The No. 1-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth will faces its toughest-test yet in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference plays No. 19 Northern State University on Friday night in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

No. 1 UMD (10-1, 3-0 NSIC) swept St. Cloud State University 3-0 on Tuesday night to conclude conference play at home for the month and will also to travel to Minnesota State University Moorhead on Saturday to finish out a challenging month of September.

SCOUTING THE WOLVES | 11-0, 3-0 NSIC
No. 19 Northern State had to go the distance to edge out MSU Moorhead on Tuesday night, winning 3-2 ... senior outside hitter Kelsey Chambers and setter Drew Smith each earned NSIC Player of the Week honors on Monday with Chambers averaging 5.0 kills per game and Smith 12.17 assists ... the Wolves have one victory against a ranked team in 2015, a 3-0 sweep of then-No. 8 Grand Valley State University on Sept. 11 ... NSU leads the NSIC in hitting percentage (.381) and opponents' hitting percentage (.106) ... sophomore outside hitter Kelli Schmitt is hitting a conference-best .605 on the year ... head coach Brent Aldridge is in his fifth season with the Wolves ... UMD owns a 47-2 record against Northern State including a 3-0 sweep last season on Oct. 24, 2014 ... there will be just one undefeated team left in NSIC play when the Bulldogs and Wolves are finished on Friday night, with the match beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Aberdeen.

SCOUTING THE DRAGONS | 9-2, 2-1 NSIC
MSU Moorhead slipped last time out against 19th-ranked Northern State but has put together an impressive resume already in 2015 ... senior libero Amber Krenske was named the NSIC's Defensive Player of the Week while averaging 5.7 digs per game last week ... the Dragons also have one victory over a nationally-ranked foe, knocking off the same Grand Valley State team on Sept. 11 ... MSUM has far and away with the most blocks in the conference, 122.0 as a team, and averaging 2.90 per game ... senior middle blocker Kaitlin VanWinkle is fifth in the NSIC in hitting percentage at .415 on the season, just ahead of UMD's Monica Turner at .403 ... the Bulldogs own a 57-12 all-time record against the Dragons, defeating Moorhead 3-1 last season on Oct. 25, 2014 ... UMD and MSUM will take the court in Moorhead at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday

OUTSIDE HITS
UMD strengthened its hold on the top spot in the AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 this week, now holding 35-of-48 first-place votes ... UMD has three players ranked in the top 12 in the conference in hitting percentage, with junior middle blocker Sydnie Mauch in second ahead of Turner and freshman right-side hitter Sarah Kelly ... senior outside hitter Mariah Scharf ranks fifth in the NSIC in kills (3.93/game) while Mauch sits tenth (3.40) ... senior setter Ashley Hinsch is third in the NSIC with 12.10 assists per set ... sophomore setter Sarah Heesacker scored her first career kill in relieving Hinsch on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Turner is closing in on 1,000 for her career, now with 970 after adding nine against St. Cloud State.

LINKS TO WATCH
... vs. Northern State: Live Video | Live Stats
... vs. MSU Moorhead: Live Video | Live Stats

UMD will hit the road for the final weekend of September after playing just two home matches in the month. The team will be back far more during the month of October, but first the Bulldogs will take on No. 19 Northern State at 7:00 p.m. on Friday night in Aberdeen.