MATCHUPS: Minot State will travel to Upper Iowa and Winona State this week. The Beavers will play at UIU on Friday, October 28, at 7 p.m. and WSU on Saturday, October 29, at 4 p.m.

RECORDS: Minot State is 5-18 overall and 0-14 in NSIC play after falling in three games last week. Upper Iowa is 9-14 with a 3-11 NSIC record while Winona State is 20-3 with an 11-3 NSIC record.   

COACHES CORNER: Minot State head coach Ben Kaszeta is in his second season at the front of the Beaver volleyball program. He is 8-30 overall with the Beavers and 20-74 as a head coach. Aaron Nelson is in his fourth season as the head coach at Upper Iowa. Nelson has led the Peacocks to a 34-53 record in his first three years. Joe Getzin is in his third season at Winona State. In his first two years, Getzin has led the Warriors to a 39-18 record.

RANKINGS: Winona State is the No. 6 ranked team in the nation according to the October 24 AVCA Division II Coaches poll. Neither Minot State nor Upper Iowa received any votes.

SERIES HISTORY: The Beavers are 1-4 against Upper Iowa and Winona State in series dating back to 2012 and 1996, respectively.   

NOTING THE BEAVERS: Minot State won its first set after the break in NSIC play last week when it beat Minnesota State 25-22 in set three. The Beavers have yet to win more than one set in a match in conference play while they have won two sets in the first and one in the second throughout the season. The Beavers may have played their most complete game last week against Minnesota State as coach Ben Kaszeta was happy with the way his team competed.

NOTING THE PEACOCKS: Upper Iowa sports five players who have over 100 kills on the season so far and are led by 6-foot senior Alisha VanderWoude who has 176 kills. VanderWoude also leads the team with 50 total blocks while four others have at least 20.

NOTING THE WARRIORS: Winona State has been using its setters this season more than any other team in the NSIC. The Warriors lead the conference with 14.09 assists per game despite ranking second in the NSIC in kills per game (14.75). WSU also has at least one player in the top 10 in each of the major categories the NSIC keeps track of.

KILLING IT: Over the past six matches freshman Shelby Spuller has risen to become the team's kills leader with 173, just one more than fellow freshman Emily Falldorf. Over that time, Spuller has averaged 9.7 kills per match, reaching double digits three times.