SIOUX FALLS - Closing their week-long home stand, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball hosts two matches as they enter the stretch run of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season. The Cougars (12-8, 6-6 NSIC) welcome Minnesota Crookston (9-11, 5-7 NSIC) on Friday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. then host Bemidji State (7-14, 3-9 NSIC) on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m.
How to follow this Tuesday's match
- Live stats for both matches this weekend are available HERE
- All NSIC matches are available for live streaming through Stretch Internet and can be seen at USFCougars.com/watch
Keeping up with the Cougars
Second set
- Sioux Falls starts a four-match road swing next weekend, heading to Minnesota Duluth on Friday, Oct. 28 to start their trip
- Closing the weekend, USF will travel to take on St. Cloud State at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29
Series History
- Sioux Falls will look to keep both of their winning streaks over Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State when they host each team for the second time this season
- The Cougars hold a 4-2 edge in the series against Minnesota Crookston, winning the past four matches
- Most recently, USF swept the Golden Eagles earlier this season as part of the Country Inn & Suites Invitational at the Stewart Center
- The Cougars are 3-2 against UMC in NSIC matches, and 2-1 at home against Minnesota Crookston
- Sioux Falls hopes to stay perfect against Bemidji State as the Cougars hold a 6-0 advantage in the series since joining the NSIC
- The Cougars have swept Bemidji State all but once, winning 3-1 earlier this season
- USF is 3-0 at home against Bemidji State and 5-0 in NSIC regular season matches
Scouting the competition: Minnesota Crookston
- Minnesota Crookston enters the weekend just one game back from the Cougars for the eighth and final spot in the NSIC Tournament
- UMC owns a 9-11 overall record and a 5-7 record in the NSIC
- The Golden Eagles are 12th in the league with a .180 attack percentage and ninth in opponent attack percentage at .206
- Minnesota Crookston leads the NSIC with an average of 1.94 aces per set, led by Kassi Green's NSIC-leading 0.63 aces per set
- Maggie Perrel is seventh in the league with 3.48 kills per set and Sierra Trost is eighth with 10.10 assists per set
- Lee Anderson is in his ninth season as the head coach of Minnesota Crookston
Scouting the competition: Bemidji State
- Bemidji State brings in a 7-14 overall record with a 3-9 mark in NSIC play to the weekend
- BSU is ninth in the NSIC with a .205 attack percentage but 15th with a .235 opponent mark
- The Beavers are in the middle of the pack with 1.86 blocks per set ranking them ninth in the league
- Jessica Yost and Amanda Tronick are both in the top 10 of the NSIC in kills per set with Yost terminating 3.91 times per set and Tronick at 3.38
- Shelby Haney is eighth in the league with 0.39 service aces per set
- Kevin Ulmer is in his first season as head coach of the Bemidji State program
Rockeman blasts 25 kills to lead USF to key victory at Minnesota State
- Needing a victory to create separation in the NSIC standings, USF leaned heavily on sophomore outside hitter Makenna Rockeman and she delivered in a big way
- A native of Broomfield, Colo. Rockeman connected on a career-best 25 kills, nearly half of USF's 54 kills
- Rockeman's quarter-century mark ranks second in both kills in a match and kills in a four-set match in USF history
- Rockeman also led the Cougars with a .281 attack percentage in the match, hitting just nine errors on a match-high 57 attempts
- For the season, Rockeman has 276 kills with an average of 4.06 per set, an increase of 1.28 per set from her freshman year average
- Rockeman has also raised her hitting percentage from .157 to .205 this season while taking 35 percent of USF's attack attempts
- Already etching her name in the USF record books, Rockeman is sixth in USF history with 593 kills in less than two years at USF
Playoff push: Win at MSU gives USF cushion in conference standings
- With only the top eight teams earning bids to the NSIC Tournament, USF's victory over Minnesota State was crucial for their standing in hopes of earning their third postseason trip in four years
- The Cougars earned their sixth win in NSIC play and are at 6-6 through 12 of the 20 matches in NSIC regular season competition
- Currently the Cougars sit in eighth, earning last two spots for the NSIC Tournament
- Sioux Falls holds a one match lead over Minnesota Crookston, who brings a 5-7 league record to the Stewart Center for a match on Friday, Oct. 21 with the Cougars
- In their final nine matches of the NSIC season, USF will face six teams below them in the current conference standings
- The Cougars were picked ninth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll, the first team out of the coaches' conference tournament predictions
Cougars continue strong front-row defense
- Behind middle blockers Jordan Calef and Lexi Scott, USF has the top blocking defense in the NSIC and one of the toughest to crack in NCAA Division II
- Through seven weeks of the season, USF has tallied 166.0 total blocks for an NSIC-leading 2.44 average
- USF's block per set mark also ranks sixth in NCAA Division II and their block total is 29th in D2
- Calef is second in the league with a 1.25 average and ranks third with 84 total blocks this season
- In her career, Calef ranks third among active Division II players with 1.03 blocks per set and 434 total blocks
- Lexi Scott is fifth in the NSIC, averaging an even 1.00 blocks per set
- The Cougars have recorded eight or more blocks in 14 matches this season and have posted double-digit blocks in six matches
Cougars picked ninth in NSIC preseason coaches' poll
- Released on Aug. 10, USF was picked ninth in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll
- The Cougars collected 105 points in the poll for their ninth-place billing
- USF finished tied for 12th in the league standings on year ago, posting a 5-15 conference record
- After the graduation of Michelle Ritland, USF returns five starters and libero Abby Folk for the 2016 season
- Seven-time national champion Concordia-St. Paul was tabbed as the favorite while Southwest Minnesota State and Wayne State all received first-place votes.
McCartney enters sixth season at USF
- USF Volleyball head coach Joel McCartney enters his sixth season at USF after beginning his tenure in 2011
- In five seasons, McCartney is 90-93 as the Cougars' head coach with a 37-55 mark in NSIC competition
- Overall, this is McCartney's 20th season as a collegiate head coach and he owns a 437-251 record
