THE OPENING SERVE: The University of Minnesota Duluth takes to the road for a match against No. 11 St. Cloud State (Oct. 31) before returning home to take on Minnesota Crookston (Nov. 2), then taking on Bemidji State (Nov. 5).

EVERYONE CELEBRATE: The Bulldogs will be holding a small celebration for senior setter Emily Balts and junior outside hitter Kate Berg on Saturdays home match against Minnesota Crookston. Balts reached 5,000 career assists in a sweep against Sioux Falls, and Berg reached the 1,000 kill milestone in a reverse sweep of Southwest Minnesota State.

SCOUTING REPORT ON ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies come off a weekend of two wins. One coming at the hands of (at the time) No. 11 Southwest Minnesota State, winning 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23). The second was a sweep over (RV) Sioux Falls, 3-0 (25-20, 26-24, 25-23). The Huskies improved to 17-4 overall (9-4 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, sitting tied for fifth place). Chad Braegelmann is in his fifth year at the helm of the Huskies squad. He has a 350-240 overall (65-69 while at St. Cloud State). That's good for a .593 (.485 at St. Cloud State) win percentage.
The Huskies average 14.47 kills per set, sitting forth in the NSIC. Linsey Rachel leads the charge with 3.99 kills per set this season, ranking sixth in the NSIC and 19th in DII. She has 291 total, also in sixth in the NSIC and 55th in DII. She swings at a .243 clip. A big help to Linsey this season has been Maddy Torve (sister to Emily Balts). Torve has averaged 11.96 assists per set, good for third in the NSIC, fifth in DII & the nation. Clara Krenz is having a solid year, leading the NSIC in digs per set (6.00) as well as digs (444). She ranks eighth across DII in digs per set, and 42nd in digs.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MINNESOTA CROOKSTON: The Golden Eagles come off a weekend where they dropped two games, first losing to Wayne State (Neb.) in a sweep (25-14, 25-16, 25-14), then to Augustana (SD) in a sweep (25-18, 25-16, 25-18). The Golden Eagles are now 4-17 overall (2-10 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, sitting 14th in the conference) on the year. Sarah Rauen is in her third season as head coach (all three coming at Minnesota Crookston). She carries an overall record of 15-62 (.195 win percentage) in that time.
Porsha Porath leads the Golden Eagles this season in kills and kills per set. She currently carries a 305 kills per set, totalling out to 235 kills. Katie Lienemann has been a leader on the defensive side of the ball, digging 267 on the year, averaging 3.56. Katilin Sikkink has been another leader on the defensive side, putting up a total of 55 blocks on the year, averaging .71 per set.

SCOUTING REPORT ON BEMIDJI STATE: The Beavers come off a weekend where they split, with the first of two games being a sweep loss to Augustana (SD) (25-20, 25-23, 25-14), the second being a win over (at the time) No. 11 Wayne State (Neb.) 3-1 (25-18, 6-25, 26-24, 25-16). The Beavers are now 6-15 overall (3-10 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, tied for 12th). Kevin Ulmer is in his fourth season, all with Bemidji State. He carries a 22-85 (.206 win percentage) in his tenure.
Becky Schroeder is leading the offense this year, averaging 2.85 kills per set this year, with Julie Touchett following right behind her with 2.53 per set. The two players are within 15 kills of each other (Schroeder with 208 and Trouchett with 197). Haley Stolt is just behind her averaging 2.51 per set (196 total). Stolt has put up 185 digs this season as well, for an average of 2.37 on the year. That sits second only to Emma Hallmann, who carries a 4.13 average for digs (322 total).

THE SERIES: The Bulldogs have fared well against the Huskies in the past, carrying a 74-34 all time record. The two teams split last year, while UMD has been able to win five of the last six match-ups between the two teams, dropping only four sets in those six match-ups. The Bulldogs have won the past 40 sets against the Golden Eagles, last dropping a set in 2008. UMD is 26-0 against Crookston all time, only dropping a total of two sets in their series match-ups. The Bulldogs have taken the last five, going 5-0. UMD and the Beavers played earlier this season, with the Bulldogs taking that match-up 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 26-24). UMD sits  93-3 all time against BSU, The Bulldogs have not dropped a set to the Beavers since 2010, winning the last 32 sets. in the 97 meetings between the two teams, UMD has won 94 of them.

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

SCHOOL	OVERALL	NSIC	AVCA
UMD	19-2	1ST	3RD
SCSU	17-4	T-5TH	11TH
UMC	4-17	14TH	NR
BSU	6-15	T-12TH	NR

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

For those interested in live stats only follow the link and click on the stats button: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd/

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs come off a weekend of wins. UMD swept the University of Sioux Falls (25-9, 25-17, 25-15), a match where senior setter Emily Balts reached her 5,000th career assist. The Bulldogs then dropped the first two sets against SMSU, only to reverse sweep the (then) No. 11 Mustangs  (18-25, 22-25, 25-13, 25-23, 15-5). Junior outside hitter Kate Berg floored her 1,000th kill in the match. UMD climbed two spots in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll to claim a lone third spot in DII.

WELL STRUCK IN THE NATION: UMD currently averages 15.11 kills per set, good for tops in both the NSIC and nation across all divisions. A big part of that average is  junior outside hitter Kate Berg, who currently is sitting third in the NSIC and eighth in the nation with a 4.30 average.  The Bulldogs are hitting .271, second in the NSIC and sixth in DII. Senior middle blocker Abby Thor is a big help in that department. Thor swings at a .361 clip, sixth the NSIC and good for 36th in DII.

KILLING IT: Kate Berg currently sits 12th among active juniors in kills, totaling to 1,009, and sits 62nd among all active DII players. Abby Thor is currently sitting 21st among active DII players and just outside the top 25 across all divisions in hitting percentage, with a .334 clip in her career.

BLOCK PARTY: Abby Thor has 66 total blocks on the year and 294.0 in her career, cracking the top 10 in blocks at UMD all time. She currently sits ninth all time behind Katie Timm, who finished her career with 332.

CAN YOU DIG IT: Senior defensive specialist Keena Seiffert has a total of 1,287 digs in her career, sitting 56th among seniors, and 74th among all active players in DII. She has cracked into the top 10 at UMD for defensive digs, passing Kate (Lange) Sterns (1,235) ,  Alyson Grey (1,238) and Callie Zwettler (1,265). She currently sits eighth, and looks to pass Krista Naughton (1,408) for seventh all time with the Bulldogs.

SETTING THE BAR: The Bulldogs currently average 14.14 assists per set, leading the NSIC, DII and second across all divisions. Senior setter Emily Balts, the quarterback of the Bulldog offense, currently averages 12.24 assists on the year, good for first in the NSIC, second in DII and second across all divisions. She has averaged 12.23 assists per set in her career, leading the nation across all divisions among active players. She has notched setter of the week in the NSIC twice so far this year. She was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American second team in 2018. Emily Balts moved up to sixth all-time among set assists at UMD, and currently has 5,050. Rhaya Tomberlin is fifth on the UMD charts with 5,406.

ACES WILD: Sophomore setter Madison Gordon currently averages .43 aces per set, good for seventh in the NSIC.

SURVEY SAYS: For roughly 17-plus years, the Bulldogs have been nationally ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association. UMD receives the No. 3 ranking after turning in a two win weekend, with a sweep over Sioux Falls and a reverse sweep of Southwest Minnesota State, improving to 19-2 overall (12-1 in the NSIC), sitting in the lone first spot in the NSIC. The Bulldogs have been in every poll since it first appeared on Sept. 10, 2002, a stretch of 241 consecutive weeks. No other team has a longer active streak.
 

RANK	SCHOOL	POINTS	RECORD	PREVIOUS
1	Cal State San Bernardino (45)	1149	19-0	1
2	Nebraska-Kearney (1)	1104	23-0	2
3	Minnesota Duluth	1015	19-2	5
4	Washburn	1006	19-2	T-3
5	Western Washington	957	19-1	6
6	Concordia-St. Paul	918	17-4	7
7	Northern State	909	18-3	T-3
8	Lewis	772	21-3	9
9	Central Missouri	714	16-6	10
10	Regis	654	18-3	12

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will take to the road to face off against No. 13 St. Cloud State (Oct. 31), before coming back to Duluth, Minn. to play host to Minnesota Crookston (Nov. 2), then host Bemidji State (Nov. 5).