THE OPENING SERVE: The No. 4 University of Minnesota Duluth comes back to Romano for the second weekend this year. The Bulldogs will take on Northern State on Oct. 11, then will play host to MSU Moorhead on Oct. 12.

SCOUTING REPORT ON NO. 8 NORTHERN STATE: The Wolves carry a 12-2 record coming into the weekend, and carry the No. 8 ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 poll this week, and third in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. They come off a weekend that consisted of a weekend sweep of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State. Brent Aldridge is in his ninth season as head coach of the Northern State volleyball squad, and carries an overall record of 175-73, good for a .706 win percentage and sitting 32nd among active coaches in win percentage.
Peyton Ellingson has a .382 hitting percentage on the year, currently sitting T-5 in the NSIC and 24th in division II. She also has averaged 1.24 blocks per set, sitting second in the NSIC and 26th in all DII The Wolves have an overall hitting percentage of .311, first in all of DII and fourth across all divisions, Ashley Rozell, who currently sits fifth in DII for assists per set with 12.18.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MSU MOORHEAD: The Dragons are carrying a 7-7 overall record coming into this coming weekend, sitting T-5 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Confernece. MSUM comes off a weekend where they win two matches over Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston, with both matches going to four sets. Tammy Blake is in her 24th season at the helm of the squad, carrying a 396-341 record, good for a .537 winning percentage.
Kaylyn Jenkins is swinging at a .297 clip, averaging 1.78 kills per set this season. She leads the Dragons in hitting percentage. Sarah Petrbok leads the squad in kills per set, hammering 2.36 kills per set. She is also second on the team in digs per set, averaging 2.78 per set. Taylor Thorson is carrying the squad in digs per set, with 3.19 per set. MSUM has averaged 2.07 blocks per set this year with 103.5 on the year, holding sixth in the NSIC and 57th in all DII. Jenkins has been a huge help with that, averaging 1.04 per set, sitting sixth in the NSIC and 71st in all DII.

THE SERIES: UMD has fared well against both Northern and MSUM in the past. In last years meetings with Northern, the Bulldogs took both matches, with both matches going to the fifth set. Both fifth sets were decided within four points. In the past five meetings, UMD is 4-1 against Northern State, and carry an overall record of 52-4 against the Wolves. The Dragons have had better luck against the Bulldogs overall, with UMD carrying a 62-13 record against Moorhead. Last years contests went four sets each, with the Bulldogs winning both 3-1. Of the last five contests, UMD has won four 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	13-1	1	4
NSU	12-2	T-2	8
MSUM	7-7	T-5	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 sweep of UMary and Minot State. UMD improved its record to 13-1 over the weekend and moved up to solo first place in the NSIC, taking the top spot while owning a conference record of 6-0. The Bulldogs did slide to No. 4 in the AVCA, while Nebraska-Kearney jumped up to the No. 3 spot.

RECAPPING THE 2018 SEASON: The Bulldogs were 28-6 last season and finished 17-3 in the NSIC. UMD had tied for the NSIC regular season championship with Northern State, as well as winning the NSIC Tournament. The Bulldogs were dealt a loss at the hands of the eventual NCAA central regional champions, Washburn university.

WELL STRUCK IN THE NATION: UMD currently averages 15.59 kills per set, good for tops in both the NSIC and the 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 seventh in the nation with a 4.39 average.  The Bulldogs are hitting .283, third in the NSIC and seventh in DII. Junior middle blocker Lexy Langenfeld and senior middle blocker Abby Thor are a big help in that department. Langenfeld swings at a .393 clip, 16th in DII, and Thor swings at a .391 clip, good for 19th in DII.

KILLING IT: Kate Berg currently sits 15th among active juniors in kills, totaling to 897, and sits 72 among all active DII players. Abby Thor is currently sitting 16th among active DII players and just outside the top 25 across all divisions in hitting percentage, with a .337 clip in her career.

CAN YOU DIG IT: Senior defensive specialist Keena Seiffert has a total of 1,141 digs in her career, sitting 61st among seniors, and 80th among all active players in DII. She sits just outside of the top 10 in digs at UMD, and is looking to pass Kate (Lange) Sterns for 10th. Sterns finished her career with 1,235 digs.

SETTING THE BAR: The Bulldogs currently average 14.36 assists per set, sitting at third in DII and fourth acorss all divisions. Senior setter Emily Balts, the quarterback of the Bulldog offense, currently averages 12.45 assists on the year, good for first in the NSIC, second in DII and second across all divisions. She has avaraged 12.25 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 4,729. Rhaya Tomberlin is fifth on the UMD charts with 5,406.

ACES WILD: Sophomore setter Madison Gordon currently averages .46 aces per set, good for fourth in the NSIC and tied for 65th in DII.

SURVEY SAYS: For roughly 17-plus years, the Bulldogs have been nationally ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association. UMD receives the No. 4 ranking after tuning in a weekend sweep on UMary and Minot State, improving 13-1 and 6-0 in the NSIC. The Bulldogs have been in every poll since it first appeared on Sept. 10, 2002, a stretch of 238 consecutive weeks. No other team has a longer active streak.
 

Rank	School	Points	Record	Previous
1	Cal State San Bernardino (42)	1144	14-0	1
2	Western Washington (3)	1098	14-0	2
3	Nebraska-Kearney	1037	14-0	4
4	Minnesota Duluth (1)	1024	13-1	3
5	Washburn	946	13-1	5
6	Lewis	889	15-1	6
7	Concordia - St. Paul	868	11-3	7
8	Northern State	825	12-2	9
9	Southwest Minnesota State	737	11-3	8
10	NW Missouri State	691	12-2	10

UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will take to the road and head to Bemidji State on Oct. 15 to take on the Beavers, then head to Wayne State (Neb.) on Oct. 18 to take on the Wildcats, and finish out the weekend at Augustana University to take on the Vikings on Oct. 19.