THE OPENING SERVE: The University of Minnesota Duluth concludes its first four-match road stint this weekend with Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchups against Minot State University and the University of Mary. The No. 6 Bulldogs take on the Beavers Friday at 6:00 p.m. at Minot State Dome and immediately turn around to battle the Marauders Saturday at the McDowell Activity Center at 2:00 p.m.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MINOT STATE: The Beavers (6-5; 1-2 NSIC) are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Mary on Tuesday. It marked Minot State's first road conference win since the 2014 season. Shelby Spuller had 11 kills against the Marauders, while Emily Falldorf had seven kills, four blocks and posted a .462 attack percentage. Second-year head coach Dana Cordova already has her team eclipse their win total from last year.
Spuller paces the Minot State offense with 149 kills on the season and is averaging 3.63 kills per set, sixth in the NSIC. She also is fourth on the team averaging 1.63 digs per set. Falldorf leads the Beavers averaging 0.88 blocks per set and ranks second on the team averaging 2.00 kills per set. Kelsey Dewulf continues to direct the Beaver offense and is averaging 9.59 assists per set. The Minot State defense is led by Karli Koza who has 196 digs and is averaging 4.78 digs per set, third in the conference.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MARY: The Marauders (3-8; 0-3 NSIC) are wrapping up a four-match home stand and are trying to put a stop to their seven-match losing skid. Mary got beat in straight sets for the fourth consecutive time on Tuesday to Minot State. Korie Tetzlaff is in her first year coaching the Marauders. 
Natalia Cruz had a match high 12 kills and Madison Bergthold had six blocks in the loss on Tuesday. Mary hit .155, its best outing in six matches. The Marauders .131 attack percentage is second-to-last in the conference and opponents are posting a hitting percentage of .229, which is the 41st worst among 291 clubs. Morgan Schnabel leads Mary with 109 kills and a 2.87 kills per set. Sydney Murphy dictates the offense, averaging 8.85 assists per set and has 17 aces, fifth in the NSIC. Breanna Donarski backs the defense that is averaging 13.72 digs a set. Donarski has 120 digs and a team-leading 3.08 digs per set.

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs are 8-0 against Minot State  since their first meeting in 2012. UMD has swept Minot State in all eight meetings.
The Bulldogs are 14-0 versus Mary including 10 straight sweeps over the Marauders. 

HOW THEY RANK: Here is how UMD and its opponents this weekend stack up in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, their overall records and in the AVCA poll.
TEAM            NSIC        RECORDS        AVCA
UMD               3rd                 8-3                6th
MISU             16th                6-5                NR
MARY            14th                3-8                NR

THE BROADCAST: All NSIC matches throughout the season will be carried live through a video stream and is available for free at: 

portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

For those interested in live stats can follow the links below:

Live Stats (MISU): msubeavers.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live Stats (Mary): goumary.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

LAST TIME OUT: UMD wants to forget about the latest match on Tuesday evening in St. Cloud, Minn., as it was swept by St. Cloud State. The Bulldogs, who had beaten the Huskies in every contest since 1995, dropped all three sets and lost their impressive streak of 32 straight victories over St. Cloud State.
Lindsay Rachel collected 17 kills and boosted the Huskies to a .270 attack percentage for the match -- the only club thus far in 2018 to hit above the .200-mark against the Bulldogs.
Senior outside hitter Makenzie Morgen paced UMD with 13 kills. Morgen tried to keep her team within distance all night as she swung a match-high 34 times. Even with all the attempts Morgen still notched a respectable .294 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Hanna Meyer was one kill shy of double figures as she also attempted a career high 26 attacks. Junior defensive specialist Keena Seiffert racked up a club-high 14 digs.

BULLDOGS PICKED THIRD IN NSIC: UMD was picked to finish third in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for the second consecutive year according to the NSIC coaches' poll. The Bulldogs were selected behind Concordia University, St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State University. UMD received 194 points while Concordia-St. Paul was selected to finish at the top of the conference with 225 points and 15 first-place votes. Southwest Minnesota State nabbed 210 points and the other lone first-place tally. Northern State University (176 points) and Wayne State College (164) rounding out the top-five.

SURVEY SAYS: For roughly 16-plus years, the Bulldogs have been nationally ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association. UMD stayed locked in at the No. 6 slot in the fourth poll of the season. The Bulldogs have been in every poll since it first appeared on Sept. 10, 2002 -- a stretch of 222 consecutive weeks. No other team has a longer active streak.

BLOCK PARTY: The Bulldogs have 77 blocks on the season, good for 64th nationally.

BLOCK PARTY II: The Bulldogs are averaging 2.14 per set, which is also good for second in the conference and 40th in the nation.

ON LOCKDOWN: Teams are hitting .129 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 10 clubs have hit .194 or under against the UMD defense. The mark is the 35th best in Division II and second in the NSIC behind Northern State (.112).

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 1,101 kills combining her playing days with the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Currently, the Appleton, Wis., native is 167 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 15 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 3,123. 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 second highest assists per set among active setters. Her 12.92 clip is .02 off the pace set by Northern State's Ashley Rozell.

CLAIMING THE MIDDLE: Junior middle blocker Abby Thor is clogging up the middle for one of the nation's best defenses. Thor has 38 blocks on the season, which is 82nd in the nation. Her 1.06 blocks per set ranks 67th in the country as she has compiled at least five blocks in four different matches.

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will come home to play in the newly renovated Romano Gymnasium for the first time this season. UMD will host Minnesota State University Moorhead and No. 2 Northern State University on Sept. 21-22.