Women's Volleyball | 10/15/2025 1:29:00 PM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle volleyball will be back at home on Thursday as they start a run of three of their next four matches in the friendly confines of Lysaker Gymnasium, with two of those matches coming against ranked opponents. Minnesota Crookston first welcomes in their partner system school, Minnesota Duluth for a Thursday match before a road match at Bemidji State.

·   MELBY AN ASSISTING MACHINE. Dana Melby  is leading the Golden Eagles in assists this season, and she kept that trend going this past weekend with 69 total assists in seven sets played. Her 35 assists against the University of Mary now stands as her best individual performance this season. Melby also finished with her first double-double of the season against Minot State, finishing with 13 digs to go along with her 34 assists.

·   ANOTHER RECORD BREAKING PERFORMANCE FOR WAAS. Kailee Waasdorp is no stranger to record setting performances, you can find her name all over the Golden Eagles records page, and that reigned true yet again this past weekend as she tied Katie Lienemann for the most digs in a match in program history with 39. Waasdorp is also believed to hold the NSIC record for most digs in a three-set match with 39 in the loss to Minot State.

·   SCHAROLD WITH THE BLOCK. Lexi Scharold has made the most of her opportunities when she hits the court, her 31 blocks this year leads the Golden Eagles by eight. The Golden Eagles have 72 total blocks this year, and Scharold's been a big part of that.

·  THREE HEADED MONSTER. The Golden Eagles have been getting strong performances from their 2023 recruiting class, especially in the kills department. Madison Carsten, Carizma Muth, and Emma Malek each hit double digit kills against the University of Mary this past weekend. This trio sits atop the Golden Eagles in kills this season.

• SEARCHING FOR A RANKED WIN. This will be the fourth time this season that the Golden Eagles play a ranked opponent, with #15 University of Minnesota Duluth in town this Thursday. The Golden Eagles are in search of an upset this week, and their first ranked win in the Nick Meseck era. The Golden Eagles will also look to earn their first win over the Bulldogs in program history.

·   BREAKING DOWN THE DAM. The Golden Eagles have been on top in their matches against Bemidji State University the last few years, winning both matchups last year and four out of their last five. Now the Golden Eagles have the chance to extend their win streak over the Beavers to three.

• ALL-ELUSIVE DUB. Minnesota Crookston will do all they can to try and get a win in conference play this weekend and throughout the next week, although it won't be easy in the conference they play in. The Golden Eagles have played Bemidji State tough through 41 matches in NSIC play, winning 23 of those. The Golden Eagles will look to make it 24 wins in the series and give the Golden Eagles their first conference win.

·   39 DIGS IN THREE SETS. Think about that number for a second. That's nearly 15 digs per set. To be honest, with the year that the junior from West Fargo is having, it doesn't come as that big of a shock. Waasdorp finished with 39 digs in three sets in the loss to Minot State, which is both a school record and NSIC record. Waasdorp was also six digs shy of the NCAA record in a three set match, according to the latest record books given by the NCAA. It was a tough loss, but a silver lining did come into play with the play by the Wizard of Waas.

Series Quick Look vs the opponents
UMD leads the series with the Golden Eagles, 27-0

Minnesota Crookston leads the all-time series over Bemidji State, 23-18

How to Follow
No. 17 Minnesota Duluth @ Minnesota Crookston
Thursday, Oct. 16
6 P.M.
Crookston, Minn. / Lysaker Gymnasium
Live Stats -- https://goldeneaglesports.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://nsicnetwork.com/goldeneaglesports/

Minnesota Crookston @ Bemidji State
Saturday, Oct. 18
2 P.M.
Bemidji, Minn. / BSU Gymnasium
Live Stats -- https://www.msumdragons.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://nsicnetwork.com/bsubeavers/

#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

MINNESOTA DULUTH. The Bulldogs, after missing the NCAA tournament a year ago, look well on their way to making the big dance yet again. UMD is 14-2 on the year and 7-2 in the NSIC and have won four of their last five. The Bulldogs fell in three sets to Northern State last Friday night.

FIVE OVER 100. The Bulldogs have had a lot of success this year, and that is largely due to the fact that they have five players with 100 or more kills. Madeline Guetzkow leads the group with 187, while Kylie Broten is right behind her with 176.

AJ. Ava Jones is leading the Bulldogs in assists this year with 675. That number also has her sitting comfortably in fifth amongst all NSIC players. Her average of 11.44 assists per set has her tied for second in the conference.

BEMIDJI STATE. The Beavers have not had the best start to the year, sitting with an overall record of 5-12 and a conference record of 2-7, they look to improve on both of those numbers when they play host to the Golden Eagles on Saturday.

WATCH OUT FOR AN ACE.  The Beavers have had good fortune when it comes to aces this season, sitting seventh in the NSIC in aces by a team this year with 101. Ava Athman is leading the team in that category with 20 of them, and Kylie Struble right behind her with 19.

TROUBLE WITH THE SERVE. Despite their success with aces this year, the Beavers are also struggling in opponent aces. They have let up 118 aces this year, which is second most in the NSIC. This could be an interesting stat to monitor, as the Golden Eagles have scored on the fewest aces this year in the conference.