Women's Volleyball | 9/25/2025 10:26:00 AM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle volleyball will hit the road once again this weekend for two more challenging matches at Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State. The Golden Eagles will look to get back to their winning ways this weekend, although it won't be easy against the Cougars and Mustangs. Sioux Falls knocked off SMSU in five sets for a ranked win and the Mustangs are ranked in the top-25 yet again. Minnesota Crookston is coming off a four set loss on the road at Minnesota State Moorhead.

·   FIRST TIME FOR SOMETHING. This weekend, the Golden Eagles will look to do something they have never done; win on the road at Sioux Falls or Southwest Minnesota State. The Golden Eagles are winless in seven tries on the road at Sioux Falls and have yet to win in 16 chances on the road at Southwest Minnesota State. It's going to be a big hill to climb against two really good opponents at their place, but the Golden Eagles would love nothing more than to get their first wins on the road in places that haven't been good to them in the past.

·   DON'T MESS WITH MUTH. In the Golden Eagles loss to the Dragons on Tuesday night, Carizma Muth put her versatility on display. The redshirt sophomore from Wisconsin finished with another double-double in the four setter, adding 10 kills and 17 digs, which is a season-high, surpassing her 16 earlier this year against Chadron State. Muth now has four double-doubles on the season, which is half of what she finished with last season. Muth's 17 digs tied a career-high she set last season, when she finished with 17 digs in a loss to MSU-Billings.

·   WHAT'S HER LAST NAME?  Sophomore Lexi Scharold made her presence felt in the middle in the Golden Eagles' defeat to MSU Moorhead. Scharold had her best match of the young season against the Dragons, finishing with 10 kills on 30 total attacks, while also finishing with a big block. Scharold's 10 kills in the match tie a career high, which she did three different times last season as a freshman. Scharold rolled her ankle late in the match, but for the Golden Eagles, they're hoping that Scharold is healthy for the meat of the NSIC schedule.

·  KEEP DOING YOUR THING. Another day, another match with 10 or more digs for Kailee Waasdorp. The junior from Fargo continues to rack up the dig numbers on the year, adding 11 digs in the loss, giving her double-digit digs in every match this season. Waasdorp's excellence has helped the Golden Eagles lead the Northern Sun in digs per set, which in turn, has helped the Golden Eagles to over 40 attacks per set, which also leads the NSIC. The Golden Eagles are second in total digs in the conference. Waasdorp is fourth in the nation in digs per set and ninth in total digs. It's been a special season for the Golden Eagle captain and she will look to continue her solid play in the back for the maroon and gold.

• SERVICE LINE BATTLE. The last few matches for the Golden Eagles have been a different story then the first few matches, in terms of at the service line. The Golden Eagles still have 14 more service aces than their opponents, but only have seven service aces in their previous three matches, which is a season low through a three game span. The good news for the maroon and gold is that their serve receive is among one of the best in the conference and they don't allow their opponents very many easy opportunities for an ace.

·   CONSISTENCY IS CRITICAL. One of the more consistent players that the Golden Eagles have is Emma Malek. Malek continues to grow offensively and that has been evident in her attacking numbers. Among the Golden Eagles with more than 100 attacks, Malek leads the maroon and gold in attacking percentage with a .229 hitting percentage and has 72 kills on the year, which is third on her team, behind Carsten and Muth. The junior from Illinois has five or more kills in all but one match this season.

• ON THE ROAD A LOT. This three game road trip is the start of many road games for the Golden Eagles. They've already played matches in three different states and will have played way more road matches than home matches. This three match road swing will be the first of two times this season the maroon and gold will be on the road for more than two matches. Later this season, the Golden Eagles will go through the gauntlet of four straight road matches against four quality opponents near the end of the season.

·   ON PACE. So far, Minnesota Crookston has seen improvement on the offensive side of the ball. Dating back to 2012, the Golden Eagles have never finished a season with more kills or kills per set than their opponent. In fact, the closest they've been to surpassing their opponents in those categories was 2016. The Golden Eagles have done a good job on the offensive side of the ball and they will need to be really good this weekend against two outstanding opponents.

Series Quick Look vs the opponents
Sioux Falls leads the all-time series 14-2
SMSU is 34-1 against the Golden Eagles


How to Follow

Minnesota Crookston @ Sioux Falls
Friday, Sept. 26
6 P.M.
Sioux Falls, S.D. / Stewart Center
Live Stats -- https://usfcougars.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://nsicnetwork.com/usfcougars/

Minnesota Crookston @ No. 8 Southwest Minnesota State
Saturday, Sept. 27
2 P.M.
Marshall, Minn. / R/A Gymnasium
Live Stats -- https://smsumustangs.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://nsicnetwork.com/smsumustangs/

#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

SIOUX FALLS. What a start it has been for the Cougars this season. The Cougars are 7-4 on the season and 2-1 in the Northern Sun, with their only loss being a five-set loss to nationally ranked Minnesota Duluth. Their last time out, the Cougars beat a top-10 team in Southwest Minnesota State in five sets. USF is one of the top teams in the NSIC and they should be in the hunt at the very end of the season.

ALMOST AUTOMATIC. Think about this for a second, USF is hitting .274 as a team, which ranks 11th in the entire nation, but FOURTH in the conference. It's almost mind boggling to think that there are three other teams ranked in the top-10 nationally and just how good those numbers are. USF has just one match this season hitting below .200, which was a three set loss to Nebraska Kearney. Stopping the Cougars is easier said than done.

SOLID SADIE. A big part of the offensive attack for USF is their senior Sadie Voss. So far, Voss has put up incredible numbers, leading her team in kills, total attacks and double-doubles. Voss has six double-doubles on the season, including four in a row. Voss is also second on the team with 97 total digs. Voss is a tough person to stop, but the Golden Eagles will look to do that this Friday night.

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE. Perennial power Southwest Minnesota State is off to another great start at 8-2 on the year, but they are in uncharted waters in NSIC play, sitting at 1-2 through three conference matches with back-to-back losses. SMSU is the highest ranked NSIC team in the nation, so expect them to right the ship and be a major threat in the NSIC yet again.

JONES' JOURNEY. Junior Leah Jones has put up stupid good numbers this season for the Mustangs. The junior, playing for her hometown college, leads the Mustangs in kills and is one of four Mustangs with more than 100 digs on the season. Earlier this season, Jones finished with 19 kills and 20 digs in a win over Pittsburg State.

TOUGH TO FIND THE FLOOR. Saturday night's match against the Mustangs and Golden Eagles will obviously be a race to three sets. The thing is, the way these two teams dig the ball, there could be a ton of great rallies. The Mustangs and Golden Eagles have combined for more than 1,300 digs on the season and the Mustangs rank number one in the Northern Sun in digs, while the Golden Eagles rank number two in digs. There will be a number of good attackers on both sides of the net, but they could have a difficult time finding the floor at certain times.