THE OPENING SERVE:
Despite splitting their weekend slate, the UMD volleyball team enters this week with the same ranking they had this time a week ago- #9. You can drop a match to what is now unanimously the #1 team in the country in Wayne State and avoid losing any ground, especially when you took care of a stout Augustana team so handily the night before. Unfortunately, though, that top-ten ranking, in fact any national ranking at all, is never a guarantee. The Bulldogs should know this quite well, as they entered the season only receiving votes, right on the doorstep of the top 25 but not yet allowed in. If UMD would like to maintain their proper status within the eyes of the AVCA, they'd be best not to make losing a habit. They'll be facing pressure in that regard all weekend long- and on the road, no less. First, a stop in Marshall on Friday, September 30 (6:00 p.m.) for a matchup against a #7 Southwest Minnesota State team that would love to knock a fellow NSIC squad a few notches away from their tail in the national rankings. Right after that, the Bulldogs will dip out of Minnesota for the first time in two weeks when they head to Sioux Falls for a bout against a competitive Cougars club on Saturday, October 1 (2:00 p.m.). 

SCOUTING REPORT ON SMSU:
One of the trickiest jobs in all of sports is finding a replacement for head-coaching royalty. Last winter was tricky for the Mustangs. 

Terry Culhane, who had head-manned the program for 18 long years, had just retired. During Culhane's tenure, the Mustangs had been masterful. The team's record under his watch was 431-124, a commanding .777 win percentage. Never did SMSU have a losing record under Culhane. What they did have were three regular-season NSIC championships, including a 2012 campaign in which they'd go on to win the NSIC tournament as well, a clean sweep of NSIC hardware. Don't forget fifteen-straight NCAA Tournament appearances from Cuhlane's first season in 2004 all the way to 2018; for the longest time, all he knew was a world where his team was competing until the end. SMSU made it all the way to the NCAA Championship game in 2014 only to be defeated by a one-loss Tampa squad in straight sets. The only thing that eluded Culhane was an NCAA trophy to add to his case. 

Those are pretty tough shoes to fill, right?

Well, someone had to do it. SMSU decided to look internally, promoting someone that had been with the program as an assistant coach since 2012 and had the privilege of Cuhlane's tutelage: Tyler Boddy. 

New coaches often look to install entirely new philosophies into a program, to lead a culture shift towards a bigger and brighter future. In Boddy's case, what do you do when your horizons are already as broad as the eye can see? At the very least, you hope to maintain this composure. That in and of itself is a monumental task. 

In just his first season, Boddy already has his Mustangs out to a 13-1 start. That one loss was to a Concordia-St.Paul team that's currently the #3 club in the country. It seems as if Boddy isn't content with standing pat- he wants to broaden things a little more. 

Boddy's squad is doing quite a job at moving these efforts along. Of particular note is the Mustangs' stellar offensive group led by Saari Kuehl, who is tops on the team in kills with 153 (3.12 K/S) in just her sophomore season. Senior Alisa Bengen has been the one feeding Kuehl and company the ball, leading the team in assists with 529, good for a clip of 11.02 A/S that puts her at 12th in the nation in that stat. These two co-headline an offense that's fifth in the nation in both kills per set with 14.41 and assists per set with 13.16. 

The Mustang defense stars two more underclassmen that are already displaying an ability to lead the unit. McKenzie Tolk has a team-high 156 digs (3.18 D/S) as a freshman. Sophomore Emma VanHeel is averaging a block a set- she has 48 total. She leads the team in both departments. 

It's as if the Bulldogs are being faced with an opponent that's been genetically engineered to be the last team they'd ever want to see fresh off of a loss against #1 Wayne State. The win-loss tally doesn't give out rain checks for extraneous circumstances, though. If the Bulldogs want to be great, this is the kind of match they'll need to find a way to win. One ace they hold up their sleeves is the fact that their coaching royalty in Jim Boos is still serving on the throne. Saturday will have shades of a duel between a worthy apprentice and a noble master. Only time will tell who gets the upper hand.

SCOUTING REPORT ON SIOUX FALLS:
Last week, Augustana played the role of a hearty appetizer before the hot-wing challenge of a main course that was #1 Wayne State. This weekend is more like having already eaten a massive Thanksgiving feast only to be presented with a slice of pumpkin pie you might not realistically have room for but must gut through anyways- for glory. 

To their credit, much like Augustana before them, Sioux Falls is no joke in their own right. The Cougars may have started the season at 4-3, but they've found another gear thus far in conference play, rattling off a 5-1 stretch to sit at a record of 9-4 and in a five-way tie for second place in the NSIC. One of the teams that they're tied with? The Bulldogs. 

Sioux Falls features a head coaching curiosity of their own in Dan Mathews. Before his tenure with the Cougars, Mathews was the coach of the Cardinal Stritch Wolves of the NAIA. Through three seasons with that program, Mathews posted a 44-54 record. Prior to the 2020 season that never was due to COVID, Mathews came aboard as the new coach for Sioux Falls, who was looking to fill the role of nine-year vet Joel McCartney. The rest may be brief history, but it is history nonetheless. Mathews has done pretty well with this opportunity thus far, as he posted a 17-11 record in his first season with the program and is now off to a solid start in the 2022 campaign. 

Mathews and the Cougars like to utilize a system that features two setters spreading the wealth rather than one getting the lion's share of the touches. You might expect at least one of these core distributors to be an upperclassman seasoned with some experience- nope. Both of the Cougars' top assist-getters are freshmen, those being Elise Gillen with 322 (6.85 A/S) and Davis Guetterman with 200 (4.44 A/S). Oh, well, at least the attackers have some seasons underneath them, right? There are three Cougars with 100+ kills- let's go down the list. First up is Courtney Holsteen with a team-leading 141 kills (3.13 K/S). Holsteen is a freshman. Grace Hanel is next with 134 kills (2.91 K/S). Hanel is a sophomore in her first real season of action. Finally, there is Sadie Voss and her 119 kills (2.64 K/S). Voss? A freshman. 

There's no need to try to sustain the suspense when it comes to the Cougars' defense- you already know what's coming. Well, there is one curve ball: Voss pairs her attacking abilities with a team-leading 149 digs (3.31 D/S). Sophomore Jordyn Hamm leads the way in blocks with 43 (0.96 B/S).

It would be easy (and, honestly, rather reasonable) for an experiment like this, a complete youth-movement overseen by a coach in just his second year maneuvering true Division II season play, to be a total disaster. So far, it's really been anything but that. Mathews has been able to mold his young players not only into proper crew mates but ones that can already steer the ship themselves. A ninth-ranked opponent like the Bulldogs coming to town presents an invaluable opportunity for a group like this Sioux Falls squad to further add to their resumes.

THE SERIES:
The Bulldogs certainly haven't had a problem beating either of this weekend's opponents in the past. UMD holds a whopping 67-20 overall record against SMSU. The then-#14 Mustangs had the most recent laugh, though, when they swept the Bulldogs 3-0 in 2021. Sioux Falls hasn't seen as much of UMD as SMSU, but relatively speaking, the club hasn't fared much better. The Bulldogs are 14-2 against the Cougars, their most recent matchup in 2021 being a 3-0 UMD victory.

BITS FROM BOOS:
This kind of weekend puts quite a lot onto the plate of Boos and his Bulldogs. Going into this week of practices, where do they even begin? Before the team can focus on external forces, Boos wants to make sure they're settled internally after a weekend that didn't go the way they'd wanted it to. 

"I think it's turning your attention to early this week, what do we need to do to improve and get us back to who we are, and make our brand of volleyball, our side of the net, what it's supposed to look like," Boos said. "Make our changes, and then, as we get a little bit later into the week, starting to prep for the other two teams, understanding it's on to the next one."

Even at a more even keel, the Bulldogs will have a mighty challenge ahead of them on Friday with SMSU. Worse still is that the Mustangs continue a trend of having a play style that differs from anything the Bulldogs could pull from last week's tape to study; not all top-ten teams are created equal. Even still, there's no better place to try to adapt to a new opponent than in practice.

This is exactly what Boos plans to do, recent point-of-reference or no recent point-of-reference. 

"Southwest obviously is having a great year and does some great things, but they're going to be different than what we did this weekend," Boos said. "(We'll be) turning our attention to the things that they do and how we need to adjust what we do defensively and how we need to run offensively to have a chance to be successful while we're down there, knowing it will be in a competitive and challenging environment."

What's more fun than having to learn how a new squad functions once in a week? having to do it twice. Alas, this is the reality of a volleyball season, and it's one the Bulldogs will be living as they head into the weekend. 

This is made even worse by the fact that Sioux Falls poses a very unique problem with their two-setter system in that it's so dramatically different than how SMSU will operate. This isn't just a difference in pace, or craftiness, or attacks per set- this is a fundamental difference in scheme code.

This may not be Boos and company's first rodeo when it comes to facing off against two different beasts within 24 hours of each other, but it's still a tough ask. 

"It's the same challenge we've had here for the first three weekends of conference play- team A is this, and team B is that, and regardless of how Friday night goes, you've got to be able to push your mind on to what's next very quickly," Boos said. "If there're similarities, maybe you can use some of that to coincide and kind of have a collective plan for what you're going to do in some cases. When team A does this and team B does this and it's very very different, now it can not only change your mindset but it can change maybe some of the things you're trying to do. Sioux Falls runs a very quick tempo offense and has for quite some time, and it's a different challenge, and it's a different style. That's what we're working on here over the course of the next four days."

Between all of this and an imminent date with #4 St. Cloud State right around the corner next Tuesday, there's no doubt that the Bulldogs have their hands full. To Boos, though, this too is old news. What is new to this season is that Boos has heightened confidence that his club can keep growing to be able to handle the realities of conference play. 

"As you look at our upcoming opponents, it's 13-1, it's 9-4, it's 13-1 after playing 10-3 and 15-0," Boos said. "This is a stretch where we knew we were going to be up against some really challenging opponents, and that's what our conference is. This is nothing new. This is something that last year, maybe we weren't at a place where we were competing as well as we would've liked to even be worried about some of the minutiae. We can worry about some of that minutiae now, but we've got to iron out some things on our side where we can be more of the dictator of how a match goes like we have been a few times this year vs being the one that's dictated to."

If the Bulldogs can string together a pair of wins this weekend, that'd be some handy ironing work. 

THE BROADCAST:
Click the links below to follow along with this weekend's action live through the NSIC Network: 
vs SMSU (Friday, September 30): https://bit.ly/3SAznjZ
vs Sioux Falls (Saturday, October 1): https://bit.ly/3SwkvTS

LAST TIME OUT:
All things considered, the Bulldogs would probably like to burn the bridge that leads back to last week's action. A weekend that started with so much promise with a 3-0 victory over Augustana ended in disappointment when #1 Wayne State came to town and defended their ranking with a 3-0 sweep of UMD.

UP NEXT:
As alluded to earlier, things won't ease up for UMD coming out of this weekend. The Bulldogs will have exactly two days to recover from their road trip, hop right back on the bus and head to St. Cloud to take on the #4 Huskies on Tuesday, October 4. Friday, October 7's opponent in currently 6-7 Winona State, whom the Bulldogs will host in Romano, might look like a bit of a break on-paper, but every opponent in the NSIC should be taken seriously. Like Upper Iowa, for example, a team currently sitting at 9-4 that will travel to Duluth on Saturday, October 5 to be the Bulldogs' third opponent in less than a week. Giddy up.