SIOUX FALLS - Looking to extend their winning streak this weekend, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball returns home to begin a four-match home stand with a pair of conference contests this weekend. The Cougars (8-5, 2-3 NSIC) host MSU Moorhead (6-7, 1-4 NSIC) on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. then welcome No. 11 Northern State (11-2, 4-1 NSIC) on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 4 p.m.
How to follow this weekend's matches
- 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
- USF concludes their four-match home stand next weekend
- The Cougars host current No. 7 Winona State on Friday, Oct. 7 then welcome Upper Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 8
Series Histories
- Sioux Falls will look to build on their three-match winning streak against MSU Moorhead when the two teams square off on Friday night
- The Cougars dropped the first two matches of the series, which began in 2012, and since have won the past three meetings
- USF's three wins have come in each possible variety, winning a five-set contest in 2013, sweeping MSUM in 2014, and recording a four-set victory last season
- At home, the Cougars at 1-1 against MSUM and all five contests have been NSIC regular season matches, leading USF to a 3-2 NSIC record against the Dragons
- The Cougars snapped a three-match losing streak against Northern State in 2014, but that is the only win they have in the five-match series with the Wolves
- Sioux Falls is 1-4 against Northern State, who were ranked No. 2 in Division II at last season's meeting when the Cougars took them to five sets before falling
- The Wolves have been ranked in the top 25 each of the last three times USF has played NSU
- USF is 0-2 against Northern State in home matches and 1-4 in NSIC contests
Scouting the competition: MSU Moorhead
- MSU Moorhead enters the weekend with a 6-7 record and losses in their last four matches
- As a team, the Dragons are hitting .188 while allowing opponents to hit at a .190 mark
- Defensively, MSUM ranks ninth with 1.99 blocks per set and fifth in digs per set at 16.62
- Setter Makayla Wenzel is eighth in the NSIC with 10.04 assists per set and Sarah Hagler is averaging 1.00 blocks per set, fifth in the NSIC
- Tammy Blake is in her 22nd season as head coach of MSUM Volleyball, accruing a 366-288 record
Scouting the competition: No. 11 Northern State
- Northern State had their win streak snapped with a loss last Friday, but enter with an 11-2 overall record, 4-1 in the NSIC
- The Wolves rank fourth in the league with a .264 attack percentage but allow a .193 mark by their opponents, ranking 10th in the NSIC
- NSU is fourth in digs (16.85.set), fifth in blocks (2.09/set), and sixth in kills (13.79/set) and assists (13.28/set) among NSIC teams through four weeks of the season
- Tori Biach leads the NSU attack with a .410 attack percentage, fifth in the NSIC, aided by setter Ashley Rozell's 12.62 assists per set, which leads the league
- Brent Aldridge is in his sixth season as head coach of Northern State, totaling a 109-49 record.
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 four weeks of the season, USF has tallied 110.0 total blocks for an NSIC-leading 2.39 average
- Calef is second in the league with a 1.28 average and she has the most total blocks in the league at 59 stuffs
- Lexi Scott is ninth in the NSIC, averaging 0.96 blocks per set
- The Cougars have recorded eight or more blocks in nine matches this season and have posted 12 or more in three matches
Rockeman dominates Minot State match, climbs USF record book in just her sophomore year
- Outside hitter Makenna Rockeman has been the bell cow for USF's offense and has performed at an extremely high level in her sophomore year
- After a pedestrian first set at Minot State, for Rockeman that is, the 5-foot-11 outside caught fire to the tune of 13 kills in the final two sets as USF swept the Beavers
- For the weekend, she led USF with 33 kills, posting 18 more terminations against U-Mary
- On the season, Rockeman has 183 kills, an average of 3.98 per set
- Her kills per set average ranks third in the NSIC and is 31st in NCAA Division II
- Add in 14 service aces and 20 block assists blocks and Rockeman is averaging 4.50 points per set, also third in the league and 29th in the country
- Through less than a season and a half, Rockeman already has 500 kills, ranking sixth in USF's Division II era
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 86-90 as the Cougars' head coach with a 33-52 mark in NSIC competition
- Overall, this is McCartney's 20th season as a collegiate head coach and he owns a 433-248 record
