Aberdeen, S.D. - The No. 7 Northern State University Wolves are set for their final road trip of the regular season, heading to No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State. The Wolves will face the Golden Bears at 6 p.m. on Friday, and the Mavericks at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
 
Northern State defeated St. Cloud State and No. 4 Minnesota Duluth last weekend in straight sets, improving to 20-3 overall and 13-2 in the NSIC. The Wolves hit .284 in the two matches, and held their opponents to a .128 attack percentage. NSU averaged 13.83 kills, 12.33 assists, 17.50 digs, 2.0 blocks, and 0.83 service aces in the two wins. The win over the Bulldogs gave the Wolves their fifth top-25 victory of the 2017 season. Northern hit a weekend high .388 against the Huskies recording 15 more kills than their opponents. The Wolves opened the week with a 3-0 victory over MSU Moorhead from Wachs Arena on Tuesday, notching their fifth straight win and 21st of the season. Northern hit .348 in the match with 53 kills.
 
The Wolves are hitting .296 this season, while averaging 13.9 kills, 13.0 assists, 16.1 digs, 2.0 blocks, and 1.5 aces per set. NSU is second in the league in hitting percentage, while leading the NSIC in opponent hitting percentage. They also rank fifth in assists per set. Hailey Busch ranks third in the NSIC and leads the team in kills, averaging 4.16 per set. Laura Snyder is sixth in the NSIC and leads the team in hitting percentage with a .383 mark. Ashley Rozell is fourth in the NSIC averaging 11.88 assists per set, and leads the league with 45 service aces. Jenna Reiff is fourth in the league with a team leading 79 blocks, averaging 1.09 per set. Jaiden Langlie rounds out the top-10 in digs per set averaging 4.06 with a team leading 333.
 
About the Golden Bears
- Concordia-St. Paul enters the match with a 22-2 record overall, and 15-1 mark in NSIC play while holding the No. 1 ranking in the nation
- CSP is currently on a seven game win streak in conference action
- Concordia is hitting .286 this season, while averaging 15.2 kills, 14.5 assists 16.1 digs, 1.8 blocks, and 1.5 aces per set
- Brooklyn Lewis leads the team with 347 kills, averaging 3.94 per set. She is also leading the starters hitting .322 on the year
- Elizabeth Mohr is pacing the offense, averaging 13.32 assists per set
- Tori Hanson leads the defensive effort with 332 digs, averaging 4.37 per set, while Shelby Seurer leads the team at the net with 64 total blocks
- The Golden Bears are led by head coach Brady Starkey in his 15^th season at the helm
 
Earlier this Season
- The Wolves fell to the Golden Bears 3-0 in late September
- Northern hit .105 with 29 kills and 16 errors
- CSP tallied 46 kills and five service aces, as NSU struggled to get things going
- Jenna Reiff led the team with eight kills, while Holly Vancura tallied 11 digs
- Northern is 10-31 all-time against Concordia-St. Paul
 
About the Mavericks
- Minnesota State enters the weekend 12-12 overall and 6-10 in the NSIC
- MSU is hitting .226 this season, averaging 12.6 kills, 11.9 assists, 14.2 digs, 1.6 blocks, and 1.9 aces per set
- Sydney Powell leads the team with 215 kills, averaging 2.87 per set
- Anissa Janzig is hitting a team leading .294 on the season
- The Mavericks run a 6-2 offense with Micayla Porter leading the team with 479 assists, followed by Autumn Risch with 397
- Mara Quam leads the defense with 363 digs, while Janzig holds a team leading 60 blocks
- The Mavericks are led by head coach Lori Rittenhouse-Wollmuth in her third season at the helm
 
Earlier this Season
- Northern swept Minnesota State in both match-ups this season from Wachs Arena
- In the game one win, Northern hit .296 with 41 kills, seven blocks, and five aces
- Hailey Busch led the team with 11 kills, while Jaiden Langlie tallied a team leading 19 digs
- In the game two victory, NSU hit .304 and held MSU to a .064 attack percentage
- Holly Vancura led the team with 13 kills, and Langlie led the defense with 18 digs
- The Wolves are 4-4 all-time against the Mavericks winning the last two contests