#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle volleyball will be on the road this weekend to kick off NSIC play. If there is a silver lining to all this travel, this will be the last travel day for the Golden Eagles for a while, as well as one of the shortest in conference play. The Golden Eagles will head to Aberdeen and Moorhead this weekend for matches at Northern State and MSU Moorhead. The Golden Eagles will look to win a match in venues that haven't been too kind to them over the years; The last Golden Eagle win in Aberdeen came in 2004, while the maroon and gold last won at MSUM in Moorhead also came in 2004. In fact, the wins over the Dragons and Wolves in 2004 came on back-to-back nights. The Golden Eagles will look for that same pattern this season. So far this season, the Golden Eagles will have traveled about 2,400 miles, including this trip to Aberdeen and Moorhead.

·   TWO TOURNAMENTS, TWO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS. To say it has been an unbelievable start for West Fargo freshman Kailee Waasdorp would honestly be doing her a bit of a disservice. The North Dakota native has come onto campus and has brought a different mentality in the back row. Waasdorp is currently averaging over 17 digs per match, which is one of the tops in the NSIC. Waasdorp ranks in the top-5 in the NSIC in both total digs and digs per set and top-35 nationally in total digs. Waasdorp and her 137 digs has been good enough to have her be named to back-to-back All-Tournament teams at the UP Open two weekends ago and then last weekend at the Iceman Invitational hosted by Texas-Permian Basin.

• MATTER OF CONSISTENCY. With a team this young, it is always really important to surround the freshman, in this case, seven of them, with one or two solid veterans that is the definition of consistency. So far, no problem for the Golden Eagles, who have found that consistency with Mara Weisensel. Weisensel is second on the team in kills with 54 and is third in attacks with 141. Of all the Golden Eagle attackers with more than 100 total attacks, Weisensel is tied with Emma Malek for the lowest number of errors with just 18. The senior from New Ulm, Minn., leads the Golden Eagles with a .255 attacking percentage. The Golden Eagles will continue to look to Weisensel for more of the same consistency this season.

·  ACE CARD. In their win over University of the Southwest, one distinct advantage they had was at the service line. The maroon and gold picked up their second win of the season on the back of 14 service aces, including five apiece from freshmen Emma Malek and Kailee Waasdorp, which were a career-high for each player. The 14 service aces was the most since 9/2/2016, when the Golden Eagles also finished with 14 service aces against Grand Valley State.

·   PHENOMENAL FRESHMAN.  Last season, it was Audrey Cariveau who was sending signals to the NSIC that she was going to be a really good player in the NSIC for many years to come. This season, it might be Madison Carsten who is sending those same signals. There have been some curves in the road through eight matches for Carsten, but she is tied for the team lead in kills with the aforementioned Cariveau with 64, second behind Cariveau with 2.64 points per set and has 71 digs on the season. Carsten has four matches this season with more than ten digs and collected her first career double-double in the win over USW last Friday afternoon. The light for Carsten could be very bright in the future.

·    DO IT ALL DANA. Including the seven freshmen, Dana Melby has been an outstanding addition to Nick Meseck and his young team. The redshirt freshman for the Golden Eagles has done most of the setting duties this year and seems to get better with each and every match. Melby had just 12 assists against Texas-Permian Basin, but was outstanding in the last three matches, finishing with 29 assists each in the last three matches, which is the model of consistency. In addition, Melby also has 64 digs on the season and 7 aces, good for second on the Golden Eagles. Melby has a service ace in her last four matches, including two against UTPB last Thursday.

·   STARTING TO GET COMFORTABLE. It's always going to take time for a freshman to get acclimated and comfortable with the speed of the collegiate game. Sometimes it takes some more time than others, but other times, it doesn't take that long. Emma Malek might be getting perfectly comfortable on the outside for the Golden Eagles. Malek has had double-digit attacks in seven straight matches and finished with a career-high five service aces in the sweep over University of the Southwest. Malek has hit over .200 in four matches this season. The Golden Eagles have relied on freshmen this season and Malek is starting to get more and more comfortable.

• CLEAN SWEEP. Minnesota Crookston dominated University of the Southwest (N.M.) thanks to a balanced attack and an outstanding hitting percentage. That has been a point of evidence for the maroon and gold, who want to have a more effective and consistent offensive attack. The Golden Eagles hit a season-high .265, which is the highest by a Golden Eagle offense since 2019 when they hit .266 in a loss to Northern Michigan. The Golden Eagles will look to continue to have a strong attack as they get into NSIC play.

·   START STRONG. The NSIC is one of, if not, the best volleyball conference in all of Division II and there is an argument that it is one of the best in all of college volleyball. That statement alone is why it is important for the Golden Eagles to get off to a fast start this NSIC season. Minnesota Crookston will look to start fast this weekend on the road before four straight matches at home to round out September. Starting fast could be the first chapter for a successful 2023 for the Golden Eagles.


Series Quick Look (Northern State)
 

• NSU leads the all-time series, 32-4
• The Golden Eagles last win came in 2008
• NSU has won the last 21 matches

Series Quick Look (MSU Moorhead)

• The Golden Eagles won the season finale last year in five sets
• MSUM has won five of the last seven matches
• The Golden Eagles last win in Moorhead came in 2004

Minnesota Crookston @ Northern State
Aberdeen, S.D.
Sept. 15
6 P.M.
Wachs Arena

Live Stats - https://nsuwolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live - https://nsicnetwork.com/nsuwolves/


Minnesota Crookston @ MSUM 
Moorhead, Minn.
Sept. 16
3:30 P.M.
Nemzek Hall

Live Stats - https://www.msumdragons.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live - https://nsicnetwork.com/msumdragons/


#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

NORTHERN STATE. The Wolves have built quite the program in Aberdeen, somewhere the Golden Eagles haven't had much success in. The Wolves lost their first match of the season in the regular season opener, but have ran off seven straight wins and are 7-1 on the season. In their seven-match win streak, the Wolves have five sweeps on the season. It will be a tall task for the Golden Eagles this Friday night.

THE DIG MEISTER. This match on Friday will arguably feature two of the better back row players in the conference. For the Golden Eagles, it Kailee Waasdorp, who has had an unbelievable start to her career in the maroon and gold and for NSU, it is sophomore Abby Meister, who has been every bit as good as Waasdorp. The Sioux Falls native is third in the nation and first in the conference in digs per set. The sophomore has double-digit digs in every match this season and more than 20 in five of those matches, including a whopping 41 in the five set win over Texas A & M-Kingsville. It's tough to get the ball past Meister.

WALK FOR THE ASSIST. Behind every great offense, there is a facilitator that gets things going. For the Wolves, that facilitator is Keri Walker. The redshirt junior from Wisconsin already has 297 assists on the season and is sixth in the conference in assists per set, as well as top-30 in the nation. Walker is one of the best in the conference.

STOP SZYBINSKA. Natalia Szybinska helps make the Wolves very dangerous to stop when they are on the attack. The junior from Poland is second behind Hanna Thompson for the team lead in kills. Szybinska has had outstanding attack numbers the last three matches, finishing with kill numbers of 15, 13 and 17.

MSU MOORHEAD. The Dragons enter a new era in 2023 under the direction of Kari Thompson, who is in her first season at the helm of MSUM. MSUM started the season 3-1, but has lost four out of their last five matches.

BRIDGET WITZMANN'S DIARY. The Dragons rely on senior Bridget Witzmann for a big bulk of their offense. The Isanti, Minn., native leads her team with 99 kills and has double-digit kills in six matches, including a season-high 17 kills in a five-set loss against Truman State. Witzmann loves playing the Golden Eagles. A year ago, she finished with 27 kills in two matches against the maroon and gold.

FORCE UP FRONT. The Dragons do a really good job of making it hard for their opponents at the net. MSUM has 53 total blocks as a team on the season and have four players with more than 10 blocks, led by Jocelin Feutz with her 16 blocks. Raiah Mandell and Jadyn Feist have 14 and 13 blocks, respectively, while Ruby Bones (fantastic last name, btw) has 12 on the season. That quartet of blockers make it easier for the Dragon back row.

SIMILAR SERVING NUMBERS. The match on Saturday afternoon could be won at the service line. Comparatively, these two teams are very similar. The Dragons have 43 service errors while the Golden Eagles have 40. MSUM has forced 54 service errors by their opponents. Meanwhile, Minnesota Crookston has forced 46. There is a great chance this match will be decided from behind the line.