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THE OPENING SERVE: It's an action-packed weekend inside Romano Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday as the University of Minnesota Duluth competes in its final two regular season home matchups of the year. The No. 9 Bulldogs attempt to break a few attendance records and extract their revenge over a loss earlier this season to No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State Friday night at 6:00 p.m. UMD will honor its seniors the following day against Sioux Falls University At 4:0 p.m. Saturday.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE: The Mustangs dropped their second match of the season to Concordia University, St. Paul, who retook the No. 1 spot, at home in four sets last Saturday. They rebounded nicely with a four-set beatdown of USF. SMSU is second in the NSIC standings but is first in the NCAA regional rankings. The Mustangs have started the year 9-2 against ranked opponents.
SMSU has a one-two offensive punch consisting of Taylor Reiss and Kaylee Burmeister. The two have combined for 696 of the team's 1306 kills. Reiss leads the NSIC and sixth in the country at 5.81 kills/set. Megan Larson became the first SMSU player to surpass 5,000 career assists earlier this season.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SIOUX FALLS: The Cougars are in a slump as of late, falling on the wrong side of the scoreboard four of the past five contests. USF is on the outside looking in for the NSIC Tournament. Its last win was an upset over No. 15 Winona State on the road. Makeena Rockeman leads the club with 3.54 kills/set and is five kills away from 1,000 kills. Janelle Lam has scooped out the most digs at a clip of 4.38 digs a set. Lexi Scott has 86 blocks (1.09 blocks/set) to lead the Cougars.

THE SERIES: UMD leads the series over SMSU 64-18 and is 6-3 in the last nine matches. The Bulldogs last defeated the Mustangs a year ago when it was ranked second. SMSU swept UMD on Sept. 30 in Marshall, Minn.
UMD has an 8-1 advantage over Sioux Falls. The Bulldogs only lost to the Cougars happened in 2016 in a five-set loss at home. USF lost in three sets at home in the last matchup.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and their opponents this weekend stack up in the NSIC standings, in the AVCA poll and the NCAA Central Region Rankings.
TEAM        NSIC        AVCA        NCAA
UMD           4th             9th             5th
SMSU        T-2nd         2nd            1st
USF            9th             RV             NR

THE BROADCAST: The matches this weekend will be carried live through a video stream with play-by-play provided by the iFan Sports Network, in addition to live stats capabilities, and is available for free at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

LAST SIDE OUT: The Bulldogs traveled to St. Cloud State and took out its frustration after dropping back-to-back matches on the road for the first time since 2015. UMD used a huge rally in the third to erase a 17-10 third set deficit to win the third set. The Bulldogs hit .314 for the match as it rolled SCSU 25-17, 25-18, 26-24. Freshman outside hitter Kate Berg sparked the rally and finished with a match-high 13 kills. Berg, junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen and sophomore libero Keena Seiffert all pieced together 13 digs to constrict the Huskies to a .197 percentage. Senior middle blocker Allison Olley closed the books on the first two sets ending each set on blocks.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: UMD clinched a spot into the NSIC Tournament and would be the fourth seed if the season ended today. Its magic number to lock up a first round home playoff game is two. The Bulldogs need any combination of two wins themselves or losses by Winona State to clinch. UMD is two games back of Concordia-St. Paul and one game back of SMSU and Northern State with four NSIC slates remaining.

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 101-19 (.842).

FARING AGAINST THE BEST: Against ranked opponents, UMD is 4-2 with its two losses coming against SMSU and Northern State. The Bulldogs have knocked off Concordia-St Paul, Augustana, Wayne State and Winona State.

ALL BUT GAME OVER: UMD is 17-0 this season when it leads 2-0 going into the intermission. Since the change to 25-point sets in 2008, the Bulldogs are 215-1. 

EXTRA, EXTRA!: UMD is 3-2 in sets where games need extra points to determine the winner. SCSU was the latest victim has it lost the third set 26-24.

WEEKLY HONORS: Four Bulldogs (Allison Olley, Emily Torve, Sarah Kelly and Abby Thor) have been recognized by the NSIC in the last three weeks, garnering accolades from each available award. 
Player of the Week Honors
Oct. 9- Allison Olley Offense PoW
Oct. 9- Emily Torve Setter PoW
Oct. 16- Sarah Kelly Offensive PoW
Oct. 23- Abby Thor Defensive PoW

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 fourth in the nation with 12.24 assists/set. 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 (14.69). Those assists numbers also have the Bulldogs sitting atop of the leader board for kills/set at an astounding 15.60 (35 points better than Concordia-St. Paul).
Senior middle blocker Allison Olley and junior Sarah Kelly have each established themselves as one of the most efficient hitters in the country. Kelly (.429) and Olley (.423) sit second and fourth, respectively, in attack percentage. Either Olley or Kelly have held the number one spot for over a month and a half. Those outstanding clips have catapulted UMD to the best hitting average in the land at .309, nine points ahead of next best Arkansas Tech (.300).

SET IT AND FORGET IT: Sophomore setter Emily Torve moved up to ninth all-time among set assists with 2,253 at UMD. Torve passed Shelia Brown's (1985-86) mark of 2,019 with her 60-assist effort versus Winona State. Tammy Wermager is eighth on the UMD charts with 3,513. Torve needs 33 more assists to hit 1,000 assists for the season.

RIGHT SIDE AND CONQUER: Junior right side hitter Sarah Kelly is second among active players in DII in career hitting percentage. Her .382 clip trails only Brittany Deveaux of Bluefield State College by 24 points. Kelly hit .360 in back-to-back seasons and is more efficient this year as she has clubbed an astounding .429 while she has increased her kills per set by 56 points up to 3.55. Kelly conquered the NCAA II landscape attaining the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 17.

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 H.S. product is 148 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 second option in the UMD attack, the native of Wayzata, Minn., leads all NSIC newcomers in a bevy of categories: kills per set (3.32), points per set (3.76), attacks per set (8.72), kills (262). She ranks 10th in the country in terms of points per set and kills per set among all freshmen.

RETURN TO SENDER: Senior middle blocker Allison Olley is on pace to become the first Bulldog to average at least one block a set in back-to-back seasons since Alyssa Nelson accomplished that notion in 2009-10.

ACE MASTER: Junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen has 33 aces from the service line this year. That is the most by a Bulldogs since Kate Lange had 34 in 2013. Lange also has 48 aces in 2011, the next closest single-season high mark.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: Junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen has racked up nine 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
Oct. 27- MSU-Moorhead 15k-16d

COLLECTIVE DEFENSIVE EFFORT: Five Bulldogs average at least 2.00 digs a set this season. The last team to do so happened in 2011.

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 climbed up to the No. 4 slot before slipping to No. 9 in the most recent poll. The NSIC has a conference-high eight teams represented in the NSIC poll with four teams including the Bulldogs in the top 10.
Rank School                             Points  Record
1        Concordia-St. Paul (40)     1191      21-2
2        Southwest Minn. State       1130     21-2
3        California Baptist (7)          1100      21-0
4        Lewis                                  1035     22-2
5        Nebraska-Kearney             989       26-2
6        Palm Beach Atlantic (1)      943       21-1
7        Northern State                    882       20-3
8        Western Washington          865       19-3
9        Minnesota Duluth                831      19-4
10      Arkansas Tech                    711       28-0

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 return 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).

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 8-0 so far this season and with two victories this weekend will post its 20 season with double-digit victories and the first since 2014.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs wrap up the 2017 regular season on the road with two more ranked NSIC opponents. UMD closes with No. 16 Augustana University Friday then No. 22 Wayne State College on Saturday. The Bulldogs defeated both squads in four sets earlier this season.