THE OPENING SERVE: In the brutal Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the University of Minnesota Duluth will hope to keep pace atop of the standings with two more conference tilts this weekend. Minot State University will come to town to face off against the No. 5 Bulldogs Friday night at 6:00 p.m. The University of Mary will take on UMD the following day at 4:00 p.m.`

SCOUTING REPORT ON MINOT STATE: The Beavers have lost their last two games and their last 51 conference matches since 2015. Minot State ranks near the bottom of the NSIC in hitting percentage and opposing hitting percentage. Shelby Spuller is the top attacker with 3.39 kills/set on 762 attacks. Freshman Karli Koza tops the Beavers in digs with 357 (5.17 kills/set) which is fourth in he NSIC.

SCOUTING REPORT ON U-MARY: The Marauders have dropped their last eight engagements. The last U-Mary win was against Minot State.  The Marauders rank last in the conference in blocks and digs. Lauren Randall is second in the NSIC in kills/set (4.52).

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 7-0 against the Beavers since their arrival into the NSIC in 2012. UMD has swept MISU each meeting.
The matchup will be the 14th meeting between the Bulldogs and the Marauders. UMD has won all 13 meetings and has swept U-Mary all but on one occasion on Oct. 16, 2009 (nine consecutive 3-0 games).

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and their opponents this weekend stack up in the AVCA poll.
TEAM        AVCA
UMD             5th
MISU            NR
U-Mary         NR

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 came away with two hard-fought victories this past weekend. UMD won a nail-biting five set match at No. 14 Winona State then turned around and scraped a 3-0 win over Upper Iowa.
The Bulldogs won the first and third sets then needed to storm back down 10-6 in the final frame to swipe the victory away from the Warriors. Junior side hitter Sarah Kelly had a season-high 18 kills, sophomore defensive specialist Keena Seiffert grabbed a career-best 25 digs and sophomore setter Emily Torve notched a career-high 60 assists in the Friday night win.
Sophomore middle blocker Abby Thor spurred UMD to its 3-0 rout of the plucky Peacocks. Thor smashed a career-high 12 kills to led all players. Kelly backed up her performance from the previous night with 11 kills and nine digs.

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
Oct. 16- Sarah Kelly Offensive 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.
Kelly, a 2016 American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American, erupted for 3.62 kills per set, with a potent .412 attack percentage as she throttled 29 total kills past the two clubs. She had a team-high 18 kills versus the Warriors (18-30, .500) while registering four blocks in a five-set thriller. Then, she backed up her strong performance with 11 kills, a club-best nine digs and two aces versus the Peacocks.

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 29th in total assists (787). 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 (15.08). Those assists numbers also have the Bulldogs sitting atop of the leader board for kills/set at an astounding 16.02 (50 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. Kelly (.457) and Olley (.435) sit first and third, respectively, in attack percentage. Those outstanding clips have catapulted UMD to the best hitting average in the land at .328, 29 points ahead of next best Arkansas Tech (.299).

SET IT AND FORGET IT: Sophomore setter Emily Torve moved up to ninth all-time among set assists with 2,073 at UMD. Torve passed Shelia Brown's (1985-86) mark of 2,019 on Friday with her 60-assist effort Friday night versus Winona State.

RIGHT SIDE AND CONQUER: Junior right side hitter Sarah Kelly is third among active players in career hitting percentage. Her .386 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 .457 in 19 games this season while she has increased her kills per set by 72 points up to 3.71. Kelly conquered the NCAA II landscape attaining  the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: Junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen has racked up eight double-doubles.
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 198 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 (3.42), points per set (3.83), attacks per set (8.69), kills (212).

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 the previous two polls. Lewis University holds the top billing in this week's poll for a second straight week. The NSIC has seven teams represented in the NSIC poll with three teams including the Bulldogs in the top five. UMD grabbed one first-place vote as five different schools each received at least one tally.

Rank  School                                 Points     Record
1         Lewis (28)                             1155          20-1
2         Southwest Minn. State (11)   1143         18-1
3         Concordia-St. Paul                1088         17-2
4         Palm Beach Atlantic (6)         1069         17-0
5         Minnesota Duluth (1)            1024         17-2
6         California Baptist (2)                984          18-0
7         Nebraska-Kearney                  900           20-2
8         Western Washington               793           15-3
9         Regis                                        750          18-2
10       Central Oklahoma                    740           21-2

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 429-77 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.
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.

HOME COOKIN': One of the hottest tickets in the nation, UMD ranked fourth in average attendance -- first within the conference -- last season. The Bulldogs drew an average of 750 fans during their 8-3 home record. Winning 86 percent of all matches since Romano Gymnasium opened in 1977 (389-62 overall), the most recent era has been lethal, posting a 61-8 record the last five years. The Bulldogs have gone undefeated at home eight times, and have recorded at least double-digits victories in a season on 19 occasions. UMD is 6-0 so far this season.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs begin their toughest stretch of the NSIC schedule next weekend with three games in the next five days, all on the road. The first game of that three-game road stint is Friday, Oct. 27 against Minnesota State University-Moorhead at 6:00 p.m.

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