MINOT, N.D.- The Minot State volleyball team (0-23, 0-16 NSIC) will wrap up their home matches on the season with a couple of showdowns against the Bemidji State Beavers (3-21, 2-14 NSIC) and the Minnesota-Crookston Golden Eagles (4-20, 3-13 NSIC). The "Battle of the Beavers" is set to take place this Friday Oct. 28th at the MSU Dome with start time set for 6 p.m. The Golden Eagles fly into Minot on Saturday Oct. 29th for the Beavers family day. First serve is set for 2 p.m. from the Dome on Saturday.
The Bemidji State Beavers are coming off a triple week sweep. BSU first fell to the St. Cloud State Huskies on the road 3-0, before falling by an identical score to the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs at home the next day. The Beavers then showed some life on the road at Minnesota-Crookston, but ultimately fell 3-2. BSU swept MSU earlier this year in Bemidji 3-0 back on Sept. 17th. Bemidji has struck 844 kills on the year for 9.9 kills per set. BSU has made 103 service aces, gaining 1.2 aces per set, while making 1,090 digs for 12.8 digs per set. The Beavers have made 135 blocks on the year for 1.6 per set. BSU has three Beravers with over 100 kills led by Hallie Mertz with 227 kills, followed behind by Lauren Sitter and Ashley East with 136 and 113 kills each, respectively. Mertz also leads the Beavers with 21 aces, followed by Ashley Crowl with 18. Mertz also leads BSU in digs with 180 while five other Beavers have recorded over 100 digs. BSU has made over 40 blocks in Rylie Bjerklie with 48 blocks and Rylee Pompa with 40 blocks.
The Eagles are coming off a 1-2 weekend with back to back 0-3 setbacks, first on the road to UMD, before a similar result at home against SCSU. The Eagles were victorious in a close 3-2 decision at home against Bemidji State. The Eagles defeated Minot State in Crookston by another narrow 3-2 decision earlier this year on Sept. 16th. The Eagles have made 861 kills for 9.9 kills per set. UMC has put up 109 service aces for an average of 1.3 aces per set. The Golden Eagles have stopped 1,136 digs to average 13.1 digs per set. However, the Eagles have made 107 blocks to average 1.2 blocks per set. Audrey Cariveau leads UMC in kills with 230. Mara Weisensel and Bailey Schaefer follow with 184 and 177 kills. UMC has three eagles with over 20 service aces led by Natalie Koke with 24, followed by Schaefer and Cariveau each with 22 and 21, respectively. Layne Whaley and Schaefer lead UMC each with over 200 digs in 287 and 230 digs, respectively. Weisensel and Grace Arndorfer lead UMC in blocks with 38 and 32 apiece, respectively.
Minot State is coming off an 0-3 week, with back-to-back 0-3 setbacks, first at home against Minnesota State-Moorhead, before falling on the road to Northern State. UMary came into town and handled the Beavers a 3-1 setback. The Beavers have accumulated 681 kills to make 8.8 kills per set. MSU has put up 83 service aces to average 1.1 service aces per set. MSU has made 906 digs for 11.8 digs per set. The Beavers have defended 87 blocks to average 1.1 blocks per set. Alex Koontz,
Emily Kotelnikoff, and
Taylor Wyatt are the three Beavers to put up over 100 kills on the year, in 141, 122, and 121 each, respectively.
Jaina Macaulay,
Tea Boeckel, and
Viktoria Sedova all have over 10 service aces in 15, 14, and 13 each respectively. Defensively, Sedova and Koontz lead the Beavers in digs with 142 and 133 each, respectively.
Jenna Pahlen leads the total blocks for MSU with 41, followed by Wyatt with 32.
Following the final homestand, the Beavers wrap up the regular season to try and play spoiler on the road, first taking on the seventh ranked St. Cloud State Huskies at Halenbeck Hall. The Huskies and Beavers battle on Friday Nov. 4th with a 6 p.m. start time. The Beavers travel to the fourth ranked Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs and the Romano Gymnasium on Saturday Nov. 5th with start time set for 2 p.m.
