The No. 23 University of Minnesota Duluth volleyball team is set to battle No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Postseason Tournament Semifinals Friday night at Rice Arena in Wayne, Neb. Opening serve for the contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. 

MATCH INFORMATION:
NSIC Volleyball Tournament Semifinals
#6 seed UMD vs. #2 seed Concordia-St. Paul
Rice Arena - Wayne, Neb. 
7:30 p.m. 
Live Stream: https://www.midcosportsplus.com/
Live Stats: https://wscwildcats.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Tickets: Adults: $15 || Students: $5 || Age 5 & under: Free
NSIC Tournament Website: https://northernsun.org/tournaments/?id=143&path=wvball

LAST TIME OUT: The Bulldogs got a career-high 23 kills from Paige Decker and double-doubles from Madeline Guetzkow and Kenzie Kiminski to upend No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State on the road in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament Tuesday night in four sets, 31-29, 25-19, 26-24, 25-21. Guetzkow had 14 kills and 12 digs and Kiminski had 11 kills and a career-high 20 digs. The Bulldogs and the Mustangs combined for 129 kills in the match, with UMD holding a 70-59 advantage over the league leaders. The Maroon and Gold also held the edge in assists (64-57), service aces (5-4) and digs (85-76). SMSU held the advantage in hitting percentage (.236-.220) and total team blocks (13.0-9.0), but had 12 service errors to just three for the Bulldogs. 

MAKING THE TOURNAMENT: UMD wrapped regular-season NSIC play with sweeps of Minot State and UMary at Romano Gymnasium last weekend to post a 14-6 league mark to earn the No. 6 seed for the NSIC Tournament. The Bulldogs and St. Cloud State each finished with a 14-6 record, but the Huskies earned the fifth seed over UMD via point rating system. 

SCOUTING CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL: The Golden Bears earned the No. 2 seed in the NSIC Tournament with a 17-3 league record and are ranked No. 10 in the AVCA-Taraflex Division II Coaches Poll this week with a 23-6 overall mark. They rank third in the NSIC with a .264 hitting percentage led by senior middle blocker Mehlayna Straub's .377 clip. Straub was one of two Golden Bears named to the All-NSIC First Team, along with junior outside hitter Makenna Nold, who also garnered NSIC Player of the Year honors for the second-straight season. Nold leads the league and ranks fourth nationally with a 4.93 points per set average. Junior middle blocker Kelsey Cooper was named to the second team. CSP defeated Jamestown, 3-2, in the quarterfinals and have won eight of its last 10 matches. 

UMD VS. CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL
Series Record: 29-37
Last Meeting: Oct. 2, 2026 | UMD won 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-13)
Streak: UMD, W1
UMD used relentless defense and 45 combined kills from Madeline Guetzkow, Kenzie Kiminski and Paige Decker to defeat then-No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul in a five-set thriller at the Gangelhoff Center in St. Paul in the teams' lone meeting this this season on Oct. 2. Guetzkow had a double-double with a match-high 19 kills and 15 digs, while also totaling three service aces, two block assists, and two assists. Kiminski also had a double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs, while notching a career-high three service aces and one block assist. Decker tallied 12 kills, three block assists and three digs. The Bulldogs had 13 service aces in the contest, their most since Sept. 2, 2005 when they had 13 service aces vs. Hillsdale College.  

LOOKING AHEAD:  A win vs. Concordia-St. Paul would send UMD to the NSIC Tournament Championship match vs. the winner of No. 2 Wayne State vs. No. 14 St. Cloud State on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 4 p.m. The winner of the conference tournament is the NSIC Volleyball Tournament Champion and is the recipient of the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. 

UMD IN THE NSIC TOURNAMENT: The Bulldogs are 16-8 all-time in the NSIC Tournament and have claimed the tournament title three times - in 2013, 2014 and 2018. They are 1-6 in the league tournament when facing the the Golden Bears, with their lone win coming in the 2013 Championship match. The Bulldogs last faced Concordia-St. Paul in the quarterfinals last season, falling in three sets on the road. Friday's match marks the sixth meeting between the two squads in the NSIC semifinal match. 

IN THE POLLS: The Bulldogs remained at No. 23 in the Nov. 9 AVCA-Taraflex Division II Women's Volleyball Poll. UMD is one of six NSIC teams ranked or receiving votes in the top-25, including No. 2 Wayne State, No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul, No. 14 St. Cloud State, No. 15 Southwest Minnesota State, and RV Northern State. 

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: The only rookie named to either all-NSIC squad, Kenzie Kiminski earned a spot on the All-NSIC second team in addition to being named the NSIC Freshman of the Year. The Floodwood, Minn., native leads all NSIC rookies and ranks 16th in the conference with a 3.00 kills per set average. She has 10 or more kills in 12 matches, which includes two 20-plus kill performances, and has six double-doubles on the year. Kiminski is just the third Bulldog to be named NSIC Freshman of the Year and the first since Emily Torve earned the distinction in 2016. 

ALL-NSIC HONORS: The UMD volleyball team had four players earn All-NSIC accolades. Senior right side hitter Madeline Guetzkow and senior middle blocker Paige Decker each earned a spot on the All-NSIC First Team, while freshman outside hitter Kenzie Kiminski and junior setter Ava Jones were named to the All-NSIC Second Team. Guetzkow is averaging 4.03 points and 3.46 kills per set, both of which rank in the top-seven in the NSIC, while Decker leads the conference and ranks seventh nationally with a .417 hitting percentage. The middle blocker is also averaging 3.25 kills and 0.80 blocks per set, both of which rank in the league's top-17. Jones is averaging 11.33 assists per set to rank third in the NSIC and fourth nationally, and also ranks in the top-11 in league standings in aces per set.

NCAA D2 NPI RANKINGS: UMD checks in at No. 37 nationally in the latest NCAA Division II Power Index (NPI) rankings released Nov. 11, and at No. 10 in the Central Region, up two spots from last week, with a 60.119 NPI. The Bulldogs' highest ranking was No. 28 on Oct. 26 with a 60.737 NPI. The NPI is a ranking system used to evaluate team performance, considering game results and the strength of opponents to calculate a team's NPI value and ranking. The primary purpose of NPI is to compare teams within Division II for ranking and NCAA Championship selection. Once automatic qualifiers are determined, remaining teams are considered for at-large selection based on NPI ranking until the championship field is filled.