Photo by Jake McNeill: Southwest Minnesota State middle blocker Emma VanHeel goes up for a kill during the No. 8 Mustangs' five-set loss to the top-ranked Wayne State Wildcats at the PE Gym on Saturday afternoon.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Coming off a flawless trip to Pensacola, Fla. to open the season, the Southwest Minnesota State University volleyball team jumped up from No. 11 into a tie with St. Cloud State for No. 7 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll this week. The Mustangs will look to continue to assert themselves as one of the nation’s top teams when they head to Missouri for games against Drury (Mo.), Rockhurst (Mo.), Southern Nazarene (Okla.) and Newman (Kan.) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

At the West Florida Invitational on Sept. 6 and 7, the Mustangs looked dominant out the gates. They swept each of the four teams they played, including No. 21 West Florida. They also defeated Spring Hill College (Ala.), Oklahoma Baptist and Wheeling (W. Va.)

Emma Vanheel was dominant on the defensive end with five solo blocks and nine block assists over the weekend while Karli Arkell and Ashley Peltier each added eight total blocks. In the back row, libero McKenzie Tolk led the team with 68 digs while outside hitter Leah Jones was second on the team with 49, averaging 4.1 per set.

Sydney Thein made her debut for SMSU after redshirting her freshman season and immediately looked a natural as the team’s setter, taking over the role from two-time All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference selection Alissa Bengen following her graduation after last season. Thein averaged 12.6 assists per set over the four matches, including a high of 44 in the win over Wheeling.

Early on, the Mustangs’ hitting efficiency has improved from last season. Led by Saari Kuehl’s 51 kills, 40 from Jones and another 36 and 32 from Peltier and VanHeel, the Mustangs compiled a .273 hitting percentage on the season’s opening weekend. The mark was an uptick from last season’s .232 average. On the defensive end, their .133 opponent hitting percentage allowed is also an improvement from last year’s .174 mark. 

Still, the Mustangs are yet to hit the strength of their schedule with No. 2 Wayne State, No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul,  No. 7 St. Cloud State and No. 14 Minnesota Duluth all ahead on SMSU’s conference schedule. The Mustangs play three of those four teams on the road, hosting only Concordia-St. Paul.

In their Missouri series, the Mustangs will open their four-game slate with matchups against a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference opponents, Drury and Rockhurst, in their home state. 

Dark and Drury

Drury is 3-1 on the season after picking up wins over Southern Arkansas, Northwestern Oklahoma State and Midwestern State (Texas) at the Midwestern State Invitational last weekend. 

This will be the second consecutive season that SMSU and Drury have matched up head-to-head after the Mustangs defeated the Panthers 25-17, 25-20, 25-16 last season in Pittsburgh, Kan. Kuehl and VanHeel had 13 and nine kills respectively in the match while Tolk had 18 digs. Kuehl and VanHeel also combined for six total blocks while Tolk notched four service aces.

Lauren Tyler leads Drury in set assists with 8.7 per game, and the Panthers’ team average of 11.4 per game is less than Thein’s alone thus far. They have some offensive versatility with Kayli Duncan and Mailie Chretien averaging 3.8 and 3.6 kills per set respectively, both of which would be good for second on the Mustangs behind Kuehl, but as a team their .173 hitting percentage gives SMSU’s strong defense a favorable matchup.

True freshman Kim Quinit leads the Drury backline as the libero after earning an All-State selection in Conway, Arkansas in 2023. She’s averaged 4.1 digs per set so far in her young career, totaling 66 digs last weekend, while Chretien and Tyler added 58 and 49 respectively.

Rockhurst Monster

The Rockhurst Hawks have started the season 2-1 after sweeping Emporia State and Sioux Falls and losing to Winona State in five sets. The latter two of those three opponents are SMSU’s conference-mates in the NSIC. 

The Hawks’ hitters have proved more consistent than Drury’s so far with a .231 hitting percentage, providing a greater challenge to the Mustangs. Tera Reberry and Kenzie Hines lead the team with 3.6 and 3.4 kills per set respectively while Sarah Montague and Molly Trachta provide Rockhurst with some versatility at the setter position with six and five set assists per game. 

Fifth-year senior Maureen Reilly returns to lead the Rockhurst back row. Through three matches this season, she’s averaged 5.8 digs per set, more than double her next-closest teammate (Hines at 2.8). Reberry and Raszler have also held down the front row defensively with seven total blocks each.

Southern Nazarene

The Great American Conference’s Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm has gotten off to a slow start to the season. They’ve dropped three of their first four games, including a 3-0 loss to No. 14 Minnesota Duluth, but will have all the more reason to be highly motivated heading into Friday’s matchup against SMSU.

As a team, the Crimson Storm has struggled on both sides of the ball. They’ve put together a .183 hitting percentage while allowing a .261 opponent hitting percentage. They’ve had struggles in particular with their serve receive, allowing 2.8 aces per game to their opponents.

Tessa Henry is the lone player on the team averaging multiple kills per set, averaging 2.15 while getting on the floor in 13 of the team’s 16 sets played. Setting up the kills, Emma Grace Moddelmog has averaged 6.4 set assists per game, approximately half of the 12.75 set assists per game the Crimson Storm has allowed to its opponents.

Defensively, Whitney Bowie and Riley Richardson have each totaled four blocks on the season while Tatum Smith has led the back line with 3.44 digs per set.

Woke up a Newman

The trend of the Mustangs’ Missouri opponents holding progressively worse records continues into Saturday when they take on Newman (Kan.) in their Drury Invitational finale. Newman, a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, is 0-4 so far this season. They were swept in two of their three losses, took one game against St. Edward’s University and took two in a five-set loss to University of Arkansas Monticello.

Ozioma Ajekwu, McKenna Rhodes and Silvia Fisher lead the Newman offense with 3.1, 2.6 and 2.5 kills per set respectively while Avery Dempsy and Madalyn Hoot add 8.1 and 7.5 set assists per game. Dempsey has been the team’s primary setter with work in 15 sets over four matches, while Fisher has played just four sets over two matches.

Natalie Meyer has been a force to be reckoned with up at the net for the Jets, logging a block per game for a total of 15 on the season while Hannah Tymitz adds another 13 total blocks. Natalie Trigo leads the back row averaging 4.2 digs per set.

Match coverage

Live stats and video for all four matches are available online at SMSUmustangs.com. Thursday’s game against Drury is scheduled for 6 p.m., Friday’s games against Rockhurst and Southern Nazarene are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturday’s game against Newman will start at 11:30 a.m.