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Teams: Minot State vs. Bemidji State | Series: Bemidji State leads series 6-2
Date: Friday, Oct. 24, 2014 | Time: 7 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome
Teams: Minot State vs. Minnesota-Crookston | Series: Series tied at 9-9
Date: Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014 | Time: 7 p.m. | Site: Minot State Dome

MATCHUPS: After beginning the week by restoring an old DAC rivalry and defeating Dickinson State, on Friday, Minot State plays host to Bemidji State at 7 p.m. Before this past weekend, Bemidji had lost seven straight games. Minnesota-Crookston is in the midst of a two-game losing streak, so Minot State will look to take advantage of the Golden Eagles' recent struggles.

RECORDS: Minot State begins the week of Oct. 20 with an overall record of 5-16. The Beavers are currently 3-10 in the Northern Sun and dropped their previous game to No. 2 ranked Minnesota-Duluth. The Beavers of Bemidji State have a 4-17 overall record and a 2-10 record in the Northern Sun. Bemidji tried to put a winning streak together this past weekend but were unable to do so, dropping their previous match to Northern State. Minnesota-Crookston is 9-12 overall with a 3-9 record in the NSIC. They're currently riding a two-game losing streak.

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's Travis Ward is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Beaver volleyball program. Ward has a career record of 36-58 during his tenure at Minot State. In 2013, Ward led the Beavers to 12 overall wins, doubling their win total from 2012 which was the team's first year in the NSIC. The Bemidji State Beavers are led by Wayne Chadwick who is in his fifth season with the program. In 2013, he helped Jessica Yost become the first freshman to lead the Beavers in kills since 2007. He also helped land six players on the Academic All-NSIC team in 2013. Lee Anderson has been the leader of the Golden Eagles volleyball program since 2007. Prior to his time with Minnesota-Crookston, Anderson served as the head coach at Glenville State College, where he set a school record for conference wins in a season.

RANKINGS: In the most recent poll released by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, no team the Minot State Beavers face this week is ranked in the top 25.

NOTING THE BEAVERS: Minot State may have dropped two out of three games this past week, but the Beavers had a strong week overall. In the first game of the week, the Beavers dropped a heartbreaking match to Northern State in which the Beavers led 12-11 in the fifth and final set. Minot State took out their frustrations over the weekend in their first match on Friday, Oct. 17 when they defeated St. Cloud State in straight sets. Four different Beavers recorded double-digit kills in the match. Minot State did what they could in their final game of the week when they traveled to No. 2 ranked Minnesota-Duluth, as they got out to a 21-20 lead in the first set, but ultimately the Bulldogs proved to be too strong. The Beavers dropped the final game of the weekend in straight sets.

NOTING THE BEAVERS: The Bemidji State Beavers enter the week of Oct. 20 after a week where they went 1-2. In the Beavers first match of the week, Minnesota-Duluth handed a three-set loss to the Beavers. Bemidji State got back on track though as they welcomed Minnesota State-Moohead to campus and recorded a 3-0 win. Amanda Tronick recorded 10 kills for the Beavers. The following day, Bemidji fell victim to Northern State in a 3-1 loss. The Beavers' next three games will be on the road.

NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Minnesota-Crookston started out their week strong when they defeated St. Cloud State in straight sets last Tuesday on the road. The weekend took a turn for the worse though as the Golden Eagles dropped both of their matches. In the first game of the weekend, Northern State came away with a five set victory over Minnesota-Crookston. The following day, Minnesota State-Moorhead took advantage of the deflated Golden Eagles and walked away with a 3-0 victory.

IT'S SALL SAID AND DONE: Minot State's Mallory Sall (Jr., OH, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia) provided an impressive performance in the Beavers loss to Northern State. The junior outside hitter recorded 22 kills in the match, tying her season-high. Sall has reached 20+ kills five times this season and has an overall hitting percentage of .219.

KILLING IT: Rachel Fagerburg (Fr., OH, Tempe, Ariz.) recorded double-digit kills in a pair of games this past week. In the team's first game against Northern State, Fagerburg recorded 11 kills, while she recorded 10 kills and a .474 hitting percentage against St. Cloud State. Her .474 hitting percentage was a career-high. Fagerburg has recorded double-digit kills six times this season.

A HIGH RATE OF SUCCESS: Minot State's Jen Dixon (Sr., OH, Brandon, Manitoba) and Tarah Dabovich (Jr., MH, Phoenix, Ariz.) both hit above .500 in the Beavers sweep of Dickinson State. The duo paced Minot State to a supberg .432 hitting percentage as a team. Dabovich collected seven kills on 13 attempts with no hitting errors for a .538 clip. But Dixon one-upped her teammate and then some with an outstanding .733 hitting percentage. Dixon smacked 11 kills and just 15 swings and had no errors in the contest.

BY THE NUMBERS
4: In the first two games of this past week four Beavers recorded double-digit kills, putting on display a well-balanced attack.

5: Minot State currently sits five games out of sole possession of the 8th place spot in the NSIC. Eight teams from the conference make the postseason tournament.

18: Before the Beavers swept St. Cloud State this past weekend, Minot State went 18 straight matches without sweeping an opponent 3-0. They've now swept their past two matches after defeating Dickinson State Tuesday evening in the MSU Dome.