WINONA, Minn. – Coming off their first homestand of the year, and a pair of wins, (RV) Winona State University returns to the road to face two nationally ranked conference foes. The Warriors play at No. 19 Sioux Falls Friday at 7 p.m. and complete the trip on Saturday at 2 p.m. versus No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State.
The Warriors (10-2, 2-2 NSIC) snapped a brief two game skid last weekend with a 3-1 victory over Bemidji State and a 3-0 sweep against Minnesota Crookston. Junior Megan Flom paced the offense with 32 kills on the homestand. Flom ranks 13th in the league in kills/set (3.24). Sophomore middle Madison Rizner also had a big weekend with 24 kills and four blocks while recording a career-best .588 attacking percentage vs. Crookston. Rizner's 52 total blocks rank second in the NSIC.
Freshman Madison Larson continues to lead WSU in kills (117) and her 3.16 kills/set ranks 15th in the NSIC. Setter Bre Maloney ranks eighth in the league with 9.88 assists/set and libero Becca Pagel is ninth in digs/set 4.24. Pagel moved into sole possession of 15th place in program history last weekend with 1,140 career digs.
Winona State's .249 team hitting percentage ranks ninth in the league and 31st in NCAA Division II. The Warriors are limiting opponents to a .164 attacking percentage which ranks sixth in the conference. WSU allows just 10.89 opponent kills/set which ranks fourth in the NSIC.
Following this road trip, the Warriors play three straight, and five of their next seven at home.
Scouting Sioux Falls: The Cougars (11-1, 3-1 NSIC) dropped their most recent match to then-No. 8 Northern State, 3-2. Sioux Falls leads the all-time series with WSU, 6-5, including three straight wins.
The Cougars rank eighth in the NSIC, just ahead of Winona State, with a .253 attacking percentage and are fourth defensively with a .157 opponent clip. USF is limiting opponents to just 10.63 kills/set which is second-best in the league. The Cougars also own a slight edge over WSU in blocks/set (1.96-1.89). Sioux Falls excels at the service line and leads the league with 2.21 aces/set.
Abby Feyereisen ranks second in the NSIC in hitting percentage (.415) while Kasandra Springer is seventh in kills/set (3.83). Springer also leads the league with 30 service aces.
Scouting SMSU: The Mustangs (10-2, 4-0 NSIC), who reached the NCAA Regional last year, have won four straight entering the weekend and host No. 22 Upper Iowa on Friday prior to the Warriors' visit. Included in the Mustangs' winning streak is a five-set triumph over nationally-ranked Northern State. SMSU owns a 62-22-1 all-time series lead vs. WSU. The teams have split the last two meetings with the Mustangs winning three of the last five.
SMSU ranks seventh in the NSIC in hitting percentage (.254) and eighth in opponent percentage (.179). The Mustangs' 15.18 kills/set rank third in the league. SMSU is fifth in the NSIC in blocks/set (2.11) and ninth in digs (15.02).
Lydia Sussner ranks fifth in the conference in attacking percentage (.387) while Angela Young (3.98) and Meg Schmidt (3.36) rank sixth and 10th, respectively, in kills/set. Zoe Lier's 42 total blocks rank sixth in the NSIC.
