THE OPENING SERVE: Looking for their seventh straight victory, the University of Minnesota Duluth heads towards another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference showdown with St. Cloud State University Tuesday at Romano Gymnasium. The Tuesday night tilt is the first of a three-game homestand spanning through the weekend.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies will arrive for Tuesday's contest with a 9-2 record, tripping up the University of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State University in their opening week of NSIC play.
SCSU posies a serious threat defensively. Its limiting the opposition to a .158 hitting percentage and is digging the ball at a rate of 17.21 balls per set, which rank fifth and fourth in the conference, respectively.
Becca Gruber and Nicole Miller supply the main offensive firepower for the Huskies. They both lead the club in kills and attempts. Kayla Crane and Maddy Torve, the younger sister of Bulldog Emily Torve, are apart of a two-setter system. Clara Krenz clocks in as the current digs per set leader in the NSIC at 5.69. Krenz along with Miller serve a difficult ball as they both appear in the top 10 in aces per set.

THE SERIES: UMD has squared off with SCSU a program-most 104 time holding a 71-33 record in those contests. The Bulldogs have won the last 32 matches dating back to 1998 and is unbeaten when Jim Boos sidelines the bench (27-0). 

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and their opponents this weekend stack up in the AVCA poll.
TEAM        AVCA RANK
UMD                 6th
SCSU               NR

THE BROADCAST: The match on Tuesday versus the Golden Eagles will be carried live through a video stream with live stats capabilities and is available for free at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

The game will also be available to watch on the My9  Sports Network with Tom Hansen and UMD volleyball alum Julie Rainey to serve as the on-air talent.

LAST SIDE OUT: The Bulldogs went 2-0 in their NSIC debut ousting Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State in straight sets. UMD, since its only lost in the season to Saint Leo University, has rallied off six consecutive sweeps. 
The Bulldogs made quick work of the Golden Eagles . Junior right side hitter Sarah Kelly and junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen paced the attack combining for 29 kills. Kelly and senior middle blocker Allison Olley each had three blocks and sophomore defensive specialist Keena Seiffert tabbed a game-high 13 digs.
UMD used their stifling defense to blockade the Beaver offense. BSU committed 35 errors on the day hitting  .066 throughout the match. That attack clip was the lowest total UMD has held its opponent to this year. Sarah Kelly struck down 12 kills as she has hit at or above the .500 mark in half of the games this fall.

ATOP THE NCAA MOUNTAIN: With three weeks completed, UMD ranks among the National Collegiate Athletic Association's best.
Sophomore setter Emily Torve ranks fourth in the nation with 12.30 assists/set. Despite only playing in 31 sets, Torve ranks 63rd in total assists (369). 
With senior setter Sarah Heesacker, UMD is tied for first in the nation in assists/set (14.87). Those assists numbers also have the Bulldogs sitting atop of the leader board for kills/set at an astounding 15.84 (57 points better than Wingate University).
Senior middle blocker Allison Olley and junior Sarah Kelly have each established themselves as one of the most efficient hitters in the land. Kelly (.513) and Olley (.496) sit second and third, respectively, in attack percentage. Those outstanding clips have catapulted UMD to the best hitting average in the land at .341, 33 points ahead of second place Colorado School of Mines.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: Junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen has racked up four double-doubles in the first 10 games of the season and was on the verge of collecting three more.

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

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 recently moved up to the No. 6 slot in the most recent poll released Monday after Angelo State University took a tumble. Four conference foes including the Bulldogs sit atop the top ten with Southwest Minnesota State University and Concordia University, St. Paul settling into the number one and two spots, respectively. Winona State University .bumped up three spots to No. 9 this week since the preseason poll. 

Rank     School                                     Points     Record
1            Southwest Minn. State (47)     1199         10-0
2            Concordia-St. Paul (1)             1153          9-1
3            Lewis                                        1086         10-1
4            Palm Beach Atlantic                 1038         7-0
5            Nebraska-Kearney                    991          11-1
6            Minnesota Duluth                   908            9-1
7            Ferris State                               871           8-2
8            California Baptist                      827           9-0
9            Winona State                            695           7-3
10         Central Oklahoma                     656           12-1

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 419-76 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. Over the past three years, the three seniors have gone an impressive 81-15. That .844 winning percentage is eighth-best in the nation during that span.

NEW DOGS ON THE BLOCK: The Bulldogs bring in three new freshmen (Megan Freeberg, Kate Berg and Lexy Langenfeld) and a transfer for the 2017 season. Mandy Kurosky, a local native of Duluth, Minn., will sit out the 2017 season due to transfer restrictions after playing the few couple years at Northern State University.

2016 ACCOLADES: Sarah Kelly attained AVCA All American honorable mention honors in 2016 continuing the tradition of excellence of having at least one player earn all-american honors for the last 15 years. Kelly notched career marks with 323 kills. The Chaska, Minn. native also tied her .360 attack percentage from 2015.
Sophomore setter Emily Torve produced effectively after taking over for four-time all-american Ashley Hinsch. The Loretto, Minn. native claimed NSIC Freshman of the Year after displaying 11.91 assists per set and a .281 hitting percentage. Torve was also selected second team all-conference.
Senior middle blocker Allison Olley and junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen each grabbed All-NSIC second team selections. Olley slid into a full-time gig last season throwing down 256 kills and 110 total blocks. Morgen, who transferred from the University of Maryland-Baltimore Country, led the club with 342 kills while also collecting 273 digs.

HOME COOKIN': One of the hottest tickets in the nation, UMD ranked fourth in average attendance -- first within the conference -- last season. The dogs drew an average of 750 fans during their 8-3 home record. Winning 86 percent of all matches since Romano Gymnasium opened in 1977 (384-62 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.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs return to action this weekend starting first with No. 18 Wayne State College. First set at Romano Gymnasium is slated for 6:00 p.m.

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