WINONA, Minn. – Coming off a monumental win over No. 5 Concordia, St. Paul on Tuesday, No. 20 Winona State University jumps right back into its grueling conference schedule which begins on Friday night at No. 6 Northern State. The Warriors conclude the trip at MSU Moorhead on Saturday afternoon.
WSU took down CSP in four sets, marking the Warriors first triumph over the Golden Bears since 2015. Dating back to 2000 (34 matches), Winona State has defeated CSP just three times with Tuesday's victory.
Winona State (14-3, 6-3 NSIC) has won two straight and six of its last seven outings. The Warriors rank sixth in the league in both hitting percentage (.255) and opponent hitting percentage (.178). The Warriors' .255 attacking clip ranks 21st nationally. WSU hit .317 in its win over CSP on Tuesday.
Megan Flom ranks third in the NSIC in hitting percentage (.388) and eighth in kills/set (3.87). The junior's attacking percentage ranks 17th in the country. Flom hit a career-best .575 with 24 kills vs. CSP, recording a new career high attacking percentage for the third time in the past four matches. She matched her career high with 25 kills last Saturday vs. Augustana. Over her last seven matches, Flom owns a .522 clip and has averaged 4.88 kills/set.
Along with Flom's 205 total kills, Madison Larson (148), Madison Rizner (137), Kate Masberg (109) and Paige Christopher (97) are the other offensive leaders. Christopher, a sophomore, also had a big match against CSP, hitting .500 with 12 kills after she floored a career-best 19 kills last weekend vs. Augie.
Rizner leads the team in total blocks (71) and ranks third in the league in blocks/set (1.11). Libero Becca Pagel has a team-high 271 digs and ranks ninth in the NSIC in digs/set (4.23). Junior setter Bre Maloney, who is approaching 2,000 career assists, ranks fifth in the conference in assists/set (10.49).
Scouting Northern State
The Wolves (15-2, 8-1 NSIC) have won six straight and are 4-0 on their home court. Included in their recent string of wins are road victories over No. 4 Minnesota Duluth and No. 11 St. Cloud State – both coming in five sets. Northern State leads the all-time series, 33-29, but WSU holds a 4-3 edge over the last five seasons.
NSU leads the NSIC and ranks second nationally in hitting percentage (.296). The Wolves also rank fifth in the country in assists/set (13.48), and sixth in kills/set (14.58). Defensively, Northern State holds opponents to a .166 clip and ranks second in the league in blocks/set (2.24).
Peyton Ellingson ranks fifth in the NSIC in hitting percentage (.382) and Laura Snyder is fourth in kills/set (4.19). Ellingson ranks second in the league in blocks/set (1.25) while Jaiden Langlie ranks sixth in digs/set (4.50).
Scouting MSU Moorhead
The Dragons (8-9, 3-6 NSIC) host No. 19 Upper Iowa Friday prior to Saturday's match with No. 20 WSU. Moorhead defeated UMary last time out, 3-1, but has been swept in straight sets in all five meetings with nationally-ranked foes this year. Saturday's match will be just the second in their last seven for the Warriors against a non-ranked opponent.
Moorhead ranks 12th in the NSIC in both hitting percentage (.188) and opponent percentage (.205). Defensively, the Dragons are fifth in blocks/set (2.04) but rank 15th in digs/set (13.75). Kaylyn Jenkins has a team-best .305 attacking percentage and Sarah Petrbok leads the way with 2.22 kills/set.
The Warriors have won seven straight matchups with the Dragons.
