SIOUX FALLS—With five wins in six matches, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (11-6, 6-3 NSIC) returns home and faces a big weekend with St. Cloud State and No. 5 Minnesota Duluth coming to the Stewart Center this weekend.
 
The Cougars, which are tied with SCSU for fifth in the league at 6-3, will host the Huskies (10-5, 6-3 NSIC) on Friday, Oct. 5 at 6 p.m. USF will then turn-around and host No. 5 Minnesota Duluth (14-3, 8-1 NSIC) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
The Cougars have been riding a hot streak lately, winning five of their last six matches with their only loss coming to No. 3 Concordia-St.Paul on Sept. 21. All six of USF's losses have come to teams that were ranked in the top-25 at the time.
 
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USF tied for fifth in NSIC standings
Following a 3-0 road win against Minnesota Crookston, the Cougars moved into a tie with St.Cloud State for fifth in the league at 6-3. The Cougars, which stand 11-6 overall, are now in the top half of the very strong NSIC, where the top three teams in the conference are each ranked top-five in the country. The NSIC currently has five teams either ranked in the ACVA's top-25 or receiving votes.
 
Series Histories
                St. Cloud State – USF leads 5-3
The SCSU Huskies pushed the series with USF a little closer last year to 5-3 after winning a five-set thriller on Nov. 2, 2017 in St Cloud, Minn. In the match, the teams split the first four sets before SCSU took a 15-12 decision I nthe final. USF's Makenna Rockeman recorded her 1,000^th kill during the match. Earlier in the season at the Stewart Center, USF took a 3-1 decision. Bria Barfnecht had a career night in the win posting a double double of 19 kills and 17 digs. USF is 3-1 against St. Cloud State in home matches. The Cougars captured the first meeting between the programs with a home sweep of SCSU in 2012.
 
                Minnesota Duluth – UMD leads 9-1
Seeking to replicate the program's marquee five-set win from two years ago when the Cougars defeated then No.1 UMD, Sioux Falls hosts Minnesota Duluth with a 1-9 record against the Bulldogs. Last year, the Cougars were defeated by Minnesota Duluth in four sets when they were ranked No. 9 in the AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll. Last season's loss saw a career performance by Kasandra Springer, who recorded 13 kills. In their first meeting last season on Sept. 29, 2017, USF lost a slugfest with Minnesota Duluth as both teams hit above. 325 for the match, with Makenna Rockeman's 10 kills leading USF. At home, the Cougars are 0-5 against Minnesota Duluth.
 
USF offense historically impressive
USF has three of the top five kills leaders on the team at the same time for the first time in school history as senior Makenna Rockeman has 1,186 which is first all-time with senior Bria Barfnecht ranking fourth with 904 and senior Lexi Scott, fifth at 860.
 
These three seniors have led the Cougar's offense to an efficient .282 season hitting percentage, which ranks second in the NSIC. Scott has hit .400 on the season, which leads the team and currently ranks fourth in the conference. Sophomore Abby Feyereisen has accumulated 107 kills on 222 attempts for a hitting percentage of .365, which ranks seventh in the conference. Barfnecht currently sits a spot behind Feyereisen in eighth in the NSIC with a .361 hitting percentage.
 
The Cougars have accumulated 838 assists in 64 sets for an average of 13.09 assists per set, which ranks fifth in the conference. Sophomore setter Krista Goerger has accounted for 646 assists in 64 sets for 10.09 assists per set, which places her seventh in the NSIC. Krista Goerger had her second highest assist total with 56 in win over Minnesota State, helping USF hit .300 vs Mavs.
 
USF has shown their team's power this season while posting 889 total kills on the year that ranks second in the conference.
 
Leading the Pride
Joel McCartney took over the USF Volleyball program in July of 2011, its final year of the transition to NCAA Division II and is entering his eighth season as the program's head coach.  McCartney came to USF after a four-year rebuilding project as the head coach of the University of Georgia volleyball program. In McCartney's tenure, the Bulldogs compiled 66 overall wins including 32 in the SEC. Prior to his arrival at USF, McCartney posted a record of 459-263 while coaching at Bellevue for four years, Winthrop for six years, and Georgia for four years.
 
Under McCartney's leadership, the Cougar program has steadily climbed the competitive ladder, becoming a Top-50 power in arguably the strongest (NSIC) conference in the nation. McCartney inherited the Cougar program in its final year of the transition, and since that time, he has led the team's improvement from a ranking of 242 to a program record 29 in the PABLO Ratings Index. During McCartney's tenure at USF, the program has achieved a 118-110 record overall and a 55-68 in conference record.