SIOUX FALLS— With six wins in the past eight matches, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (12-7, 7-4 NSIC) will host another top-25 ranked opponent as they face No. 11 Southwest Minnesota State (13-6, 8-3 NSIC) on Tuesday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m., at the Stewart Center. This is the second time that USF will face SMSU as the Cougars lost, 3-0, in Marshall, Minn., on Sept. 11.
 
Last weekend, the Cougars put together a 1-1 record with a 3-1 win over St. Cloud State before dropping a 3-0 decision to No. 5 Minnesota Duluth. Against SCSU, the Cougars picked up a crucial win in remaining tied for fifth in the NSIC standings. The Cougars, St. Cloud State and Wayne State all stand 7-4.  In the victory against the Huskies, four players registered double digit totals in kills. USF, which hit .319 with 61 kills on 144 attempts, received 16 kills and a .560 hitting percentage from senior Lexi Scott, who also had six total blocks. Senior Bria Barfnecht had her seventh double double of the season with 12 kills on 20 attacks and a .500 hitting percentage along with a team-high 17 digs. Sophomore Averey Yaksich had 13 kills while Makenna Rockeman added 11 kills. Also for USF, sophomore setter Krista Goerger had 49 assists and played a key role as USF hit over .300 as a team for the seventh time this season and the third time in four matches.
 
In the other match up last weekend, USF was held to a .200 hitting percentage in the setback to UMD. USF totaled 35 kills on 96 attempts during the contest and committed 16 total attack errors. Barfnecht led the USF offense with 13 total kills and a hitting percentage of .522. Scott added 11 kills and hit .333.  
 
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Series Histories
                Southwest Minnesota State – SMSU leads 13-1
After falling to SMSU on the road earlier in the season, Sioux Falls is looking for their second win against the Mustangs. Entering the mid-week match, USF is 1-13 against the national stalwart Mustangs, who hold the No. 11 ranking in this week's AVCA Coaches' Poll. In each of the previous 14 matches between USF and SMSU, the Mustangs have been ranked in the national top 10 and twice have been the top-ranked team. Earlier this season, USF was limited to a .074 hitting percentage while SMSU finished the match with a .287 clip. The Cougars held a, 10-7 lead in the second set, but then SMSU scored seven straight points to go up, 14-10, and eventually take the set. USF totaled 30 kills throughout the match and added four aces to their offensive game, but the Mustangs had 42 total kills and 12 total blocks to give them the edge over the Cougars. USF's lone win in the series came in Marshall, Minn. when USF erased a two-set deficit and won in five sets in 2013, spearheaded by 18 blocks by the Cougars. SMsU has won matches in three sets six times in the series. They have also recorded four-set victories three times with two five-set decisions. USF is 0-6 against SMSU at home.
 
 
Coo Tracks

• The Cougars rank second in the NSIC in hitting percentage at .281 (985 K, 2381 A); fifth in kills (13.87 per set, 985 total), sixth in assists per set at 13.06 (927 in 71 sets); third in blocks at 2.18 per set (239 block assists and 35 block solos) and forth in service aces with 115 or 1.62 per set
• 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 1,201 which is first all-time with Barfnecht 4^th with 929 and Scott, 5^th at 887.
• Scott ranks in the top five in two categories, sitting third in hitting in the NISC at .407 (202 kills on 385 attacks) while sitting sixth in blocks at 1.07 per set
• Barfnecht has 14 double digit kills performances in 2018; ranks sixth in NSIC in hitting percentage at .374 with team-high 234 kills (eighth, NSIC; ranks 10^th in league with 3.30 kills per set)
• Sophomore setter krista Goerger currently ranks sixth in the NSIC with 727 total assists, while averaging 10.24 assists per set which also is sixth most in the conference.

 
SMSU returns defending DII National Player of the Year
Defending Team Snap/AVCA National Player of the Year Taylor Reiss has not dropped off from her impressive 2017 season where she posted 5.13 kills per set, a .305 hitting percentage, and 3.08 digs per set. So far in the 2018 season, the senior outside hitter has accumulated 389 kills in 70 sets for a hitting percentage of 5.56 kills per set, which ranks first in the NSIC. Reiss also has totaled 243 digs, which average out to 3.47 digs per set. Reiss has amassed 422.5 points on the season, which totals out to 6.04 points per set. Reiss was named NSIC preseason player of the year for the 2018 season.
 
The Mustangs are currently sitting fourth in the conference standings with a 13-6 record, 8-3 in the NSIC. SMSU ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage (.264), third in team assist average per set (13.85), and fourth in kills per set (14.36). SMSU was picked to finish second in the in the annual 16-team Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
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.