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Teams: Minot State vs. Augustana College | Series: Augustana College leads series 5-0
Date: Friday, Oct. 10, 2014 | Time: 7 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome
Teams: Minot State vs. Wayne State College | Series: Wayne State leads series 3-0
Date: Saturday, Oct. 11, 2014 | Time: 2 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome

MATCHUPS: The Minot State Beavers will have their hands full this weekend when they take on two nationally ranked opponents in Augustana College and Wayne State College. Augustana will more than likely come out strong after dropping their previous match against nationally ranked Northern State last Saturday. After Friday's match against Augustana, Minot State squares up against the No. 2 team in the NSIC, Wayne State, Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats' only loss in the Northern Sun came to Minnesota-Duluth, another nationally ranked opponent.

RECORDS: Minot State begins the week of Oct. 6 with a 4-12 overall record and a 2-6 record in the Northern Sun. The Beavers snapped a six-game losing streak this weekend when they defeated Sioux Falls on the road. Augustana begins the week with a 12-4 overall record and a 5-3 record in the NSIC. Wayne State sits at 14-2 overall and has lost just once in the powerful NSIC giving them a 7-1 record in the conference.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Travis Ward is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Beaver volleyball program. Ward has a career record of 36-58 during his tenure at Minot State. In 2013, Ward led the Beavers to 12 overall wins, doubling their win total from 2012 which was the team's first year in the NSIC. Ashley Buckley has led Augustana since 2008 and led the Vikings to a 22-8 record in 2013, just the second time the program has won 20 games during her tenure. Buckley's 2013 success helped land two players on the AVCA All-American teams. Before her coaching career, Buckley played NCAA Division I volleyball at Penn State. Scott Kneifl is in his 10th season as the head coach at Wayne State College. Kneifl has been highly successful during his time with Wayne State, appearing in the NCAA Division II national tournament eight times and compiling and overall record of 224-80.

RANKINGS: Augustana was ranked as the No. 19 team in the country in the latest poll released by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Oct. 6. The Vikings dropped three places from last week's poll. Wayne State comes into the week ranked as the No. 13 team in the country. The Wildcats were ranked No. 13 last week as well. Minot State did not receive votes to be ranked in the top 25.

NOTING THE BEAVERS: Minot State started this past weekend with their sixth loss in a row against No. 9 Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn. Although the Beavers dropped the game in straight sets, it was a very positive day for the program overall. Jen Dixon (Sr., OH, Brandon, Manitoba) became the Beavers' all-time leader in kills in the final set of the match. She currently has 1,464 in her career. In the Beavers' second game of the weekend, they broke their losing streak and carried the momentum of Dixon's milestone with them when they defeated the University of Sioux Falls 3-2. Dixon ended the match with 19 kills while Mallory Sall (Jr., OH, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) recorded a season-high 22 kills in Sioux Falls.

NOTING THE VIKINGS: Augustana got off to a strong start this past weekend when they defeated Minnesota State-Moorhead in straight sets 3-0. It was the Vikings second consecutive win after they ended the previous weekend with another 3-0 sweep against St. Cloud State. In their second game of the weekend, the Vikings dropped a 3-1 match to Northern State at home. With the loss, Northern State forced a tie for 7th in the NSIC with Augustana. Courtney Ysker leads the way for the Vikings with 242 kills. She's also second on the team in digs with 178.

NOTING THE WILDCATS: Wayne State is in the midst of a two-game winning streak after sweeping this past weekend at home. In the first match of the weekend, the Wildcats defeated nationally ranked Northern State. In the 3-1 match, Alyssa Frauendorfer led the way recording 18 kills. The following day, Wayne State followed up their win with another 3-1 victory over Minnesota State-Moorhead. With the two wins over the weekend, the Wildcats claimed sole possession of third place in the NSIC.

ANOTHER CAREER MILESTONE: In the Beavers' match against Southwest Minnesota State, Minot State's Jen Dixon (Sr., OH, Brandon, Manitoba) became the program's all-time leader in kills, breaking the previous record held by Lisa Webb. Dixon currently has 1,464 kills in her career and 220 this season. Her 220 kills are good for fourth in the NSIC.

KILLING THE GAME: Junior Tarah Dabovich (MH, Phoenix, Ariz.), continues to be one of the most efficient hitters for the Beavers this season as her hitting percentage improved to .284 due to her performances this past weekend. Dabovich had 6 kills and a .313 hitting percentage at Southwest Minnesota State and followed it up with an impressive 14 kills and .458 hitting percentage at Sioux Falls. The middle hitter has recorded double-digit kills six times this season.

A HELPING HAND: Emily Byrne (Sr., S, Reno, Nev.) continued to add to her all-time assists lead this past weekend as she recorded 21 assists against Southwest Minnesota State and 37 more against Sioux Falls. Byrne averages 10.07 assists per set, just three sets away from the Northern Sun leader Ashley Hinsch of Minnesota-Duluth.

BY THE NUMBERS
4: Four out of the next five games for Minot State will be played against nationally ranked opponents. Augustana, Wayne State, Northern State, and Minnesota-Duluth are all ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll this week.

6: Minot State snapped a six-game losing streak this past weekend when they defeated the Cougars of Sioux Falls. The streak was the second six-game losing streak of the season for the Beavers.

13: Minot State just recently passed the halfway point of the season and has 13 games remaining in the regular season. Twelve games remain in the NSIC with the lone outlier be played against Dickinson State.