SIOUX FALLS —The University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (16-8, 11-5 NSIC), which has won 10 of the past 13 matches, will wrap up the home regular season schedule against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents Minnesota State and No. 1 Concordia St. Paul during Parent and Senior Appreciation Weekend on Oct. 26-27. USF will host Minnesota State (16-8, 9-7 NSIC) on Friday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. in the Stewart Center. USF will then face CSP (21-4, 15-1 NSIC) on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 4 p.m., when USF will honor its five seniors after the match. They include Bria Barfnecht, Makenna Rockeman, Lexi Scott, Megan Hamsted, and Anna Peterson,
 
After a 3-1 loss against then No.1 Northern State (22-2, 14-2 NSIC) on Friday (Oct. 19), USF had a dominating sweep of MSU Moorhead (9-14, 5-11 NSIC) on Saturday (Oct. 20) in which head coach Joel McCartney won his 475 career match with 134 coming while he has been at USF. As a result the Cougars now sit in a tie for fifth place in the NSIC standings with Wayne State at 11-5. At 16-8 overall, the Cougars have already topped their 15-win mark from last year.
 
While USF is fifth in the league, the Cougars still have a shot at hosting a first round game in the upcoming NSIC Tournament. The top eight teams in the NSIC standings will participate in the tournament, which begins with first round matches on Tuesday, Nov. 6. If USF finishes in fourth place, they will host the No. 5 seed. If the tournament was held today, USF would be the sixth seed and play at Minnesota-Duluth (20-5, 13-3 NSIC), which would be the No. 3 seed.
 
A look at the accomplishments of USF's senior quintuplet
#6 Anna Peterson, Nursing, Tracy, Minn., Daughter of Pam and Keith Peterson
Peterson has appeared in 172 sets in 49 matches as a defensive specialist where she has totaled three kills on four attacks for a kill percentage of .750. Peterson has accumulated 35 assists, registered 14 service aces, and totaled 298 digs in her career. Peterson recorded a career best 21 digs in the upset win over No.11 Southwest Minnesota State on Oct. 9, 2018.
 
#8 Makenna Rockeman, Pre-Dentistry, Broomfield, Colo., Daughter of Krista and Jay Rockeman
A two-time All-NSIC performer and two-time Academic All-NSIC honoree, Rockeman has established 15 school records in USF's DII era. Those records include four career, five season and six match marks. Rockeman is USF's career leader in kills at 1,241 total kills and is only the second player to reach the 1,000-kill mark in USF history. Rockeman is the career leader in attack attempts at 3,791, and ranks first in all time service aces at 105 total and is the first server in USF history to accumulate 100 aces. She owns three of the top-six top kill totals including the record of 402 kills in 2016. Rockeman has four matches with over 20 kills including school record 27 vs. Augustana on Sept. 16, 2017, while establishing school record for points with 30 against Vikings that same night.
 
#11 Lexi Scott, Exercise Science, Prinsburg, Minn., Daughter of Wendy and Jaime Swart
Named Academic All-NSIC two straight years and selected All-NSIC two straight seasons, Scott has appeared in 400 sets in 107 matches throughout her career. Scott ranks fourth in USF's all time kills at 934, and fifth in total attack attempts at 1,938. She ranks second in career solo blocks (58), second in assist blocks (340), second in total blocks (398). Scott is sixth in the NSIC in hitting percentage this season, hitting .384.
 
#13 Megan Hamstad, Education, Colorado Springs, Colo., Daughter of Barb and Jeff Hamstad
Hamstad is a two-time Academic All-NSIC honoree, and has played in 95 matches and 287 sets over her career. With 1,523 career assists, she ranks third in USF's DII era. Hamstad has two of the top six assist totals for a season in USF's DII era with 656 (5^th all-time) in 2017 and 535 (6^th all-time) in 2015. Hamstad owns 29 matches with 20 or more assists with 16 matches of 30 or more assists and four over 50. With 358 digs, Hamstad ranks eighth for a career at USF. Coming into this season, Hamstad ranked first in USF's DII era with .959 serve percentage.
 
#15 Bria Barfnecht, Nursing, Delano, Minn., Daughter of Sivian and Bruce Barfnecht
Barfnect rankls fourth in sets played (388) in USF DII history and fifth in matches played (107). She also stands third in kills (985) and third in total attacks (2,182). Barfnecht ranks sixth in digs (512), fourth in solo blocks (24), third in block assists (270), and third in total blocks (294). Barfnecht had a career best 21 kills vs. Wayne State Neb. on Sept. 14, 2017. Barfnecht has recorded 16 double-doubles in her career, and is a two-time NSIC All-Academic Team recipient.
 
Coming off of a 3-1 loss against then No.1 Northern State (22-2, 14-2 NSIC) and a dominating sweep over MSU Moorhead (9-14, 5-11 NSIC) last weekend, USF remained in a tie for fifth place in the NSIC standings with Wayne State at 11-5. At 16-8 overall, the Cougars have already topped their 15-win mark from last year. With four matches left in the regular season, USF has a shot at matching the DII program season win mark of 19 which was set by the 2013 and 2016 teams. For the fifth time in the past six seasons, USF has recorded a winning season in the top DII league in NCAA DII.
 
In their most recent match against MSU Moorhead, USF posted 44 total kills in the match on 107 total attempts for an efficient hitting percentage of .308, while only allowing MSU Moorhead to hit for a .104 clip. Senior Bria Barfnecht paced the USF offense with 12 kills on 19 attempts for a hitting percentage of .579. Lexi Scott, who currently ranks sixth in the NSIC with a .384 hitting percentage, finished with 11 kills on 21 attempts for a .476 clip.  
 
USF ranked ninth in most recent regional rankings
For the first time at the NCAA DII level, the University of Sioux Falls Women's Volleyball Team (16-8, 11-5 NSIC) has been ranked in the top-10 of the NCAA DII Central Region rankings which determine what teams qualify for the national tournament. In the announcement by the NCAA Wednesday (Oct. 24), USF was ranked ninth in the Central Region. USF, which has won 10-of-13 matches and stand 15-7 in region play, is one of five members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) ranked in the first of the NCAA Volleyball Central Region rankings which will released this fall. The other NSIC schools in the region rankings include Concordia-St. Paul at No. 1; Northern State at No. 3; Minnesota Duluth at No. 5 and Southwest Minnesota State at No. 6.
 
 
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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.
 
Series History
                Vs. Minnesota State- MSU leads 5-4
After beating MSU earlier this year 3-1, USF has moved one win closer to evening up the series record. The Cougars are 4-5 against Minnesota State and the series has produced a number of classics. The first meeting was a five-set victory for the then-No. 11 Mavericks. In 2013, USF battled back from a 2-0 deficit to win in five, using 10-plus kills from Jordan Calef, Emily Johnson and Kate Hart. USF pulled out another five-set victory in 2014, riding 39 combined kills from Johnson and Hart for the victory. The Cougars dropped two matches in 2015, including a third consecutive five-set contest between the programs. In 2016, the Cougars turned the tides with Makenna Rockeman's 25 kills leading them to a 3-1 victory. Last season, the Cougars fell in three straight sets to MSU. Earlier this season, Barfnecht recorded 19 kills on an efficient .500 hitting percentage to boost the Cougars to a 3-1 win. USF is 2-2 when hosting MSU.
 
                Vs. Concordia-St.Paul – CSP leads 9-0
Heading into Saturday's match with Concordia-St. Paul, the Cougars are still looking for their first win against the Division II juggernaut Golden Bears. CSP owns an 9-0 record against the Cougars since USF joined the NSIC and NCAA Division II in 2012, starting the regular season series. Concordia-St. Paul has won three matches against USF in four sets and the other six matches in the series by a 3-0 set score. At home, USF is 0-5 against the Golden Bears, with two of their three losses coming in four sets. CSP enters the weekend ranked No. 1 in the latest AVCA Coaches' Top 25 Poll and they have held a top-10 ranking in all nine matches against the Cougars. Earlier this season, USF pushed Concordia-St. Paul in each of the three sets, but ended up getting swept, 3-0.
 
Barfnect and Scott move up All-Time Kills list; Rockeman continues to add to all-time lead
Last weekend Barfnecht recorded 29 total kills which pushed her all-time total to 985 and past Jordan Calef (2013-16, 968) for third all-time at USF. She needs 15 kills to become the third USF player to reach 1,000 kills. Makenna Rockeman is the all-time lead with 1,241 with Emily Johnson (2012-14), second, with 1,094. Lexi Scott is a third USF player with over 900 kills on the same team. Scott is fifth all-time with 934. She needs 35 to pass Calef for fourth all-time. Scott currently ranks sixth in hitting percentage in the NISC at .384 (249 kills on 476 attacks) while sitting tied for third in blocks at 1.03 per set
 
Cougar offense continues to shine
The Cougars rank third in the NSIC in hitting percentage at .279 (1224 K, 2971 A); fifth in kills (13.75 per set, 1224 total), sixth in assists per set at 12.92 (1150 in 89 sets); fifth in blocks at 2.07 per set (293 block assists and 38 block solos) and first in service aces with 152 or 1.71 per set.
 
Goerger returns and sparks Cougars over the weekend
Sophomore setter Krista Goerger has been a consistent part of the USF offense over the season. Goerger ranks seventh in the NSIC with 10.16 assists per set (803 total), as well as third in the NSIC with .44 Service Aces per set. Over the last two games, Goerger tallied 75 assists along with eight total service aces, seven digs, and one kill.
 
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 475-271 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 134-118 record overall and a 66-73 in conference record.