THE OPENING SERVE: Picking up two important Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victories including a four-set uprising over then-ranked No. 2 Concordia University, St. Paul last weekend, the University of Minnesota Duluth will venture on the road with two more grueling matchups against two upper-echelon teams in the NSIC. No. 14 Winona State will host the No. 5 Bulldogs Friday night at 6:00 p.m. Upper Iowa will take on UMD the following day at 2:00 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa.

SCOUTING REPORT ON WINONA STATE: The Warriors stayed put the No. 14 ranking completing the weekend sweep of the University of Minnesota Crookston and bemidji State University. WSU has won five straight game all in straight sets. The Warriors are 0-2 against Top-25 teams. WSU has only played three home games having lost two of the three. It has only giving up .8 aces per set this year and sit third in the NSIC in kills/set (15.25). Its 17.51 digs/set ranks second in the league.

SCOUTING REPORT ON UPPER IOWA: The Peacocks have capped off four consecutive wins. UIU has lost all three games versus Top-25 opponents. Opposing teams have hit only .163 against them. The Peacocks top the NSIC charts in digs/per set (19.62), which is eighth in the country. Bethany Lovhaug is the leader in blocks/set (1.22) for the NSIC.

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 74-2 in 76 lifetime meetings against the Warriors. Winona State defeated UMD in four sets last year in the NCAA Tournament in St. Paul, Minn. That setback was the first time in 44 matches the Bulldogs lost. 
The matchup will be the 15th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Peacocks. UMD has won all 14 meetings and was swept UIU six of the last seven go-arounds. 

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and their opponents this weekend stack up in the AVCA poll.
TEAM     RANK
UMD         5th
WSU        14th
UIU           RV

THE BROADCAST: The matches this weekend will be carried live through a video stream, in addition to live stats capabilities, and is available for free at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

LAST SIDE OUT: The Bulldogs capped off win No. 14 and 15 at Romano this past weekend against MSU-Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul. 
The Bulldogs took the first two sets with ease but needed an extended third set to finish off the Mavericks. Senior middle blocker Allison Olley turned in an incredible night posting a game-high 13 kills and seven blocks. Junior right side hitter and freshman outside hitter Kate Berg each knocked down eight kills as sophomore Emily Torve tossed up 35 assists to help UMD hit over .300 for the 12th straight time.
The Bulldogs notched that number up to 13 consecutive times after it hit .317 for the match against their  arch nemesis Concordia-St. Paul. UMD needed four sets to topple the Bears. 
Junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen did much of the heavy lifting, knocking down a game-high 19 kills on 50 swings. Sarah Kelly added 15, Kate Berg chipped in 14 and Allison Olley tallied 10 kills to the Bulldog attack. Morgan and Kelly each chipped in defensively adding double-digit digs totals, giving them double-doubles. Sophomore libero Keena Seiffert scooped up a career-high 20 digs while holding CSP to a .244 hitting percentage.
UMD hit .333 or better in each of the first three sets. The Bulldogs used two big runs to capture set one but CSP tied the match after hitting .439 in the set. Morgen swung the momentum in third on a solo block which would assist UMD in extending the lead late in the third stanza. Then trailing in the fourth, Olley single-handedly brought the Bulldogs ahead with four kills and a block to propel UMD into the lead which they would never relinquish and they took the fourth set and the match.

WEEKLY HONORS: Senior middle blocker Allison Olley and sophomore setter Emily Torve each received NSIC honors for player of the week accolades.
Player of the Week Honors
Oct. 9- Allison Olley Offense PoW
Oct. 9- Emily Torve Setter PoW

Olley earned her offensive honor after pacing the club with 3.29 kills per set and 1.43 blocks per set. Her 10 blocks led all NSIC players during the week and she recorded only four errors on 41 swings, hitting a robust .463. Olley had team-high 13 kills and seven blocks vs. Minnesota State. She also turned the tide in the fourth set vs. CSP giving UMD the lead for good on a run that headlined four kills and a block from her and finished with 10 kills.
Torve gathered her award as she averaged an NSIC best 13.28 assists per set over the weekend helping UMD capture wins over MSU and No. 2 CSP. She also led UMD to an NSIC best .330 team hitting percentage over the weekend that saw four players average over 3.14 kills/set. Torve had 35 assists and three aces against MSU and then followed up by registering a season-high 58 assists in a four-set upset victory of CSP. Her 58 assists ties a career best.

ATOP THE NCAA MOUNTAIN: UMD is known year in and year out to boast some of the nation's best numbers and this year is no different as it ranks among the NCAA's best in terms of individual and team rankings.
Sophomore setter Emily Torve ranks third in the nation with 12.69 assists/set. In the short amount of sets she played (54), Torve ranks 27th in total assists (685). She also holds the third best mark for assists in a three-set match (50) in all of Division II.
With senior setter Sarah Heesacker, UMD is tops in the nation in assists/set (15.09). Those assists numbers also have the Bulldogs sitting atop of the leader board for kills/set at an astounding 16.04 (59 points better than Southwest Minnesota State).
Senior middle blocker Allison Olley and junior Sarah Kelly have each established themselves as one of the most efficient hitters in the country. Olley (.479) and Kelly (.463) sit first and second, respectively, in attack percentage. Those outstanding clips have catapulted UMD to the best hitting average in the land at .338, 39 points ahead of next best Arkansas Tech (.299).

RIGHT SIDE AND CONQUER: Junior right side hitter Sarah Kelly is third among active players in career hitting percentage. Her .385 clip trails only Brittany Deveaux of Bluefield State College. Kelly hit .360 in back-to-back seasons and is more efficient this year as she has clubbed .463 in 17 games this season while she has increased her kills per set by 72 points up to 3.73.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: Junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen has racked up eight double-doubles in the first 17 games of the season.
Sept. 1- Nova Southeastern 11k-12d
Sept. 8- Lake Superior State 15k-13d
Sept. 9- Wisconsin-Parkside 12k-11d
Sept. 14- Minnesota Crookston 14k-10d
Sept. 19- St. Cloud State 12k-10d
Sept. 22- Wayne State 13k-18d
Sept. 23- Augustana 14k-11d
Oct. 7- Concordia-St. Paul 19k-16d

ONE-THOUSAND KILL CLUB WATCH: In addition, junior right side hitter Sarah Kelly is on the verge of becoming the next Bulldog attacker to eclipse the 1,000-kill milestone. The Chaska, Minn., product is 227 kills away from becoming the 20th Bulldog to join the club. Sydnie Mauch was the 19th player in team history to join the prestigious club on Oct. 21, 2016 against Wayne State.

HEAD OF THE ROOKIE CLASS: Outside hitter Kate Berg has shown the tools to become a perennial threat the next three years with her play as a freshman. As the third  option in the UMD attack, the Wayzata, Minn., native, leads all NSIC newcomers in a bevy of categories: kills per set (3.33), points per set (3.79), attacks per set (8.33), kills (180).

SURVEY SAYS: For roughly 15-plus years, the Bulldogs have been nationally ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association. UMD checked in as the seventh-best team to begin the season according to the preseason poll and has climbed up to the No. 5 slot in the most recently poll released Monday. Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul each dropped one spot to No. 2 and 3, respectively. Lewis University claimed the top billing in this week's poll. Northern State (9), Winona State (14), Augustana (18) and Wayne State College (21) are the other squads in the NSIC that are represented in the poll. UMD grabbed one first-place vote as seven different schools each received at least one tally.

Rank School                                     Points   Record
1         Lewis (22)                                 1138     17-1
2         Southwest Minn. State (14)      1123     16-1
3         Concordia-St. Paul                   1072     15-2
4         Palm Beach Atlantic (7)            1046     14-0
5         Minnesota Duluth (1)                1025     15-2
6         California Baptist (3)                  999      16-0
7         Central Oklahoma (1)                882       20-1
8         Nebraska-Kearney                     840      18-2
9         Northern State                           763       15-2
10       Northwest Nazarene                  727       16-0

SURVEY SAYS II: In the perennial Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Coaches Preseason Poll, the Bulldogs were chosen to finish third in the 16-team conference. UMD was selected behind NCAA II defending champions Concordia-St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State. The Golden Bears received 218 points and amassed 10 first-place votes. The Mustangs collected 202 points and three first-place tallies. The Bulldogs came up one point shy of SMSU and had one first-place vote. Augustana was the other institution to garner a top-place finish. Augustana (172) along with Winona State (171) round out the top five.

BOOS CLUES: In his 16th year at the helm of the UMD volleyball program, Jim Boos has turn the volleyball club into a perennial national contender.
Boos was hired on July 24, 2002 to become the fourth coach since 1976, succeeding Pati Rolf, and has become the longest tenured volleyball coach in the Bulldogs' 41-year history.
The native of Delafield, Wis. has produced a 427-77 record and has taken his club into the NCAA tournament every year expect the 2015 season being an illuminating one despite knocking off the eventual champions Wheeling Jesuit twice in the regular season.
UMD earned its inaugural trip to the NCAA II Elite Eight in 2004 before losing to eventual champions Barry University. Boos was given the prestigious accolade of AVCA Coach of the Year. Two years later, Boos and the Bulldogs would returned with another deep postseason before falling to the University of Tampa, who would be crowned National Champions.
The Bulldogs under the direction of Boos haven't been to kind to the NSIC or the NCC. Boos holds a staggering career conference record of 227-34. 
Boos has hand-crafted numerous players that have rewritten the record books, and have retooled the expectations set forth yearly by the program. To date, 22 individuals have accumulated AVCA All-American honors since Boos arrival. Each of the past 15 years, the Bulldogs have had at least one representative selected to the all-american team. 
Before his time at UMD, Boos served as an assistant coach at UW-Oshkosh for five years (1992-98) and assistant at North Dakota State University (1998-2001).

LEADERS OF THE PACK: Sarah Heesacker, Kelly Madison and Allison Olley will operate as co-pilots for the 2017 squad. All three players are serving their fourth and final collegiate seasons. Since their arrival on campus, the three seniors have gone an impressive 94-17. For their first three years, the .847 winning percentage is the eighth-best in the nation.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs have Minot State University and the University of Mary on the docket next weekend (Oct. 20-21) during homecoming week. Those games will feature a dig pink weekend with auction items available and a pink game Saturday.

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