SIOUX FALLS – Wrapping up the regular season, University of Sioux Falls Volleyball will host their final two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matches of the year this weekend. The Cougars (13-10, 8-10 NSIC) will celebrate Parents' Night on Friday, Nov. 10 when they welcome Bemidji State (3-24, 0-18 NSIC) at 6 p.m. In their season finale, the USF will recognize the accomplishments of senior Janelle Lam after their 4 p.m. match against Minnesota Crookston (7-19, 4-14 NSIC) on Saturday, Nov. 11.
 
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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.
 
Lam shines in senior season
Heading into the final weekend of her career at USF, senior libero Janelle Lam is finishing an outstanding senior season. The Apple Valley, Minn. native will play in her 109th and 110th matches this weekend, appearing in nearly 400 sets. She has picked up 386 digs this year, bringing her total to 964, just 36 shy of becoming the second USF Volleyball player to reach 1,000 in her career. With an average of 4.39 digs per set this year, she has nearly doubled her previous average for a season, which was 2.23 in 2015. In all 23 matches this season, Lam has recorded at least 10 digs and she has picked up more than 20 five times. Making a big jump in her quest for 1,000, Lam picked up 40 this past weekend, including 24 against No. 7 Minnesota Duluth.
 
Scott and Rockeman collect All-NSIC honors for second straight season
Becoming the second and third Cougars to repeat as all-conference performers, juniors Lexi Scott and Makenna Rockeman both earned All-NSIC recognition from the league on Thursday. A 6-foot-1 middle blocker from Prinsburg, Minn., Scott leads the Cougars with a .316 attack percentage and is averaging 1.06 blocks per set, which ranks fourth in the NSIC. Scott has posted double-digit kills in 15 matches and she recorded multiple blocks in 19 of 23 matches this season. A 6-foot outside hitter from Broomfield, Colo., Rockeman led the Cougars with 291 kills this season, a 3.38 per set average, which ranks in the top 10 of the NSIC, along with her 3.83 points per set mark. Rockeman put down 10-or-more kills in 18 matches this season, including a career-best and USF Division-II era record 27 in the Cougars' upset of top-25 ranked Augustana. Scott and Rockeman join former standout and current USF volunteer assistant Emily Tolkamp (Johnson) as repeat All-NSIC honorees after Tolkamp earner the recognition in 2014 and 2015.
 
Series Histories
                Bemidji State – USF leads 8-0
Looking to keep their unbeaten streak alive, USF hosts Bemidji State on Friday night with an 8-0 record against the Beavers. Despite the unblemished record, the Beavers have forced four sets in each of the last three meetings, including USF's 3-1 victory earlier this season. Junior trio Makenna Rockeman, Bria Barfnecht and Lexi Scott combined for 39 of the Cougars' 52 kills in the four-set win on Sept. 23. At the Stewart Center, USF is 4-0 against Bemidji State, which includes a 3-1 nonconference victory last season as the Cougars rolled to an undefeated four-win performance as hosts of the Country Inns & Suites Invitational.
 
Minnesota Crookston – USF leads 6-2
Sioux Falls heads into Saturday's season finale with a six-match winning streak against Minnesota Crookston and an overall 6-2 edge in the series. USF dropped the first two meetings between the programs, one in each of the first two years after USF joined the NSIC. The Cougars earned their first victory with a five-set thriller in 2014 and have since dominated the Golden Eagles. In the five matches after the Cougars' first win over UMC, USF has swept three and won the other two in four sets. Earlier this season, USF fought off a resilient Minnesota Crookston squad behind double-digit kill efforts from Makenna Rockeman, Lexi Scott and Averey Yaksich. At home, USF owns a 3-1 against the Golden Eagles and their record includes a 3-0 nonconference sweep last season.
 
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 110-103 record in his time at USF. In 20 years of coaching collegiate volleyball, he owns a 456-262 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 NSIC Player of the Week awards. McCartney is assisted by his wife and associate head coach Andrea McCartney, and graduate assistant Jordan Calef.