THE OPENING SERVE: Two of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference powerhouses -- the University of Minnesota Duluth and Concordia University, St. Paul -- meet in a non-conference contest. The Bulldogs host the Golden Bears Wednesday, Oct. 3 at Romano Gymnasium in the first of two engagements between the two clubs this season. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL: The Golden Bears (14-3; 8-1 NSIC) are ranked No. 3 in the country according to the AVCA poll. They are tied for first in the NSIC with the Bulldogs and Northern State. Concordia-St. Paul went 1-1 last week and had their season-long 10-match winning streak snapped. The Bears lost to then-No. 3 Northern State on the road in five sets. Two of their three losses have been five-set matches. They took care of MSU-Moorhead in three sets on the road Saturday.

Brooklyn Lewis leads the team with 254 kills, averaging 4.16 per set, while hitting .360. Hope Schiller is second on the team in kills and digs. Schiller is averaging 3.23 kills per set and 3.34 digs per set. Elizabeth Mohr has dished out 687 assists, and leads the nation averaging 13.13 assists per set. Tori Hanson paces the defense with 310 digs, averaging 5.08 per set, which is the best in the NSIC. Sara Macek leads the team at the net with 37 total blocks and has a .385 hitting percentage, the club's highest hitting clip. Erin Fallert is also another solid contributor averaging 2.60 kills per set and 3.33 digs per set.The Golden Bears are hitting .271 on the year, averaging 15.2 kills, 14.5 assists, 17.3 digs, 1.6 aces, and 1.4 blocks per set. Concordia-St. Paul has been really strong in the second set winning 15 of the 17 second sets. The Bears are 6-2 in road matches this season.  CSP leads the nation averaging 15.2 kills and is second in the country at 14.5 assists per set as a team. The .271 team hitting percentage is also ninth in Division II. 

THE SERIES: Since 1976, this is the 51st meeting between UMD and Concordia-St. Paul. The Bulldogs have the series lead 26-24. The Golden Bears took last season's series 2-1 with wins in the NSIC Tournament and the NCAA Central Region Finals. UMD's last victory came on Oct. 7, 2017 at Romano. Concordia holds a slight 6-4 advantage in the last 10 matchups. 

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and its opponent stack up with their overall records, the NSIC standings and in the AVCA poll.

TEAM        RECORD        NSIC        AVCA
UMD             14-3             T-1st           5th
CSP              14-3             T-1st           3rd

THE BROADCAST: All NSIC matches throughout the season will be carried live through a video stream. Josh Wallace will have the all of the match, in addition to live stats, and is available for free at: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

LAST TIME OUT: UMD defeated Augustana and Wayne State at home to push its home winning streak up to 17 straight matches. The Bulldogs hit a season-high .473 against the Vikings and were led by junior middle blocker Abby Thor, who had 12 kills and hit .857. Thor backed up her performance again the next night, tallying 12 kills again in the win over the Wildcats. Senior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen had 15 kills to guide UMD to the sweep.

HOME COOKIN': Since Romano Gymnasium opened in 1977, the Bulldogs have an overall record of 398-62 overall, winning 86.4 percent of their home matches. The most recent era has been lethal, posting a 76-8 record the last six-plus years. UMD has gone undefeated at home nine times, and has recorded at least double-digits victories in a season on 20 occasions. 

HOME COOKIN' II: The Bulldogs have won 17 straight home matches dating back to the 3-1 win over Minnesota State on Nov. 5, 2016.

NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS: UMD nabbed its second and third weekly honors on Monday from the NSIC. Junior middle blocker Abby Thor was named the NSIC Offensive player of the Week and junior setter Emily Torve was selected a repeat winner of the NSIC Setter of the Week award.

Thor compiled 24 kills on 35 swings and paced the Bulldogs with a 4.00 kills per set while hitting an NSIC-best .600 on the weekend. She hit .857 against Augustana, the highest NSIC clip for a single match this season. In addition, she posted 1.67 blocks per set with at least five blocks in each match.

Torve supplied 87 assists over six sets and averaged 14.5 assists per set. She directed UMD to a .429 hitting percentage, its highest weekend percentage of the season. Torve also distributed the ball effectively with four attackers averaging at least 3.00 kills per set and each one hitting above .347.

SURVEY SAYS: For roughly 16-plus years, the Bulldogs have been nationally ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association. UMD is still locked in at the No. 5 spot. The Bulldogs have been in every poll since it first appeared on Sept. 10, 2002 -- a stretch of 225 consecutive weeks. No other team has a longer active streak.

IN FOR THE LONG HAUL: Four of the last six matches between UMD and Concordia-St. Paul have gone the distance.

PULLING RANK: UMD is 2-0 against ranked teams this season. The Bulldogs defeated No. 25 Flagler in straight sets and upset top-ranked Northern State at home.

DIG IT UP: Junior defensive specialist Keena Seiffert has 4.30 digs per set this season, up 1.02 per set from last season. Seiffert has a streak of 12 straight mathes with at least 12 digs. She tied her career mark with a 25-dig effort against MSU Moorhead on 9/21. 

SERVE'S UP: Freshman defensive specialist Sydney Lanoue has been rock solid in serve reception committing only a single error in 170 attempts. Lanoue has successfully passed the last 138 serves going back 46 sets.

BLOCK PARTY: The Bulldogs are averaging 2.20 per set, which is also good for fourth in the conference and 32nd in the nation.

ON LOCKDOWN: Teams are hitting .130 on the Bulldogs this season. St. Cloud State hit .270 against UMD, by far the highest mark allowed by the Bulldogs all season. The other 16 clubs have hit .194 or under against the UMD defense. The .130 mark is the 31st best in Division II and the best in the NSIC.

CHASING THE 1,000-KILL CLUB: Senior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen would be in line to become the next Bulldog to hit the 1,000 kill mark. Morgen has 1,168 kills combining her playing days with the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Currently, the Appleton, Wis., native is 100 kills away from becoming the 21st member of the Bulldog club.

MOVING UP THE 1,000-KILL CLUB CHARTS: Senior right side hitter Sarah Kelly joined a distinctive group of 19 other Bulldogs to achieve at least 1,000 kills. Kelly has 1,111 kills for her career moving her past Monica Turner for 12th amongst the program. She is 24 kills from passing April Hansen for 11th. 

LIGHT IT UP: Senior right side hitter Sarah Kelly is second in the nation among active career hitting percentages. Kelly is hitting .379 for her career which is 14 points off junior Julianne Miller from Azusa Pacific. As it stands, the Chaska, Minn., native is on pace to scatter the best UMD mark set at .361 by both Monica Turner and Sarah Wyffels.  

SET IT AND FORGET IT: Junior setter Emily Torve moved up to ninth all-time among set assists at UMD last year and currently sits with 3,400. Tammy Wermager is eighth on the UMD charts with 3,513.

THE COMPLETE SET: On a national stage, junior setter Emily Torve has the reputation of directing a few of the nation's best hitters and offenses during her stint. The Bulldogs have had the fifth and fourth best offensive  hitting percentages the past two seasons. Pile those successes and Torve has the highest assists per set among active setters registering at 13. 01 assists per set.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs head on the road for two NSIC matchups starting with No. 10 Southwest Minnesota State University on Friday and Sioux Falls on Saturday.