The No. 13 University of Minnesota Duluth Volleyball Team is set to face No. 23 Northern State University and University of Jamestown in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action this weekend. The Bulldogs will battle the Wolves Friday at 6 p.m. at Wachs Arena and will take on the Jimmies Saturday at 2 p.m. at Harold Newman Arena. UMD enters the weekend with a 13-1 overall record and a 6-1 league mark, its best start to the season since 2022.  

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs posted back-to-back sweeps vs. the University of Mary and Minot State at Romano Gymnasium last weekend. It was the second time this season UMD posted two-straight sweeps, as it also defeated Adelphi and Northern Michigan in straight sets in the Up North Tournament on its home court. Kylie Broten led the Bulldogs with a 3.83 kills-per-set average and a .528 hitting percentage in the pair of wins. 

SCOUTING NO. 23 NORTHERN STATE: The Wolves moved up one spot this week to No. 23 in this week's AVCA/TARAFLEX Top 25 poll with an 11-4 record on the season and a 3-4 NSIC mark. Linnea Nesheim leads the Northern State offense with 190 kills, an average of 3.73 per set, which ranks fifth in the league. Last week, the Wolves posted sweeps over Minnesota Crookston and MSU Moorhead on the road. Northern State is 1-2 when playing at home this season. 

SCOUTING JAMESTOWN: The Jimmies are playing their first season at the NCAA Division II level and their first in the NSIC in 2025. They enter the weekend with a 6-8 overall record and a 1-6 league record, picking up its first NSIC win in program history at Minnesota Crookston on Oct. 4. Ava Mueller and Corbyn Menz pace the Jamestown offense, as they each average 2.36 kills per set. Mueller averages 2.85 points per set, while Menz averages 2.74 points per set. The Jimmies are 0-2 when playing at home this season. 

UMD vs. NORTHERN STATE
Record: 54-9    Last: Oct. 26, 2024    Result: L, 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 22-25, 22-25)    Streak: L4
In the teams' last meeting, Paige Decker hit .556 with five kills and three block assists and Elyse Karrels hit .500 with two kills and three digs. Kylie Broten totaled eight kills and two block assists and Madeline Guetzkow added seven kills and two digs. Ava Jones had 21 assists and five digs. The Bulldogs had 61 kills to Northern State's 46 kills, but the Wolves had 15 service aces and 17 teams blocks. The Bulldogs' last win vs. the Wolves was a 3-0 sweep on Sept. 17, 2022 at Romano Gymnasium. 

UMD vs. JAMESTOWN
Record: First Meeting
Saturday's match will be the first meeting vs. the Jimmies. 

BULLDOGS IN THE TOP 25: UMD continues to garner national recognition as it once again moved up in the rankings to No. 13 in the latest AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II Poll released Monday. The Bulldogs earned 575 points after receiving 483 points in last week's poll when they were ranked at No. 15. 

MILESTONE ACHIEVED: With her first assist in the Bulldogs' five-set win at Augustana on, sophomore Ava Jones hit the 1,000 career assists milestone. Jones has 1,053 career assists and is averaging 7.26 assists per set for her career. She has already surpassed her assists total of 499 from last season. 

LET'S COUNTDOWN AGAIN!: Madeline Guetzkow is the next Bulldog approaching a milestone this season, as she is just 70 kills away from reaching 500 career kills. The junior is averaging 3.51 kills per set this season and has totaled 186 kills through 14 matches. 

DIGGIN IT: UMD totaled 107 digs in its contest at No. 14 Wayne State on Sept. 26, its most in a single match since Oct. 28, 2006 when it tallied 108 digs vs. Augustana. The total also ties for the seventh most in a five-set match in NCAA Division II this season. Four Bulldogs had career-bests in digs in the contest, including junior Madison Reed, who had  33 digs. Madeline Guetzkow had 21 digs, while Mollie Rupp had 19 digs and Georgia Koscielak had three digs. 

BULLDOGS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS: UMD enters the weekend with multiple players ranked among the NCAA's best. Ava Jones currently ranks third in assists per set (11.64) and ninth in total assists (617). Madeline Guetzkow sits in the top-34 in points per set with her 4.39 average, while Madison Reed ranks 48th in digs per set with 4.74. As a team, UMD ranks sixth in hitting percentage (.294), seventh in assists per set (13.51) and eighth in kills per set (14.43).

SERVE EM UP: Junior Madison Reed led the NSIC last week with a 1.33 service aces per set average after posting eight against the University of Mary and Minot State. She had two in the win over the Marauders, before serving up a career-high six aces against the Beavers. The six aces tied for the most in a three-set NSIC match this season. 

EFFICIENT HITTING PERFORMANCE: In the Bulldogs' win over Bemidji State on Sept. 23, they hit .452 with only four attack errors, their best offensive outing since Sept. 15, 2023 when they hit .488 at UMary. UMD's four attack errors, all of which came in the first set, were its fewest in a match since Oct. 18, 2016 when it had just four attack errors in a home sweep of St. Cloud State. Paige Decker's .733 hitting percentage for the match ties for the ninth-highest mark for a single match in NCAA Division II this season on 15-19 attempts and is the second-highest for a Bulldog this season behind Broten's .737 vs. Missouri-St. Louis on Sept. 9, 2025, which ties for seventh in NCAA Division II this season.

AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS: The Bulldogs lead the league in hitting percentage with a .294 mark, while ranking second in service aces per set (2.02), third in kills per set (14.43), fourth in assists per set (13.34) and points per set (18.49) and sixth in blocks per set (2.04) and digs per set (15.57). 

In conference only matches, UMD leads the league in kills per set (14.86) and assists per set (13.50), while ranking second in hitting percentage (.294), fourth in points per set (18.25), service aces per set (1.71) and digs per set (16.25). 

BEST IN LEAGUE-ONLY MATCHES: Madeline Guetzkow leads the NSIC with a 4.07 kills-per-set average and Kylie Broten leads the NSIC with a .461 hitting percentage in league-only contests. 

BOOS IN NCAA DII TOP-THREE: UMD head coach Jim Boos ranks in a tie for third among active NCAA Division II volleyball coaches and tied for 11th among all active NCAA volleyball coaches with an .813 winning percentage. His 582 wins rank 12th among active DII coaches, just 11 wins behind Melissa Wolter's No. 11 mark of 593 at West Florida. Spring Hill's Peggy Martin ranks first with 1,499 wins.