Women's Volleyball | 10/1/2026 11:10:00 AM

#TIDBITS

Golden Eagle volleyball will play their traditional Friday-Saturday matches this weekend on the road inside two tough venues to play, the Taylor Center, home of Minnesota State and Halenbeck Hall, the home of St. Cloud State. Minnesota Crookston heads into three out of four matches against ranked opponents in St. Cloud State, Concordia-St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State. A grueling stretch awaits the Golden Eagles. What else is new in the NSIC.

·   MATCH WITH THE MAVS. When Minnesota Crookston and Minnesota State meet, there is a decent chance the match could be a classic. Last year's match was a three-set sweep that went the way of the Mavericks, but 2024 was a four setter that was back and forth, which also went the way of the Mavericks. The best match in recent memory came back in 2022 in Crookston. The Mavericks dominated the first set, saw the Golden Eagles win the next two, a Mavericks comeback in set four and the Mavs closing out the match in set five. The Mavericks have just four wins and the Golden Eagles have three, so it could be another thriller in the Taylor Center.

·   WAAS' WAY. What a thrill it was on Tuesday night to see No. 6 in the back row for the Golden Eagles. Kailee Waasdorp, the senior from West Fargo, N.D., made her way back into the rotation on a limited basis on Tuesday night against Bemidji State after a really long road to recovery from an injury she suffered a year ago. The senior has the school record for digs in a three set match set a season ago and has 1,295 digs in her career and is fourth in school history in career digs. I think the smile that was seen by Waasdorp in her return trumps all of those outstanding accolades.

·   FOUR DIGITS. It's been an illustrious career for Madison Carsten as a Golden Eagle and she still has a ton of volleyball left to play. The senior from Wadena heads into this weekend with 910 kills throughout her career and is well on her way to becoming the sixth Golden Eagle ever to finish their career with 1,000 or more kills. Carsten has 27 double-doubles throughout her career, which also ranks near the top in program history. As Carsten enters her final full month to don the maroon and gold, she and her team hope that her best volleyball is still ahead of her.

·  TOP TWO. Speaking of Carsten, we might as well continue to talk about her rise in the record books. Carsten also heads into this weekend with 3,369 total attacks throughout her three-and-a-half year career and needs just 11 more attacks to surpass Allison Kluck for second all-time in the four year history of Golden Eagle volleyball. It would take a ton for Carsten to surpass Brittany Looker and her 4,647 total attacks, but Carsten could be right behind Looker early on Friday night in the record books.

• RANKED OPPONENTS AWAIT. The Golden Eagle upcoming stretch will be kind of like going to the last six Jurassic Park movies. It will be tough, but you have to do it because the reward will be worth it and you already watched the first two. Minnesota Crookston has 13 matches left, four of which will be against ranked opponents, but the opportunity to play well and knock off a ranked team will be right in front of the Golden Eagles. Opportunity awaits.

·   MAKE THE MOST OF IT. Something interesting this season has been the Golden Eagles depth and opportunity to find the floor. Sure, the Golden Eagles have their seniors in Madison Carsten, Emma Malek, Carizma Muth and Kailee Waasdorp that have seen a ton of volleyball and played a ton in the conference. The Golden Eagles have tried numerous different rotations, which in turn, means that every single Golden Eagle that can play, has played this season. That can only be a good thing as the Golden Eagles enter October.

• FINISH THE PUZZLE. The Golden Eagles have had a ton of really, really good volleyball this season. The issue has been putting that together match after match. The maroon and gold have been competitive in a lot of matches this season, but have yet to put it together for consecutive matches. If the Golden Eagles do that, they have a chance to be a tough out down the stretch.

• MISCUES. The Golden Eagles will look for better execution offensively this weekend on the road. The Golden Eagles last three matches have seen their attacking numbers dip. The Golden Eagles have hit .100 against MSU Moorhead and Minnesota Duluth and hit .068 against the Beavers of Bemidji State in their last trio of matches. The Golden Eagles have double-digit errors in every match this season and 58 in their previous three matches. The Golden Eagles have to cut into that number this weekend and that starts with the Mavericks on Friday night in the home that Glen Taylor built.

Series Quick Look vs the opponents
MSU leads 22-4, winning the last 12
Huskies lead over the Golden Eagles, 22-8

How to Follow

Minnesota Crookston @ Minnesota State
Friday, Oct. 2
6 PM
Taylor Center / Mankato, Minn.
Live Stats -- https://msumavericks.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://www.midcosportsplus.com/?school=minnesota-state-university-mankato

Minnesota Crookston @ No. 15 St. Cloud State
Saturday, Oct. 3
2 PM
Halenbeck Hall / St. Cloud, Minn.
Live Stats -- https://scsuhuskies.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Watch Live -- https://www.midcosportsplus.com/?school=st-cloud-state-university


#OPPONENTOUTLOOK

MINNESOTA STATE. The Mavericks have had their struggles this season as they hold a record of 4-11. The Mavericks have a conference record of 2-5, with wins coming over Winona State University and University of Sioux Falls. MSU has faced 8 ranked opponents this season.

EARNED BY EXPERIENCE. The Mavericks have had 7 players play in all 15 matches this season. Five of the seven players are upperclassmen. The Mavericks will look to turn to their experienced players to try and get their season back on track.

TWO-WAY THREAT. Jadyn Lester, a junior from Rochester, Minnesota leads the Mavericks in two key stats. The junior runs the offense as she has 453 total assists, with a season high of 48 against Fresno Pacific. She also runs the end line, leading the team in service aces with 30.

MEYER IS MONEY. The Mavericks are steady in reception as their reception percentage sits at .908 compared to their opponents with .894. The Mavericks are led by their libero, Savannah Meyer, a redshirt freshman from Cleveland, Minnesota. She leads the team in reception percentage with .947.

ST. CLOUD STATE. The very strong Huskies have had a great season so far as they hold a record of 10-5. The Huskies have an NSIC record of 4-3, with the three losses coming from ranked opponents. SCSU currently sits 8th in the NSIC standings.

KILLS FROM KIMM. The Huskies offense is led by Shelby Kimm, a senior from North Liberty, Iowa. Kimm is 11th in the NSIC with kills, and has a season high of 20 kills against Michigan Tech. Kimm has 7 double-doubles on the season, and 26 career double-doubles.  
 
LOCKDOWN DEFENSE. The Huskies are backed by their strong libero Laurin Hammin, a junior from Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Hammin is third in the NSIC standings in digs with 244. Hammin has played in all 54 sets of the Huskies season. Hammin is coming off a season high of 28 digs against Winona State University.

PROGRAM DOMINANCE. With the Huskies coming off their 10th win of the season, they make it nine seasons in a row with double digit wins. Each of these seasons were led by current head coach Chad Braegelmann. Braegelmann is in his 12th season with the Huskies, and led the team to third place in the NSIC with an 18-2 record last season.