After a 52-assist performance against St. Cloud State on Tuesday, UMD volleyball's Madison Gordon became the tenth-highest assist-getter in UMD history. With 2,046 career assists, Gordon surpassed Sheila Brown, who amassed 2,019 from 1985-1986. 

Gordon, a redshirt-senior, has been with the Bulldogs since she graduated from West Allis Central High School in 2018. 2019 saw Gordon's first real taste of collegiate action, She recorded 34 assists, the building blocks of a storied career. 

COVID-19 caused a delay in that construction by forcing the cancelation of the 2020 season. Then, Gordon came back in 2021 and made it look like there'd been no buffer time at all. She had a massive breakout season, racking up 1,019 assists on an assists per set clip of 9.61. This year- if you can believe it- Gordon's outdoing herself. With four regular-season matches still to be played, she already has 993 assists on the year, just seven shy of joining the century club for the second consecutive time. Gordon's doing this on a better assists per set average of 11.28, too. 

When you're this good, it'd be easy to have a big ego, to pounce on every stats sheet in anticipation of hitting every coveted milestone that you know you're fated to achieve. How did Gordon find out that she was so close to making it into the top 10?

"My mom originally figured it out," Gordon said. "She's just all about the stats."

Gordon may not have been refreshing the NCAA statistics page over and over waiting for this day to arrive, but she's still glad that it's here. Perhaps a better word would be honored.

In fact, it's the idea of sharing a throne with UMD volleyball greats that sold Gordon on the prestige of her accomplishment. 

"I didn't think it was super cool until I realized Kate Sterns is in the top ten, Kate Berg is in the top ten, Sarah Kelly's in the top ten for hitting percentage," Gordon said. "I always idolized those girls, so I think it's super cool that I'm up there with them."

Gordon isn't just this humble looking up at the peaks of UMD's history- she's the same way when discussing her fellow teammates that join her in the locker room today. 

The stats of these Bulldogs have revealed all season that every single facet of this group is important. If that isn't enough, we can cut out the middle-man and hear this sentiment straight from the quarterback of the club herself.

"I wouldn't be able to do this and accomplish such an amazing spot in my career without my teammates," Gordon said. "I need my defense back there with Kaylyn Madison, Syd (Lanoue), Cianna, Emma and Avery. I wouldn't be able to receive those assists without my hitters getting kills- Syd, Cianna, Grace, Hope, Sam Paulsen... Can't do it without them."

Is it the culture of this program that breeds a mindset like this, or does a herd of these mindsets breed the culture? Maybe it doesn't really matter; what matters is that it's all in place. It sure doesn't hurt that these principles are leading to so much success.