Independent file photo SMSU’s Sarina Smith follows through on a kill during their match against St. Cloud State University on Saturday. The Mustangs will face Minot State University and the University of Mary this weekend.

MINOT, N.D. – Southwest Minnesota State heads on the road for a 6 p.m. match on Friday at Minot State and travels to UMary on Saturday for an 11 a.m. match. SMSU (13-7, 8-4 NSIC) fell to Sioux Falls in five-sets on Tuesday in a mid-week conference match. SMSU enters the matches against Minot State (10-11 overall, 4-8 NSIC) and UMary (3-17 overall and 0-12 NSIC), looking to end a two-match losing streak.

SMSU Notes

The Mustangs extended their losing streak on Tuesday after falling 3-1 to St. Cloud State on Saturday (25-19, 25-20, 25-19, 25-22). SMSU defeated the previously ranked No. 5 Minnesota Duluth 3-1 the night before (25-18, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23). Southwest Minnesota State dropped one spot to No. 11 in the latest AVCA Top-25 poll released on Monday.

Against Minnesota Duluth, Taylor Reiss tied the match-high and recorded a team-best with 16 kills, followed by Meg Schmidt with 13. Kaylee Burmeister recorded four service aces, Reiss led with five blocks, Emma Thomssen had 37 assists and Reiss led with 13 digs. Angela Young recorded a career high .455 hitting percentage and Thomssen recorded a career-high five kills.

In the four-set loss to St. Cloud State, Reiss recorded a team-high 20 kills followed by Schmidt with a career-high 16 kills and Young with 10. Burmeister recorded four services aces. Thomssen recorded 29 assists and Payton Hjerleid recorded 22 for a career-high. Burmeister led with 22 digs. Zoe Lier recorded a career-high six digs.

In Tuesday’s match against Sioux Falls, Reiss recorded 31 kills and 15 digs to earn 39 points. Burmeister recorded a team-high 17 digs. Reiss earned six service aces, the first time a Mustang has done so since Brittany Wenzel on Oct. 16, 2009, against St. Cloud State. Sariah Naea made her first career-start and recorded 55 assists and dix digs.

Minot State Notes

Minot State enters the contest 10-11 overall and 4-8 in the NSIC. MISU snapped a four-match losing streak on Oct. 6 with a sweep over UMary (25-21, 25-14, 25-23). The Beavers have a 2-5 home record this season after the conference win over UMary. Their other win at home occurred on Sept. 18 in a non-conference match against Dickinson State (N.D). Shelby Spuller leads the Beavers with 292 kills and 3.84 kills per set. Kelsey Duwulf has recorded 784 assists this season with an average 10.32 assists per set. Karli Koza dished out a team-high 374 digs.

Minot State

Series History

SMSU dominates the series maintaining an 8-0 lead since the teams’ first match-up on Oct. 20, 2012. The Mustangs have swept all eight of the matches, including the last time the teams played on Oct. 13, 2017 (25-7, 25-13, 25-12).

UMary Notes

UMary remains a 3-17 overall and 0-12 record in the conference. Mary has been swept the past consecutive six matches and 13 times this season. UMary’s last victory occurred on Aug. 25 at MSU Moorhead with a 3-1 victory (25-22, 25-18, 18-25, 25-23). Natalia Cruz leads the Marauders with 127 kills this season, followed by Morgan Schnabel (111), and Katja Berge (109). Sydney Murphy has recorded 462 assists with a 7.22 assists per set average. Cruz also leads the digs, having dished out 195 this season, followed closely by Breanna Donarski with 190.

UMary Series

History

The Mustangs are undefeated in the series, winning all 18 of the matches, dating back to Sept, 6, 2006. Of the 18 matches, the Mustangs have swept 16 of them. The Mustangs swept the last match in Marshall (25-14, 25-18, 25-15) on Oct. 13, 2017.

Southwest Minnesota State returns home next weekend to open a four-match homestand against MSU Moorhead on Friday, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. for the annual red out match and Saturday, Oct. 20 against No. 2 Northern State at 2 p.m.

Content courtesy

of SMSU Athletic

Communications