th player in Bulldog history to match that feat -- with 1,004 moving her into the top-15 all-time ... senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf will be the 18th player to hit 1,000 kills for UMD as she currently sits at 980.

LINKS TO WATCH
... at Southwest Minnesota State: Live Stats | Live Video
... at Sioux Fall: Live Stats | Live Video

UMD and SMSU will renew their rivalry Friday night in Marshall at 7:00 p.m.