Aberdeen, S.D. – The Northern State volleyball team is set begin their NSIC Tournament run with a quarterfinal match-up against #15 Wayne State. First serve is set for 5 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
 
GAME & FAN INFORMATION

• Live stats, live video, game notes and tickets are available at the links above

NORTHERN STATE STORYLINES

• Northern State enters the NSIC Tournament as the fifth seed with a record of 18-10 (13-7 NSIC)
• Last weekend the Wolves split a pair of matches against Upper Iowa and #8 Winona State, NSU downed the Peacocks 3-0 before falling to Winona State 3-1
• Northern enters the tournament having won five of their last six matches, including five sweeps
• Northern State has made all but one NSIC Tournament since it was reinstated in 2012, only missing the tournament in 2016 (the Wolves are currently on a streak of four consecutive appearances)
• As a team Northern is hitting .252 on the year, averaging 13.1 kills, 12.1 assists, 14.6 digs, 1.6 aces, and 2.3 blocks per set
• The Wolves have two players who have recorded over 300 kills on the season, Sally Gaul has 378 kills and averages 3.60 kills per set, while Natalia Szybinska has 302 kills on the season and averages 2.99 kills per set
• Peyton Ellingson leads the team with a .388 attack percentage, which ranks as the third best in the NSIC
• Keri Walker is one of only six players in the conference to record over 1000 assists on the season, she is currently second in the NSIC with 1125 assists and has the third best average of 10.92 assists per set
• Havyn Heinz has a team best 407 digs in 2021, and averages 4.07 digs per set
• Olivia Rud set a career high in total blocks against Upper Iowa on Friday, she leads the team with 118.0 blocks on the year and ranks fourth in the conference

#15 WAYNE STATE STORYLINES

• Wayne State enters the NSIC Tournament as the fourth seed with a record of 21-7 (14-6 NSIC)
• The Wildcats split their two conference matches last weekend, falling to #11 St. Cloud State 3-1 and defeating Minnesota Duluth 3-0
• WSC enters the tournament having won three of their last four matches, with all three wins by way of sweeps
• The Wildcats have appeared in every NSIC Tournament since it was reinstated in 2012, a streak of nine consecutive appearances
• As a team Wayne State is hitting .265, averaging 12.9 kills, 12.1 assists, 14.8 digs, 1.6 aces, and 2.1 blocks per set
• The Wildcats have four players with over 250 kills this season, Kelsie Cada (302 kills – 3.18 kills per set), Taya Beller (268 kills – 2.82 kills per set), Maggie Brahmer (254 kills – 2.67 kills per set), and Jazlin Dehaan (254 kills – 2.67 kills per set)
• Brahmer leads the team and the NSIC in attack percentage with .453
• Cada is the team leader in digs with 312 and averages 3.28 digs per set, and Brahmer leads the team with 87.0 blocks while averaging 0.92 blocks per set
• Rachel Walker leads WSC with 990 assists on the season, averaging 10.42 assists per set
• Wayne State had four players earn All-NSIC honors, Taya Beller and Maggie Brahmer were first team selections, while Kelsie Cada and Rachel Walker were second team selections

LAST MATCH-UP

• Northern State and Wayne State last met on October 8^th, when the then #6 Wildcats earned a 3-0 victory in Wayne
• Sally Gaul, Taylor Buckley, and Payton Ellingson all recorded eight kills in the match, while Keri Walker added 29 assists and 13 digs
• Wayne State leads the all-time series 30-15
• The two teams have split the previous two meetings in the NSIC Tournament, with Northern State winning 3-1 in 2012 and Wayne State winning 3-1 in 2014