SIOUX FALLS – Closing the regular season at home, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball welcomes its final two scheduled opponents to the Stewart Center. The Cougars (17-9, 11-7 NSIC) will be looking for the season sweep against both opponents, hosting Minot State (5-22, 0-18 NSIC) on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. then face off against University of Mary (9-18, 4-14 NSIC) on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 3 p.m.
 
How to folllw the Cougars this weekend

• 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
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Second set

• Sioux Falls has clinched a spot in the NSIC Tournament for the third time in four years and they are guaranteed at least the No. 7 seed
• The first round of the conference tournament is set for Wednesday, Nov. 16 with the top four seeds hosting their respective first-round opponent
• The semifinal and final rounds of the NSIC Tournament will be held on Nov. 19-20 at the home site of the highest remaining seed

 
Cougars clinch third postseason berth in four years

• With their win over Northern State on Friday, USF guaranteed themselves a spot in the NSIC Tournament for the third time in four years and in just five years as a member of the conference
• With a two-match lead over Northern State, the Cougars are guaranteed at least the No. 7 seed, holding the tiebreaker over Northern State after sweeping the season series
• Sioux Falls is currently one match behind Wayne State for the No. 6 seed

 
Balanced attack leads Cougars to victory at No. 14 Northern State

• With 20 kills from both Lexi Scott and Makenna Rockeman to lead the offense while Jordan Calef added a clean 14 kills as USF defeated No 14 Northern State 3-1 on the road
• Kelli Holloway guided a strong performance by the back row defense, picking up a career-high 21 digs while Abby Folk finished with 16, Rockeman earned a double-double with 13 and Janelle Lam tallied 10
• Sydney Schaap led was the catalyst for the offense, cranking out a career-high h61 assists as the Cougars hit over. 350 in the second and third sets and finished with a .256 mark on 66 kills
• It was the Cougars' third win over a ranked opponent this season and the second over the Wolves when they were in the top 15 of the AVCA Coaches Poll

 
Cougars top No. 1 Minnesota Duluth for signature win

• In nearly five years of being members of the Division II volleyball powerhouse NSIC, the Cougars had faced a No. 1 team four times and with a 3-2 victory at Minnesota Duluth last Friday, USF defeated the top-ranked team in the poll
• It was the second time this season that USF has defeated a ranked opponent as they dropped then-No. 11 Northern State on Oct. 1.
• The win over No. 1 UMD was also the first time USF had beaten a top-five ranked team
• In all, it was USF's fifth win over a top-25 ranked opponent at the NCAA Division II level
• The Cougars had previously beaten No. 6 Southwest Minnesota State in 2013 and also picked off in-state foes No. 24 Northern State and No. 21 Augustana in 2014

 
Rockeman and Scott named to All-NSIC second team

• Released on Thursday afternoon, sophomores Makenna Rockeman and Lexi Scott were named to the All-NSIC second team
• It is the first honor for each of the them and they are the third and fourth different Cougars to earn the recognition form the NSIC
• It marks just the second time in five years that the Cougars have placed multiple players on the same All-NSIC team
• Emily Johnson and Smamntha Lovell both were named to the All-NSIC second team in 2013
• In conference-only matches, Rockeman ranks third in the NSIC with an average of 3.82 kills per set and her point per set mark of 4.42 also ranks third
• Scott had a monster finish to the season, hitting double-digit kills in five straight matches, including four with 16 or more
• She leads the Cougars with a .348 attack percentage and is second with 90 total blocks

 
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 95-94 as the Cougars' head coach with a 42-56 mark in NSIC competition
• Overall, this is McCartney's 20th season as a collegiate head coach and he owns a 443-259 record