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All notes courtesy of SMSU athletics communications.
THIS WEEK
The No. 12 ranked SMSU volleyball team, after a three-match week, hosts a pair of NSIC North schools this weekend.
The Mustangs host Jamestown for the team's annual 'Red Out' match on Friday, Oct. 9, at 6 p.m., before facing Northern State the next day at 2 p.m.
All matches are listed in central time.
MATCH COVERAGE
Live stats and video for all matches will be available at SMSUmustangs.com
Stay up to date on the Mustangs throughout the weekend by downloading the official SMSU Athletics app.
SERIES HISTORY
SMSU will face Jamestown for the eighth time on Friday, with SMSU leading the series 5-2 all time.
This match will be the first time the two teams meet in Marshall. The Mustangs won last year's matchup in four sets, which marked the first meeting since 1991.
The Mustangs meet Northern State for the 79th time on Satruday. SMSU leads the series 66-12 all time.
The 'Stangs are 4-1 in the last five meetings in Marshall, however the Wolves did win the last meeting between the two in the PE Gym in 2024. Tyler Boddy holds a 5-1 record against NSU as SMSU head coach.
RECAP OF LAST WEEK
The Mustangs faced a trio of NSIC schools last week, losing in three sets to No. 2 ranked Wayne State, before sweeping Minot State and UMary on the road.
Mollie Rupp led the way for SMSU with eight kills in all three matches while hitting .298 across the week.
Leah Jones tallied 22 kills across the nine sets last week, while adding eight digs.
Senior Sydney Thein paced the Mustangs with 53 assists, averaging 5.9 assists per set, while adding 17 digs.
Ashlynn Schroeder led the way defensively 43 digs, while Mya Krystosek racked up 31 digs.
Against UMary, the Mustangs hit .490 in the three-set match. The mark of .490 is the third-highest hitting percentage in a match since the year 2000.
MUSTANGS BY THE NUMBERS
SMSU returns 11 letter winners from the 2025 team that won 21 matches last season. The 2026 team features three seniors, four juniors, three sophomores, two redshirt freshman, and five true freshmen.
The Mustangs have collected 791 kills over the first 16 matches with a team hitting percentage of .266. SMSU is holding teams to a hitting percentage of .170.
Senior outside hitter Leah Jones leads the Mustangs with 164 kills and 3.04 kills per set. The Marshall, Minn., native has eight matches with double-digit kills, and is currently 11th all time in kills for SMSU.
Middle blocker Natalie Pilney and outside hitter Mollie Rupp are tied for second with 135 kills. Pilney leads SMSU with 55 total blocks and a 1.02 blocks per set, and is one of four players with 18 service aces. Rupp, a transfer from Minnesota Duluth, ranks second with 2.55 kills per set and a .329 hitting percentage (min. 50 attacks).
Mya Krystosek is fourth on the team with 118 kills, averaging 2.19 kills per set. The fifth-year outside hitter is second in digs (158) and digs per set (2.93), while also one of four players with 18 service aces.
Freshman middle blocker Lindsay Kruse is fifth on the team with 104 kills hitting a team-best .365. Kruse has five matches with nine or more kills and four matches hitting .500 or better, while ranking second in blocks with 46.
Sophomore libero Ashlynn Schroeder is currently pacing the Mustangs defensively with 228 digs and 4.22 digs per set. Schroeder has 15+ digs in eight matches this year including a 25 dig match against Missouri Western.
Junior Paige Steinmetz ranks third in digs with 149, and a digs per set ratio of 2.76. Steinmetz has seven matches with double-digit digs, and three matches with 14.
Freshman setter Tatem Schmidt currently leads the Mustangs with 357 assists and an assist per set ratio of 6.61. Schmidt is also fourth on the team in digs with 142. The Huxley, Iowa, native has had 20 or more assists in 13 of 16 matches, and racked up 26 digs against Missouri Western.
Schmidt, along with Krystosek, Pilney, and Steinmetz, has 18 service aces on the season. Freshman Reese Drake leads the Mustangs with 19.
Senior setter Sydney Thein has collected 289 assists and 5.35 assists per set. Thein has six matches with 20+ assists and four matches with eight or more digs.
SMSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKS
The Mustangs have begun the 2026 season with team and individual placements amongst the NCAA statistical leader boards.
SMSU is ranked first in assists per set (13.83) and second in kills per set (14.65).
The Mustangs are also ranked No. 12 in attacks per set (38.54), No. 19 in digs per set (17.5), No. 24 in hitting percentage (.266), and No. 27 in Match W/L percentage (.813).
Lindsay Kruse is ranked at No. 48 in hitting percentage (.365). Natalie Pilney is ranked No. 66 in blocks per set (1.02)
SMSU IN THE CONFERENCE RANKS
The Mustangs have begun the 2026 season with team and individual placements amongst the NSIC statistical leader boards (conference matches only).
SMSU is ranked first assists per set (13.75), second in service aces (65), aces per set (2.03), and points per set (18.47), while ranking third in kills per set (14.44) and fourth in hitting percentage (.259).
Ashley Peltier ranks sixth in hitting percentage (.346), while Lindsay Kruse ranks ninth (.336). Natalie Pilney is tied for eighth in both bocks (33) and blocks per set (1.03). Ashlynn Schroeder ranks seventh in digs (133) and digs per set (4.16). Pilney, Mya Krystosek, and Paige Steinmetz are all in the top 10 in aces per set (.41).
HEAD COACH TYLER BODDY
Tyler Boddy is in his fifth season as head coach in 2026 and has a career record of 103-29 overall, including 64-22 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.
Boddy, who spent 10 years as an assistant coach at SMSU, became the fifth head coach in the program's 50-year history on Dec. 17, 2021.
In that time, the program has appeared in nine NCAA tournaments, including finishing as NCAA national runners-up in 2014. SMSU has a combined record of 328-93 during his tenure which includes two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season titles and two NSIC tournament championships.
For his efforts during his coaching career, Boddy was named a recipient of the Thirty Under 30 Award from the American Volleyball Coaches Association in April of 2019. He was promoted to associate head coach in the summer of 2021.
Boddy, a native of New Ulm, Minn., came to SMSU after spending two seasons (2010-11) as an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Oshkosh and one season (2009) at Ripon College. Boddy has also had a successful coaching career in club volleyball with his Southwest Minnesota Volleyball Club teams winning national championships in 2014 and 2018.
Boddy, a 2012 graduate of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, lives in Marshall with his wife, Alex, sons, Bronx and Wilke, and daughter, Rowan.
ON THE HORIZON
SMSU concludes their four-match home stretch next weekend.
The Mustangs face Minnesota Crookston on Friday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m., before facing Minnesota State Moorhead the next day at 2 p.m.