The University of Minnesota Duluth enters the postseason ranked seventh in the national polls with hopes of ending the year atop it, but the Bulldogs will likely need to make an impact in this week's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Postseason Tournament to earn a spot in the NCAA II Central Region Tournament.

Landing tenth in the latest regional rankings, No. 7 UMD (22-7) can only guarantee itself a spot in the national postseason by winning the NSIC Postseason title for the third-straight year. That quest begins Wednesday night in Wayne, Nebraska when the Bulldogs will be looking for a bit of payback when they take on No. 8 Wayne State (Neb.) College in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS | 24-6, 16-4 NSIC
The fourth seed in the NSIC Tournament, No. 8 Wayne State enters the postseason having lost three of its last five, falling to No. 20 Winona State University last time out ... Wayne knocked off UMD earlier this season on Oct. 17 ... the Wildcats are led by senior libero Courtney VanGroningen, last week named the NSIC's Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 5.43 digs per game ... joining VanGroningen on the All-NSIC First Team are junior middle hitter Alyssa Frauendorfer, senior outside hitter Katie Hughes, and senior setter Leisa McClintock ... WSC senior right-side hitter Elizabeth Gebhardt was named to the All-NSIC second team ... Hughes led the Wildcats, collecting 18 kills in Wayne's victory over UMD earlier this season ... head coach Scott Kniefel is in his 11th season at the helm of WSC volleyball ... despite the defeat this season, the Bulldogs own a 24-7 all-time record against the Wildcats this year and UMD has won 8-of-10 against Wayne.

THE REST OF THE BRACKET
On the other side of the Bulldogs' bracket, top-seeded No. 1 Concordia University, St. Paul hosts Minnesota State University Mankato. If the Golden Bears can avoid upset, they'll host the remainder of the tournament on Saturday and Sunday afternoon in St. Paul and be the opponent for the winner of UMD/Wayne State. The other side of the tournament features four teams ranked in the AVCA Division II National Poll as No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State University hosts No. 24 Augustana (S.D.) University and No. 4 Northern State University hosts No. 20 Winona State University tomorrow night. A live score matrix of each of the matches will be available at nsicscores.com. All tournament matches will be broadcast on the league's Stretch Internet.

OUTSIDE HITS
UMD enters tournament play on a six-match winning streak, having defeated No. 4 Northern State in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon ... UMD senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week as well as the AVCA/Sports Imports Division II National Player of the Week ... fellow senior Ashley Hinsch was named the league's Setter of the Week ... with 121 assists on the week, Hinsch surpassed Rhaya Tomberlin ('89) for fourth-place all-time in career set assists at UMD, now with 5,521 for her career, just 16 shy of third place ... Scharf led the NSIC in three major statistical categories with 4.55 kills per game, 5.83 points per game, and a .483 attack percentage (49 kills and six errors on 89 attacks) ... junior middle blocker Sydnie Mauch averaged 1.56 blocks per game, totalling 14 on the weekend, while also hitting .340 with 25 kills.

WHERE TO WATCH
... vs. Wayne State: Live Stats | Live Video
... Tournament Weekend: Live Stats & Video

UP NEXT
UMD will need to stretch its winning streak if it wants to secure a spot in the NCAA postseason. The Bulldogs and Wildcats will open serve onf the NSIC Postseason Tournament at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night.