THE OPENING SERVE:
The No. 23 UMD Bulldogs will be back on the road as they continue their NSIC schedule. They will hit the road and face off against Winona State in a top 25 matchup. The Bulldogs will face teh Warriors on October 8th at 7:00 PM. UMD will continue on the road as they then travel to Upper Iowa on October 9th at 2:00 PM.
SCOUTING REPORT ON WINONA STATE:
The Winona State Warriors come into the matchup with a 15-1 overall record and a 6-1 conference record. The Warriors come into this matchup having defeated Concordia St. Paul 3-1 on October 5th. Winona State's lone loss came against Northern State on their NSIC home opener back on September 17th.
The Warriors are led by Megan Flom who is leading the Warriors with 4.35 kills per set. Flom also currently leads the conference in hitting percent. The Warriors are also led by Bre Maloney who is averaging 11.4 assists per set, which is good for second in the NSIC. Winona State is led by Head Coach Joe Getzin who is in his 8th season with the program.
SCOUTING REPORT ON UPPER IOWA:
The Upper Iowa Peacocks come into this matchup with a 12-4 overall record and a 5-2 conference record. Their in conference losses come from matchups against Northern State and Concordia St. Paul.
The Peacocks are led by Madelyn Rettler who is averaging 2.93 kills per set. They are also led by Nicole Pozorski who is averaging 9.83 as- sists per set. Upper Iowa is led by Head Coach Aaron Nelson, who is in his 11th season with the program.
THE SERIES:
UMD currently holds an impressive 78-3 record over the Winona State Warriors. The teams last meeting cameon November 16th when Winona State beat the Bulldogs 3-0.
The Bulldogs currently hold a 17-1 record against the Upper Iowa Peacocks. UMD's only loss came in their last matchup on November 15th as Bulldogs fell 3-2.
DEFENSIVE BATTLE:
The Bulldogs, Warriors and Peacocks all rank among the top of the conference in opponent kills per set. Winona State is first in the conference only allowing 9.90 kills per set. UMD is third in the conference while allowing only 10.81 kills per set. Upper Iowa ranks fifth in the conference allowing just 10.96 kills per set. While all three teams are towards the top of the conference in terms of kills per set allowed, all three teams also rank in the top half of the conference in kills per set and total kills.
LEADING THE PACK:
Minnesota Duluth Sophomore Outside Hitter Cianna Selbitschka is currently second in the conference in total kills (242) and third in the conference in kills per set (4.17). Selbitschka is also leading the conference in total service aces (27) and average service aces per set (0.47). Selbitschka also ranks in the top 20 in the coferfence in digs ranking 13th in the conference in total digs (172) and 17th in digs per set (2.97).
Bulldogs Sophomore Grace Daak currently leads the NSIC with 69 total blocks and is second with 1.19 blocks per set.
Senior Sydney Lanoue is currently thrid in the conference in total digs (262) and fifth in digs per set (4.52).
Redshirt Junior Madison Gordon currently has the third most assists (603) and is sixth in assists per set with 10.40.
THE BROADCAST:
You can find a live stream for both games here: https://nsicnetwork.com/umdbulldogs/
You can find the live stats for the match against Winona State here: https://winonastatewarriors.com/sidearmstats/ wvball/summary
You can find the live stats against Upper Iowa here: https://uiupeacocks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/ summary
LAST TIME OUT:
The Bulldogs hosted Minnesota State - Mankato and Concordia St. Paul. The Bulldogs defeated the Minnesota State - Mankato Mavericks 3-0 on Friday night. UMD would then fall to the Concordia St. Paul Golden Bears in a five set thriller, 2-3.
UP NEXT:
The Bulldogs will continue conference play as they will host Minot State on Friday October 15th at 6:00 PM. They will then host Mary on October 16th at 4:00 PM. Both games will be a part of UMD's homecoming weekend!
