The University of Minnesota Duluth returns to its home court for the final stop of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season as the Bulldogs take on Minnesota State University Moorhead and No. 3 Northern State University in rematches from earlier this season.
No. 9 UMD (20-7, 13-5 NSIC) returns home riding a four-match winning streak into the final weekend series of the season, looking to maintain its momentum into the NSIC Postseason Tournament next week, where the Bulldogs are likely to hit the road (though it's not impossible that they could host in the first round, needing two wins and some help). UMD knocked off Minot State University and the University of Mary in straight sets last weekend.
SCOUTING THE DRAGONS | 15-11, 8-10 NSIC
MSU Moorhead has won three of its last four, including a five-set defeat of No. 20 Augustana (S.D.) University on Oct. 30 which snapped a four-match losing streak ... the Bulldogs knocked off the Dragons 3-0 on the road on Sept. 26 ... senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle ranks 14th in the NSIC averaging 3.14 kills per game, while senior setter Casie Baer ranks sixth in the league averaging 10.64 assists per game for the Dragons' offense ... Baer also has the second-most service aces in the conference ... Moorhead ranks just tenth in the conference in attack percentage (.185) but the Dragons rank fourth defensively, allowing opponents to hit just .168 on the year ... head coach Tammy Blake is in her 21st season at MSU Moorhead ... UMD is 58-12 against the Dragons all-time after picking up a victory earlier this season.
SCOUTING THE WOLVES | 24-2, 16-2 NSIC
No. 3 Northern State has won three straight matches since being knocked off for the first, and second, time this season in back-to-back matches against No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State University and No. T-4 Wayne State (Neb.) College ... the Wolves ended a record-setting streak of 32-straight NSIC victories by the Bulldogs when NSU knocked off UMD on Sept. 25 earlier this year ... NSU boasts three players in the top six in attack percentage on the year, led by sophomore outside hitter Kellie Schmidt's .451 ... senior outside Kelsey Chambers is fourth in the conference at 4.12 kills per game while still being sixth with a .354 hitting percentage ... NSU leads the league in attack percentage (.328) and kills per game (14.81) as a team and are second defensively at .157 and 10.63 per game ... head coach Brent Aldridge is in his fifth season at the helm of the Wolves ... despite the loss earlier this season, UMD is 47-3 all-time against Northern State.
OUTSIDE HITSSenior setter
Ashley Hinsch leaned heavily on senior outside hitter
Mariah Scharf last weekend, who knocked down 5.83 kills per game on the week (35 total) while hitting .391 ... Hinsch averaged 12.67 assists per game while the Bulldogs hit .387 as a squad on the weekend ... UMD stood tall defensively, knocking down 14.0 blocks on the week (2.33/game) while freshman libero
Erin Schindler hauled in 4.67 digs per game (28 total) ... junior middle blocker
Sydnie Mauch played a part in a team-high seven blocks on the weekend (1.17/game).
(both matches)
No. 9 UMD closes out the regular season against No. 3 Northern State on Saturday, but the Bulldogs and Dragons will open the weekend on Friday night at Romano Gym. Opening serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
