The No. 25 University of Minnesota Duluth Volleyball Team (17-6, 10-6 NSIC) closes out its regular-season road schedule this weekend when it travels to No. 10 St. Cloud State on Friday, Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. and to No. 24 Minnesota State Mankato on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m.   

LAST TIME OUT: UMD dropped a pair of four-set road contests last weekend at No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State and at Sioux Falls in NSIC action. Paige Decker hit .429 over the two-match span with 3.13 kills per set and 1.38 blocks per set, both team highs. The two losses extended the Bulldogs' losing streak to three games, which is their only losing streak this season. 

SCOUTING ST. CLOUD STATE: The Huskies host UMD Friday ranked No. 10 in the latest AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II Poll with a 19-5 overall record and a 14-2 NSIC mark. SCSU has won six of their last seven matches, with its six-match winning streak coming to an end Tuesday with a 1-3 road loss at No. 9 Concordia St. Paul. Shelby Kimm and Ella Thompson pace the Huskies offensively with 3.39 and 3.35 kills per set, respectively, while Laurin Hamann holds down the defense with a 4.49 digs-per-set average. Braya LaPlant has twice been named the NSIC Setter of the Week and averages 11.50 assists per set. As a team, SCSU leads the league in kills with 14.88 per set. 

UMD vs. SCSU
Record: 77-38    Last: 10.17.24    Result: L, 0-3 (17-25, 14-25, 15-25)    Streak: L2
The Bulldogs are 3-2 in the teams' last five meetings, but have lost two-straight against the Huskies heading into Friday's matchup. UMD was swept in the 2024 series, falling 3-0 both on the road and at home. Kylie Broten and Madeline Guetzkow each totaled 10 kills in the series, while Jones tallied 24 assists, eight digs and two service aces in the pair of contests. 

SCOUTING MINNESOTA STATE: The Mavericks enter the weekend ranked No. 24 in this week's Top-25 poll with a 19-5 overall record and an 11-5 NSIC mark. Their 19 wins are their most since 2011. MSU has won two-straight matches after posting sweeps over Minot State and UMary last weekend on the road. The Mavericks lead the NSIC and rank in a tie for third nationally in service aces per set with a 2.47 average. Former Bulldog Mary Satori and teammate Jadyn Lester are tied for the league lead in service aces with 0.65 per set, while Emily Kern paces Minnesota State with a 3.74 points-per-set average. 

UMD vs. MINNESOTA STATE
Record: 54-20    Last: 11.9.24    Result: W, 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 12-25, 25-23, 15-13)    Streak: W1
UMD is 3-2 in the teams' last five meetings and 8-2 in their last 10 meetings. Last season, the two squads split their season series with the Bulldogs coming out ahead in the last meeting, 3-2, on the road. Madeline Guetzkow had 11 kills and three total blocks in the five-set thriller and Kyie Broten had six kills and five block assists. Elyse Karrels added three block assists. 

BULLDOGS IN THE TOP 25: UMD ranks in at No. 25 in the latest AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II Poll released Monday. The Bulldogs earned 97 points this week after receiving 257 points in last week's poll when they were ranked No. 21. UMD's highest ranking this season was No. 13 in the Week 5 poll on Oct. 6. 

SINCE HER RETURN: Junior Paige Decker has hit .383 and averaged a team-best 3.29 kills per set since returning to UMD's lineup full time after missing six matches due to injury Oct. 24 vs. Augustana. The middle blocker has also led the team with 1.14 blocks per set and 54.5 points per set in the team's last four matches.  

DOUBLE-DIGIT DIGS: Junior libero Madison Reed has tallied 10 or more digs in 20 of UMD's 23 matches this season, including in eight-straight and 18 of the Bulldogs' last 19 matches. She ranks fourth in the NSIC and 63rd in NCAA Division II with a 4.65 digs-per-set average. Her career-high 33 digs at Wayne State on Sept. 26 is the third-highest total in the NSIC this season.    

COUNTDOWN TO 500 KILLS: Madeline Guetzkow is 22 kills away from reaching 500 career kills. The junior is averaging 3.26 kills per set this season and has totaled 235 kills in 20 matches, a mark that surpassed her season total of 215 kills from the 2024 season.  

LET ME HELP YOU: Setter Ava Jones needs just 26 assists to reach 1,000 assists for the season. The last time a UMD setter had 1,000 assists in a season was Madison Gordon, who had 1,100 assists in 2023. 

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 30th most in a five-set match in NCAA Division II this season. 

BOOS IN NCAA DII TOP-FOUR: UMD head coach Jim Boos ranks fourth among active NCAA Division II volleyball coaches and 12th among all active NCAA volleyball coaches with an .808 winning percentage. His 586 wins rank 12th among active DII coaches. He ranks 52nd among all active NCAA volleyball coaches in career wins. 

BULLDOGS IN THE NCAA RANKINGS: UMD enters the weekend with multiple players ranked among the NCAA's best. Ava Jones ranks seventh in total assists (975) and eighth in assists per set (11.34), while Kylie Broten ranks 15th with a .386 hitting percentage.  As a team, UMD ranks 10th in hitting percentage (.275) and 15th in kills per set (14.12) and assists per set (13.14). 

AGAINST THE TOP 25: UMD is 1-4 when facing teams ranked in the Top 25 this season, however, it has averaged more kills per set (14.11 to 13.68), more assists per set (13.47 to 12.05) and more digs per set (16.42 to 15.47) than those opponents. Madeline Guetzkow averages a team-best 3.41 kills per set and Madison Reed averages 5.05 digs per set against ranked opponents. Paige Decker averages 1.06 blocks per set vs. ranked opponents.  

ON THE ROAD: In NSIC road matches this season, the Bulldogs are averaging 13.24 kills per set. Madeline Guetzkow paces the offense in those matches with a 3.43 kills-per-set average, while Molly Rupp leads the team with 95 total kills (2.79 kills per set). UMD is also averaging 16.12 digs per set in league road contests, with Madison Reed leading the way with 4.47 digs per set.