THE OPENING SERVE: Riding a nine-game winning streak coming into the weekend, the University of Minnesota Duluth will get its first glance at the a few of the nation's best team while on the road. The Bulldogs will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D., to battle the University of Sioux Falls Friday night before turning their attention to the No. 1 ranked team in the land, Southwest Minnesota State University, on Saturday.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SIOUX FALLS: The Cougars have won two straight games claiming victories over Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State in four sets matches. USF is 1-2 against ranked opponents this season. The Cougars are 53rd in the nation in blocks per set and fourth in the conference. Opponents are hitting .144 versus Sioux Falls, 62nd nationally, and second within the league.
Makenna Rockeman is the main weapon for the Cougars leading the team in attacks (402), kills (140), kills per set (3.59) but is seventh in hitting percentage (.169). Lexi Scott has been the most consistent hitter recording double-digit kills in all but one game.  Scott is also second in the conference in blocks. Janelle Lam is the defensive stalwart, digging out 4.65 digs per set. Bria Barfnecht was the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honoree two weeks ago. That week, Barfnecht posted double-double outings including a career best 21 kills in a five set loss to Wayne State and a career-high 21 digs versus Augustana.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE: The Mustangs are undefeated and are the top-ranked team in the country according to American Volleyball Coaches Association. SMSU won the Colorado Premier Challenge defeating No. 20 Tampa, No. 8 Ferris State and No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul at the time. The Mustangs have not lost to a ranked team this year (7-0). SMSU is third in the nation in kills per set (15.3), fifth in assists per set (14.11) and ninth in hitting percentage (.274).
Taylor Reiss has named the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year and backed that notion up earning conference offensive honors in week two. Reiss, the 2016 Player of the Year, leads the conference in kills and total points. She is in the top 10 nationally in kills, kills per set, attacks, attacks per set and points per set. Megan Larson is the all-time assists leader for the Mustangs and is fourth nationally in assists per set. Brooke Borchardt is eighth in the country is in hitting percentage. Kaylee Burmeister is second on the club in kills (160 kills, 3.40 kills per set) and the top digs leader posting 171 digs (3.64 per set).

THE SERIES: The matchup between the Bulldogs and the Cougars will be their ninth meeting since USF came into the NSIC in 2012. UMD won the first seven games before dropping its most recent battle in five sets in 2016.
The matchup will be the 81st meeting between the Bulldogs and the Mustangs. Since Jim Boos took over the helm, UMD is 17-10 against SMSU and 6-2 in its last eight matches including a sweep of the Mustangs last season when they were ranked No. 2.

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and their opponents this weekend stack up in the AVCA poll.
TEAM            AVCA
UMD                6th
USF                 RV
SMSU             1st

THE BROADCAST: The match on Friday will be carried live through a video stream with live stats capabilities  by USF athletics department and is available for free at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/siouxfalls

The match on Saturday will also be carried by SMSU  athletics live through a video stream with live stats capabilities and is available for free at:
portal.stretchinternet.com/smsu

LAST SIDE OUT: The Bulldogs used a pair of four-set victories to defeat No. 18 Wayne State and No. 12 Augustana. It was UMD's first two matches against ranked opponents this season.
Emily Torve dished out a season-high 51 assists Friday night versus the Wildcats as UMD had five attackers reach double-digit kills. Kate Berg and Makenzie Morgen each had a match-high 13 kills. Keena Seiffert and Morgen each tallied 18 digs, a career best for Seiffert. The Bulldogs took the opening set convincingly 25-9 -- the largest margin of victory in a set this year -- before dropping the next frame. UMD regained the lead after a tightly contested third and ran away in the fourth hitting .615 to close out the final set.
The Bulldogs reached the intermission up two sets over the Vikings but suffered a minor setback in the third before regaining their composure to put away Augustana in a similar fashion to Friday's match. UMD  hit .348 overall and .600 in the closing fourth frame.
Sarah Kelly smashed 18 kills and Seiffert matched her career high in digs from the night before. The middle blocking duo of Allison Olley and Abby Thor made zero errors the entire weekend totalling 67 combined attacks (.567 attack percentage).

ABOUT THAT NO. 1 RANKING... The Bulldogs have played the role of spoiler crashing the party and upsetting the top ranked club in the country as of recently, tabbing four victories (all five-setters) in the last seven tries. SMSU will mark the eighth time and third different opponent in the last six years to march onto the court with the top billing. The last time UMD upset the No. 1 team was on Sept. 30, 2016 at Concordia-St. Paul.

ATOP THE NCAA MOUNTAIN: One month of the volleyball is in the books and UMD ranks among the National Collegiate Athletic Association's best.
Sophomore setter Emily Torve ranks third in the nation with 12.46 assists/set. Despite only playing in 41 sets, Torve ranks 24th in total assists (511) while spliting time.
With senior setter Sarah Heesacker, UMD is tied for first in the nation in assists/set (15.02). Those assists numbers also have the Bulldogs sitting atop of the leader board for kills/set at an astounding 15.88 (50 points better than the Colorado School of Mines).
Senior middle blocker Allison Olley and junior Sarah Kelly have each established themselves as one of the most efficient hitters in the country. Olley (.500) and Kelly (.491) sit first and second, respectively, in attack percentage. Those outstanding clips have catapulted UMD to the best hitting average in the land at .342, 18 points ahead of second place Northern 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 and Alexis Wick of Texas A&W-Kingsville. Kelly hit .360 in back-to-back seasons and is more efficient this year as she has begun the year clubbing .491 while she has increased her kills per set by 80 points up to 3.79.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: Junior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen has racked up seven double-doubles in the first 13 games of the season and done so the last three appearances.
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. 23- Wayne State 13k-18d
Sept. 24- Augustana 14k-11d

ONE-THOUSAND KILL CLUB WATCH: 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 243 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.

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. 6 slot. Two other conference foes 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 (13), Northern State University (14), Augustana University (17) and Wayne State College (22) are the other squads in the NSIC that are represented in the poll

Rank School                             Points     Record
1 Southwest Minn. State (47)     1199         13-0
2 Concordia-St. Paul (1)             1151         12-1
3 Lewis                                       1089         12-1
4 Palm Beach Atlantic                1044          9-0
5 Nebraska-Kearney                    990          13-1
6 Minnesota Duluth                      923          12-1
7 California Baptist                       895          11-0
8 Ferris State                                873         11-2
9 Central Oklahoma                     741          15-1
10 Western Washington               670           9-3

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.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs return to the court with Minnesota State University, Mankato and No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul next weekend at Romano Gymnasium. 

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