SIOUX FALLS – Looking for an edge in the race for a conference tournament bid, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball enters a crucial weekend on the road. The Cougars (12-4, 7-4 NSIC) face Upper Iowa (16-4, 7-4 NSIC) on Friday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m.in Fayette, Iowa as both teams enter the weekend in a four-way tie for sixth in the league standings. The following evening, the Cougars travel to Winona, Minn. to face No. 15 Winona State (14-5, 8-3 NSIC) on Saturday, Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. in another key match for one of the eight spots in the conference tournament.
 
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For all USF Volleyball home matches and all Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contests, watch the Cougars live on Stretch Internet at USFCougars.com/watch. Live stats will be available for all matches. Links to home match live stats are available at USFCougars.com/livestats while links to all road match live stats are available on the USF Volleyball schedule at USFCougars.com.
 
Playoff picture
With four weeks remaining in the conference schedule, the race for the eight spots in the NSIC Tournament continues to tighten among the nine teams in contention. Southwest Minnesota State, Concordia-St. Paul, and Minnesota Duluth remain in a three-way tie for the league lead at 10-1. Northern State is fourth at 9-2 and USF's Saturday opponent, Winona State, is fifth with a 7-3 record. With nine matches remaining for all conference teams, USF is locked in a four-way tie with Augustana, Upper Iowa, and Wayne State for sixth with a 7-4 record in the league. The top eight teams, which will be separated by tiebreakers if needed, earn a spot in the NSIC Tournament. The four first round matches will be hosted by the higher seeds on Wednesday, Nov. 15 and the semifinal and championship matches will be hosted by the highest remaining seed on Nov. 18 and 19, respectively.
 
With nine matches remaining, Sioux Falls will face five opponents currently in the top eight of the league standings, including all three teams tied for the league lead – Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota Duluth, and Southwest Minnesota State. The other two teams that are currently in the NSIC Tournament field are this weekend's opponents, Upper Iowa and Winona State, who are either tied with or only one match ahead of the Cougars in the league standings.
 
Series Histories
                Upper Iowa – USF leads 4-3
Heading into Friday's critical match against the Upper Iowa, recent history is on the Cougars' side, who own a 4-3 edge in the series. A five-set loss on the road in 2015 is USF's only loss to Upper Iowa in the past five meetings. Prior to the Cougars' streak against UIU, they lost the first two matches, both in USF's inaugural season as members of the NSIC. The Cougars dropped a five-set decision at home in 2012 then fell in straight sets the same season on the road. USF won the next two matches before falling in five sets again in the first of two matches in 2015. The Cougars rebounded later in that season with a five-set victory at home then posted a 3-1 win last year behind Bria Barfnecht's record-setting 15-kill, 0-error night.  Despite USF's recent success against the Peacocks, they are just 1-2 at Upper Iowa, dropping the most recent road contest in five sets in 2015.
 
                Winona State – WSU leads 6-1
Sioux Falls looks to snap a five-match losing streak to Winona State, who owns a 6-1 overall record against the Cougars since starting the series in 2012. After dropping a four-set decision at home in 2012, the Cougars returned the favor to Winona State with a five-set win on the road, sparked by Emily Johnson's 19 kills. Since that victory, USF has fallen five consecutive times against the Warriors, once in five sets, three times in four sets and one sweep on the road in 2015. The Cougars' lone victory in the series came on the road and they enter the eighth installment with a 1-2 record in McCown Gymnasium. Last season, USF suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Winona State, who were ranked No. 7 in the AVCA Coaches' Poll at the time. The Cougars won the first set, but couldn't pick up two more despite the balanced offense that featured Makenna Rockeman (18), Bria Barfnecht (13), and Lexi Scott (11) all contributing double-digit kill totals.
 
Double-double tracker: Barfnecht becomes two-way force in junior season
After never picking up more than six digs in a match in her freshman and sophomore seasons, junior right-side hitter Bria Barfnecht is averaging 10.0 digs per match this season. On eight occasions, the Delano, Minn. native has eclipsed double-digit digs in a match and has picked up 15 or more four times, including a career-best 21 digs in USF's five-set win over Augustana. Paired with her outstanding offense: 3.07 kills per set, 11.87 per match, Barfnecht has posted a team-high eight double-doubles this season and narrowly missed a rare kills-blocks double-double this past weekend with nine of each against University of Mary. Junior outside hitter Makenna Rockeman has four double-doubles this season, pushing her career total to 16. Setter Megan Hamstad has two double-doubles – both assists and digs – this season, which makes four for her career.
 
Cougars continue receiving votes in Top 25 poll; NSIC has seven teams in top 25
With a two-win weekend, USF gained a little more traction in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, and increased their point total to 28 points, which places them 32nd among NCAA Division II teams. A total of seven NSIC teams are ranked in the top 25 and Upper Iowa joins the Cougars in the receiving votes section with 47 points. In their 20-match NSIC schedule, 10 of USF's opponents are either ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes.
 
Milestone watch
Closing in on career 1,000 totals, senior Janelle Lam and junior Makenna Rockeman made substantial progress towards passing the millennial mark this past weekend. Lam picked up 32 digs over the weekend, pushing her career total to 854. She is averaging 4.45 digs per set this season and with a minimum of 27 sets to be played this season (nine remaining matches with minimum of three sets in each), Lam would reach 974 digs. In every match this season, she has picked up double digit digs and has eclipsed 20 scoops on four occasions. With 22 kills over the weekend, Rockeman took another big leap toward 1,000 career kills. At 932 career kills, she is in third place in the USF record books and on pace the break the 1,000-kill threshold this season. Rockeman has averaged 3.49 kills per set this season, and at that rate, a conservative projection of 94 more kills this season puts her at 1,017 in her career.
 
Cougars building home court advantage, own 19-5 record in Stewart Center last two seasons
Since transitioning to NCAA Division II in 2011 and gaining full membership in 2012, the Cougars have steadily improved their home record and made the Stewart Center a true home court advantage. As they continue to progress in the top volleyball conference in Division II, USF has put together a 47-38 record at home since 2011, all under head coach Joel McCartney. As McCartney has built a program that is garnering votes in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches' poll, the Cougars have put together a 19-5 record at the Stewart Center in the past two seasons, including a perfect 9-0 record in nonconference matches. Last season, USF's three home losses came to three teams all ranked in the national top 10. With their five-set victory over crosstown rival Augustana in the conference-opening week and last year's win over then-No. 11 Northern State, the Cougars have two top-25 wins on their home court.
 
Cougars picked seventh in NSIC preseason poll
Tying for their highest preseason projections in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, USF Volleyball was picked to finish seventh in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll, which was released just before fall camp started. The Cougars collected 146 points in the poll, their highest total since joining the league in 2012.  The seventh-place billing ties their place in the 2014 preseason poll.
 
Reigning national champion Concordia-St. Paul was picked as the league favorite, collecting 10 first-place votes and 218 points. Southwest Minnesota State earned three first-place votes, placing them second overall, Minnesota Duluth received two first-place nods for third place and Augustana picked up the final first-place vote to put them in fourth.
 
Leader of the Pride: McCartney captures 100th victory at USF in seventh season
USF Volleyball head coach Joel McCartney enters his seventh season at the helm of the program. Building a competitor in the NSIC, the top Division II volleyball conference, McCartney has built a 109-99 record in his time at USF. In 20 years of coaching collegiate volleyball, he owns a 455-258 record, and a very successful six-year stint at NCAA Division I Winthrop earned him a spot in the Winthrop Hall of Fame. McCartney has taken the Cougars to the NSIC Tournament – top eight teams in the standings qualify – in three of five years as members of the conference. In 2016, he led the Cougars to an upset of No. 1 Minnesota Duluth on the road and he defeated top-25 ranked Northern State twice. He has coached players to five All-NSIC honors and three of NSIC Player of the Week awards. McCartney is assisted by his wife and associate head coach Andrea McCartney, and graduate assistant Jordan Calef.