SIOUX FALLS—Following their four-set quarterfinal round victory over No.8 Concordia-St. Paul, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball Team (20-9) will face the top seeded No.4 Minnesota Duluth (25-5) in the semifinal round of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship on Friday, Nov. 9 for a 7:30 match.
 
In the first round NSIC Tourney win, the Cougars set a program DII mark with their 20^th win and recorded their first ever NSIC Tournament victory. USF defeated CSP for the second time in two weeks. In fact, after a 3-0 sweep over the Golden Bears on Oct. 27, the Cougars took three of the four sets.
 
The first seeded No.4 UMD defeated Upper Iowa, 3-1 (25-11, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19) to advance to semifinals against USF.
 
Jim Boos leads UMD in his 16^th season as head coach. Senior Makenzie Morgen leads the Bulldog attack with 304 kills on the year while  junior Hanna Meyer has 302 kills. Junior setter Emily Torve has been a constant focal point in the UMD offense. She has accumulated 12.65 assists per set on the season and ranks second in the conference.
 
The other semifinal matchup will pit second seeded and No.5 Northern State (25-3) against the third seeded No.7 Southwest Minnesota State (21-7). NSU defeated Minnesota State, 3-2, while SMSU handled Wayne State in a three-set sweep.
 
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Watch live
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.
 
USF Ranked sixth in Central Region Rankings
For the first in school history, the USF Women's Volleyball Team (20-9) has been ranked No. 6 in the NCAA DII Central Region ranking which determines what regional teams qualify for the national tournament. In the final ranking of the season released on Nov. 7, USF jumped from No. 9 to No. 6 and now has been ranked three straight weeks.

The NSIC schools listed in the region rankings included Concordia-St. Paul at No. 2; Minnesota Duluth at No. 4, Northern State at No. 5, Sioux Falls at No. 6 and Southwest Minnesota State at No. 7. The poll had several changes from a week ago as USF moved up three spots while Concordia St. Paul dropped from No. 1 to No. 2. In addition, SMSU was seventh last week but fell to the No. 8 slot. Nebraska-Kearney moved up to the No. 1 spot in the region.
 
USF received votes in most recent AVCA National Top-25 Poll
In the most recent AVCA Top-25 list, which was released on Nov. 5, USF received votes (14) for the second consecutive week. The NSIC has four teams ranked in the top eight teams including Minnesota Duluth (fourth), Northern State (fifth), Southwest Minnesota State (seventh), and Concordia-St. Paul (eighth).
 
NSIC Tourney Highlights -
Senior and first team All-NSIC opposite Bria Barfnecht, who now has 1,059 career kills, led USF to the win over CSP with a strong all around effort as she recorded double-digit kills for the 24^th time this season. With 18 kills on 32 attacks with just one error, the junior from Delano, Minn., hit .531. Barfnecht also totaled nine digs, two assists and two service aces. Senior Lexi Scott added 12 kills on 21 attempts for a hitting percentage of .381 in the match. She moved to 991 kills in her career and just nine away from 1,000. She would become the third USF player on the team with 1K kills.
 
Senior Makenna Rockeman, who is USF's career kills leader with 1,283, and junior Abby Feyereisen each posted 10 kills. Feyereisen also led the USF defense with five block assists.

Sophomore setter Krista Goerger had another standout performance. She totaled 50 assists in four sets for 12.5 assists per set. She also recorded eight digs and one service ace in the contest.
 
USF offense has been a major strength
The Cougars rank third in the NSIC as well as third in the NCAA in hitting percentage at .277 (1,492 K, 3,651 A); fifth in kills (13.69 per set, 1,492 total), sixth in assists per set at 12.83 (1,399 in 109 sets); sixth in blocks at 1.99 per set (349 block assists and 42 block solos) and first in service aces with 184 or 1.69 per set
 
USF has three players in top 10 in NSIC hitting percentage 
Barfnecht ranks third in the NSIC and leads the team with a .395 hitting percentage. Barfnecht also leads USF this season in kills at 365 on 717 attempts. Scott ranks fourth in the NSIC hitting at a clip of .393. Scott has been cemented in the top-10 all season, and has been a reliable hitter for the Cougars. Abby Feyereisen has had an efficient junior season with a .354 hitting percentage (9th, NSIC).
 
For the first time in school history, USF has three of the top five all-time kills leader on the same team in school history. USF is led by senior Makenna Rockeman with the all-time mark 1,283. She is followed on the list by fellow seniors Bria Barfnecht, who is third with 1,059 and senior Lexi Scott who is fifth at 991.
 
The USF team leader in assists this season is Goerger with 925 (10.35 assists/set), which ranks seventh in the NSIC. Goerger also ranks second in the conference in service aces with 0.44 aces per set.
 
Junior Kasandra Springer leads the USF defense in digs and averages 3.23 digs per set (346 total).
 
All-NSIC performer Averey Yaksich leads the USF offense in total attempts on the season with 876 on the season. Yaksich has accumulated 293 kills (third on the team) for a regular season hitting percentage of .196.
 
Series History
                Minnesota Duluth – UMD leads 10-1
Seeking to replicate the program's marquee five-set win from two years ago when the Cougars defeated then No.1 UMD in five sets, Sioux Falls will travel to Minnesota Duluth with a 1-10 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. USF loss last season's included a career-best 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. Earlier this season (Oct. 6), USF fell in three sets at home to UMD. Barfnecht led the USF offense with 13 total kills and a hitting percentage of .522. Scott added 11 kills of her own while hitting at a .333 hitting percentage. The Cougar offense found little room at the net with the stifling UMD defense recording eight total blocks in the contest. On the road, the Cougars are 1-4 against Minnesota Duluth.
 
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 344-155 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 132-114 record overall and a 68-72 in conference record. With the wins at USF, McCartney now has 476 career victories.