THE OPENING SERVE:
#21 UMD volleyball takes their new ranking to Indianapolis this weekend to defend it against another gauntlet of opponents in yet another tournament, this time the UIndy Invitational. Friday, September 2nd will see the Bulldogs square off against Missouri-St. Louis at 8:00 a.m. before a rematch against Ashland at 2:00 p.m. On Saturday, September 3rd, the Bulldogs face Grand Valley State at 9:00 a.m. and close out the weekend with tournament-host Indianapolis at 3:00 p.m.

SCOUTING REPORT ON MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS:
Missouri-St. Louis has had success in the dawn of the 2022 campaign, starting the season with a 3-1 record. They've done this on the back of an impressively efficient offense. Four of the Tritons' top five attackers have a hitting percentage over .300. Senior Lexie Rang, who leads the team in kills with 50 (3.57 K/S), has a hitting percentage of .327. Senior Hailey Flowers ranks third in team kills with 37 (2.64 K/S), but she's earned this total with a strong .380 hitting percentage. Freshman Hannah Copeland sits at fourth with 26 kills (1.86 K/S) and a .321 hitting percentage. While senior Mya Elliott may only be fifth in team kills with 21 (1.91 K/S), her .500 hitting percentage is eye-opening, even in a rather low sample size. As a team, the Tritons rank 14th nationally in hitting percentage at 0.303.  Freshman Caitlin Bishop has been the main facilitator for this efficient bunch, and her numbers are also impressive. She has 142 assists, good for 10.14 assists per game. 

Not only are the Tritons hitting the ball well, but they've been good at getting out of rallies early. Missouri-St. Louis is 12th in the nation in team services aces with 40 and 11th in aces per set with 2.86.

Defense may not be at the forefront of the Missouri-St. Louis play style, but the Triton defensive unit has still been serviceable. Elliott has paired her offensive work with a team-leading 10 blocks (0.91 B/S). Junior Kylie Adams has a team-leading 68 digs (4.86 D/S).

The Tritons are led by 12th-year head coach Ryan Young, who currently holds a 2018-124 record as the headman of the program. He's looking to keep momentum high coming off of a 25-9 season that included a first round win in the NCAA Tournament. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON ASHLAND:
Yes, you're reading the right preview- for the second consecutive weekend, UMD draws Ashland as a tournament opponent. The Bulldogs would be more than happy with a repeat of the two teams' matchup last weekend in St. Cloud, which ended in a 3-0 UMD victory. This was also the game in which graduate student Sydney Lanoue not only passed the century mark for career digs but also registered a single game career-high of 15 kills.

It's been a mixed bag for the Eagles since they last saw the Bulldogs, a 3-1 loss to St. Cloud and a 3-0 victory against Notre Dame College leaving them with a record of 2-3 on the year. If they're going to break even against the Bulldogs, they'll be looking to fifth-year senior Erin Krupar to answer the call offensively. Krupar currently leads the team with 44 kills (2.75 K/S), with seven of those coming in the Eagles' previous matchup against the Bulldogs. Fellow fifth-year senior Zoey Peck is the leading ball distributor with 146 assists (9.13 A/S), with 18 of those coming in the previous Eagles-Bulldogs match. Another player of note on the offense is senior Anna Krikke. She sits at fourth on the team in kills with 31, but what's really impressive is her .397 hitting percentage. Nine of Krikke's 31 kills came against the Bulldogs, so she will be a player to watch. As if this wasn't enough, UMD will also need to be weary of Krikke's defense, as she leads the Eagles in blocks with 12 (0.92 B/S). Junior Katie Thompson tops the team charts for digs with 75, 13 of those being registered against the Bulldogs. 


SCOUTING REPORT ON GRAND VALLEY STATE: 
Grand Valley State functions differently from a team like Missouri-St. Louis that survives through offensive production. Much like the Eagles, the Lakers haven't had a player eclipse 40 kills yet, their leading attacker being junior Jaelianna Primus with 33 (2.54 K/S). Rather than having a primary ball distributor, the Lakers have split duties between freshman Jordyn Gates and junior Rachel Jacquay, who have 67 and 61 assists respectively. The Lakers' 3-1 record hasn't rested in the hands of flashy attacking numbers- it's been rooted in their ability to be a tough out against an opponent's attack. Grand Valley State is third in the nation in digs per set with 20.85. When she's not fulfilling her half of the assist duties, Gates is a talented defender, registering a team-high 72 digs (5.54 D/S) so far this season. She's doing it all as a freshman. Team blocking is led by another familiar face in Primus, who has 12 (0.92 B/S).

The Lakers are headed by Jason Johnson, who's in his second season leading the program. Johnson is looking to build upon his inaugural season, which saw his Lakers make an NCAA Tournament appearance with a 17-10 record. 

SCOUTING REPORT ON INDIANAPOLIS
Indianapolis currently sits at 2-1, hoping to avoid a repeat of a 2021 campaign that saw them end the season at 14-17. The Greyhounds are led offensively by junior Hannah Sabotin, who has 37 kills (3.36 K/S) so far. Freshman Sara Spalding leads the team in assists with 53 (4.82 A/S). The Greyhound defense is led by a pair of upperclassmen in senior Elizabeth Eads and redshirt senior MaKenna Barnhart. Eads leads the team in blocks with 10 (1.11 B/S), and Barnhart leads the way in digs with 54 (4.91 D/S). 

Greyhound coach Jason Reed, who is now in his 10th season with the program, is trying to right the wrongs of not only a below-500 2021 season but a two season stretch in which the team has fallen below the .500 mark. Reed's squad has gone 24-28 dating back to a COVID-shortened 2020 season. 

THE SERIES:
Missouri-St. Louis will be rallying for their first ever victory against the Bulldogs in what will be the seventh matchup ever between the two programs, with UMD currently holding a 6-0 record in the bout. The last time the two squads faced off was in 2012, a matchup that saw the Bulldogs prevail 3-0. Ashland will be looking to cash in on another chance to beat the Bulldogs while they still can, as UMD is 3-0 all-time against the Eagles. Their last duel came this past weekend and saw the Bulldogs prevail 3-0. Grand Valley State has mustered some wins against UMD, but the matchup's overall record still favors the Bulldogs 6-3. The last time the two programs met each other was in 2016, ending in a 3-1 Bulldog victory. The Greyhounds and the Bulldogs haven't seen each other often, having played each other only twice leading up to Saturday, but each time, the Bulldogs have won the dog show. These squads last met in 2015, a match the then-#3 Bulldogs won 3-0.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Bulldogs are no strangers to tournaments, having played in one just this past weekend. UMD swept through their four-game bill of the St. Cloud State/Concordia St. Paul Tournament. The Bulldogs started things off with an epic 3-2 comeback against Drury that saw them down 2-0 and on the brink of a season-opening loss. The Bulldogs then blazed through consecutive 3-0 wins against Oklahoma Baptist and Ashland before closing the weekend with a 3-1 win against Seattle Pacific.

THE BROADCAST: 
You can follow all of the games in the UIndy Invitational here: https://glvcsn.com/uindy/
Follow the live stats of the games here: https://athletics.uindy.edu/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

APPROACHING HALF A GRAND OF DIGS:
Redshirt senior Madison Gordon currently sits at 460 digs, just 40 shy of 500 for her career. She's recorded 23 digs across four games so far this season. 

UP NEXT:
The good news is that the Bulldogs will finally escape their tournament tailspin after this weekend and will cut their amount of matches in half. The bad news is that each of these matches will still be played on the road. The Bulldogs will travel to North Dakota to meet Minot State on Friday, September 9th at 7:00  p.m. and stay in North Dakota to play Mary on Saturday, September 10th at 2:00 p.m.