THE OPENING SERVE: Breezing through the opening set of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches, the University of Minnesota Duluth engages with a pair of American Coaches Volleyball Association ranked foes for the first time this season. The Bulldogs welcome Wayne State College to Romano Gymnasium on Friday night then tackles Augustana University Saturday afternoon. Action this weekend begins at 6:00 p.m. Friday.

SCOUTING REPORT ON WAYNE STATE: The Wildcats rely heavily on their block. Going into the week, they ranked fifth in the nation in block/set (2.75) and second in team total blocks (110.0). Jaci Brahmer, Erin Gross and Maria Wortmann all rank in the top-100 individually in that category. The .170 opponent hitting percentage sits in the upper-half of the conference.
Gross, Katie Stephens are the main outside weapons receiving the majority of the attacks. Haley Kauth controls the backline with 4.33 digs/set.

SCOUTING REPORT ON AUGUSTANA: The Vikings lost to the aforementioned Wildcats in a five-set thriller. Augustana is even keel on both sides of the net, ranking in the top-30 in kills and blocks.
Courtney Place paces the club as the team's top attacker hammering home 3.46 kills/set. Her 10.4 attacks/set ranks 68th among all players. Ashley Wilson guards the net rejecting the 29th most attacks throughout division II. Tahlyr Banks has notched 4.62 digs/set, sixth best in the league.

THE SERIES: UMD will match up with WSC for a 35th time (26-8) and has won 10 of the past 12 meetings. The Wildcats dumped the Bulldogs in five sets last time out in the 2016 NSIC Tournament. 
UMD and Augustana will battle for the 41st time on Saturday. The Bulldogs are 31-9 lifetime against the Vikings, having won nine of the previous 11 contests. Like the Wayne State, Augustana had the upper hand over UMD in 2016 winning in four sets.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and their opponents this weekend stack up in the AVCA poll.
TEAM        POLL
UMD             6th
WSC            18th
Augie           12th

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

LAST SIDE OUT: The Bulldogs powered past St. Cloud State University in three sets. UMD busted out to 8-0 starts in the first two sets and comfortably won those sets 25-10, 25-9 after hitting .455 and .438. The Huskies battled back in the third and held a slight lead midway through the third frame until the Bulldogs turned on the jets to pull away.
Freshman outside hitter Kate Berg notched single game season and career-highs with 17 kills. The Wayzata H.S. product started the season with four double-digit efforts before teams started paying attention. 
Junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen collected her fifth double-double on 12 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore setter Emily Torve also joined the club racking up 43 assists to go along with her 10 digs. Kelly and senior middle blocker Allison Olley normally have frustrated opposing units. The duo each had four total blocks, however, sophomore Abby Thor denied five to lead all players.

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 five double-doubles in the first 11 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

ONE-THOUSAND KILL CLUB: In addition, junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen is on the verge of becoming the next Bulldog attacker to eclipse the 1,000-kill milestone. The University of Maryland-B.C. transfer is 270 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.

RIGHT SIDE AND CONQUER: Junior right side hitter Sarah Kelly is second among active players in career hitting percentage. Her .383 clip trails only junior Brittany Deveaux of Bluefield State College. Kelly hit .360 in back-to-back seasons and is more efficient this year as she has begun the year clubbing .513. 

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. Since their arrival on campus, the three seniors have gone an impressive 91-16. For their first three years, the .844 winning percentage is the eighth-best in the nation.

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. UMD is 2-0 so far this season.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs are back to action next weekend, hitting the road for contests against RV Sioux Falls University and No. 1 Southwest Minnesota State University.

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