The No. 16 University of Minnesota Duluth Volleyball Team closes out its six-match homestand when it hosts Bemidji State Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at Romano Gymnasium. The NSIC contest will be broadcast live on My9 Sports.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs extended its winning streak to nine games with wins over Sioux Falls and No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State to open NSIC action last weekend. UMD rallied to reverse sweep the Cougars 3-2 (23-25, 15-25, 28-26, 25-16, 15-13) in its league opener Friday night, before upsetting the No. 6-ranked Mustangs 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 25-14, 25-16) Saturday afternoon.
SCOUTING BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY: The Beavers enter Tuesday's contest with a 3-7 mark on the season and an 0-2 NSIC record after falling to No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls to open conference action last week. Bemidji State has 15 underclassmen on its roster and is under the direction of first-year head coach Erika Bute. The group is led by seniors Zayda Priebe, Kylie Struble and Jada Wlodarczyk.
UMD vs. BSU
| Record: 100-3 |
Last: Oct. 22, 2024 |
Result: 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-16) |
Streak: W13 |
In the teams' last meeting,
Madeline Guetzkow hit .667 with seven kills and
Kylie Broten had five kills and three block assists.
Elyse Karrels added four service aces and four block assists for the Bulldogs in the sweep. UMD has won the last 13 meetings against the Beavers.
BULLDOGS IN THE TOP 25: With nine-straight wins to open the 2025 campaign and two big wins against Sioux Falls and No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State to open NSIC action last weekend, UMD moved up eight spots to No. 16 in the latest AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II Poll released Monday. The Bulldogs earned 392 points after receiving 151 points in last week's poll.
UNDEFEATED: UMD is one of only 13 teams in Division II that maintains an undefeated record three weeks into the 2025 season and one of only two teams in the NSIC that remains undefeated (Minnesota State). The last time the Bulldogs opened the season 9-0 was in 2022 when they went 13-0 to start the year. It also marks this first time since 2023 that they went 2-0 to open NSIC play.
BACK-TO-BACK CAREER OUTINGS: Sophomore setter
Ava Jones had career-highs with 52 assists and four kills, and added six digs and a critical solo block in the third set in UMD's reverse sweep vs. Sioux Falls Friday night. She matched her career-highs with another 52-assist, four-kill performance against No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State Saturday afternoon. She led all NSIC players with 104 assists to open league play, averaged 11.56 assists per set and helped the Bulldogs hit .301 (139-40-329). She is the only setter in the conference to reach the 100-assist milestone in NSIC play, having nine more assists than the next closest player.
IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: UMD has two players in the top-three nationally this week. Senior middle blocker
Kylie Broten ranks third in NCAA Division II with a .517 hitting percentage, while
Ava Jones ranks third nationally in assists per set at 11.74. Jones also ranks 11th in total assists with 399.
Paige Decker ranks 31st with a .390 hitting percentage and
Madeline Guetzkow ranks 59th in points per set with 4.12 per set. As a team, the Bulldogs rank sixth in hitting percentage (.296), 10th in kills per set (14.35) and 11th in assists per set (13.29).
NCAA Division II Rankings
Individual
COUNTDOWN TO 1,000 ASSISTS: Ava Jones is creeping up on 1,000 career assists early in her sophomore campaign. With 898 heading into Tueday's contest vs. the Beavers, the setter needs just 102 more assists to reach the milestone.
AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS: The Bulldogs lead the league in hitting percentage with a .296 mark, while ranking second in blocks per set (2.18) and service aces per set (2.15) and third in points per set (18.68). Individually,
Kylie Broten leads the NSIC in hitting percentage, ranks seventh in blocks per set, 13th in kills per set and points per set.
Ava Jones ranks second in assists per set and eighth in service aces per set.
Madeline Guetzkow ranks fifth in points per set, 11th in blocks per set, 12th in kills per set and 14th in service aces per set.
Paige Decker ranks ninth in hitting percentage and
Madison Reed ranks fifth in digs per set.
STEPPING UP AGAINST THE BEST: The best time to record your first-career double-double? When helping your team defeat the No. 6 team in the nation. Sophomore
Xada Johnson posted career-highs of 13 kills and 18 digs to lead the Bulldogs to a four-set win over Southwest Minnesota State Saturday afternoon.
GUETZKOW'S BIG WEEK: Junior
Madeline Guetzkow averaged 4.22 kills and 4.89 points per set to open NSIC play last week, notching a career-high 20 kills vs. Sioux Falls and 18 kills against No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State.
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 .813 winning percentage. His 578 wins rank 12th among active DII coaches, just wins nine behind Melissa Wolter's No. 11 mark of 587 at West Florida. Spring Hill's Peggy Martin ranks first with 1,491 wins.
