Photo courtesy of Peyton Bartsch/Augustana University Southwest Minnesota State University outside hitter Ashley Peltier (23) and middle blocker Karlie Arkell (21) go for a block during a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women’s volleyball match against Augustana University in Sioux Falls, SD on Tuesday . The No. 7 Mustangs will host UMary and Minot State in Marshall this weekend for a pair of homecoming conference matches.

MARSHALL – After falling from No. 4 to No. 7 in the latest coaches poll, the Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team will look to get back into shape when it hosts Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponents UMary and Minot State for homecoming weekend on Friday and Saturday.

The Mustangs earned a win over No. 20 Minnesota Duluth last Friday to open their 14th consecutive season, the best start for the program since 2017. Still, the streak came to an end Saturday when SMSU was swept on the road past No. 5 St. Cloud State.

SMSU got some of its mojo back on Tuesday when it held off Augustana for a 3-1 victory.

“It had to happen at some point, and that’s a good team to lose against,” SMSU head coach Tyler Boddy said of the stunning loss to St. Cloud State. “They’ve played some of the better teams in the country and I think that only helps us in the end because we’re playing two good teams… Duluth put us in some tough situations and we found a way out of them. I thought we fought St. Cloud at times too, they just kept putting pressure on us.”

UMary and Minot State are a pair of opponents that SMSU has been consistently successful against over the years. The Mustangs have won each of their 15 games against Minot State and each of their 26 games against UMary. They will look to keep the pair’s undefeated streaks alive when they return to the PE Gym on Friday.

Minot State and UMary each hosted the Mustangs earlier this season when SMSU traveled to North Dakota for the first NSIC action of the season.

The Mustangs swept Minot State 25-10, 25-11, 25-21 to earn their first conference win on September 20, and defeated UMary a day later 25-9, 25-17, 29-27 to keep the momentum going.

Freshman setter Sydney Thein led SMSU in its two victories earlier this season and recorded 73 set assists without errors, earning the first of her two NSIC Setter of the Week selections this season. Libero McKenzie Tolk also had 24 digs in each of the sweeps, while Saari Kuehl and Ashley Peltier led the Mustang hitters with 23 and 18 kills, respectively.

“It’s always interesting to play a team for the second time because you can look back at how you felt you did well, or look at what they did against you. We tried to do that a little bit during the Augie match, so kind of the same idea with these two,” Boddy said.

The main thing that separates SMSU from the pack this year is its defense. While the Mustangs’ .245 hitting percentage as a team is certainly impressive, their .154 opponent hitting percentage ranks second in the NSIC, making it nearly impossible to score against them.

UMary and Minot State found this out the hard way last time. The Marauders rank 14th in the conference with a hitting percentage of .140, while Minot ranks last at .092

Tasked with putting the ball on the floor against the Mustangs, Minot hit .063 while UMary hit .093.

UMary was 2-7 heading into its first game against the Mustangs and has continued to struggle since then, now sitting at 2-12 overall. The Marauders have lost each of their last seven games, six of which came against NSIC opponents, leaving them tied with Minot State for last place in the 15-team conference. SMSU, meanwhile, is affiliated with Concordia-St. Paul for third place at 6-1, behind only Wayne State at 7-0 and St. Cloud State at 6-0.

The Beavers have also struggled mightily, dropping each of their last seven games to 1-12 on the year. Minot State has been swept in each of its last six matches, losing in the seventh match to Mayville State in four sets.

Although neither team could take a set in their last match against SMSU – the Mustangs have won 14 of their all-time 15 matches against Minot State and eight of their last nine against the Marauders – both teams gave the Mustangs a run for their money in the third set of each match. Minot came within 4 points of SMSU after dropping the first two sets by double digits, and UMary extended the set until SMSU won 29-27.

Boddy said he feels like his team is just excited to get in the gym for this weekend’s games, saying homecoming week has given the players extra fuel to get in front of the home fans.

“We talked about today at practice that (my favorite part of homecoming weekend) is really the alumni,” Boddy said. “I feel so fortunate to be part of such a historic program, and not every program can say or do that. A lot of that started before I came here (as assistant coach in 2010), so it’s nice to get to interact with those players as well and then get to do it with (former assistant coach) Paul for many years to come (Soupir) and (former head coach) Terry (Culhane) and having our group be a part of that, it’s just fun to bring it all together.

“We have a lot of people who always come back and I think that’s so cool that they are proud of our program and want to come back and continue to see us be successful.”

It’s been nothing but rough sailing for the Beavers so far. They don’t have a single player ranked in the top 20 in the conference in any major statistical category. In contrast, three Mustangs rank in the top 20 in blocks per set, digs per set and kills per set, two in service aces per set and hitting percentage and another rank in set assists per set.

Paulina Kowalska, a junior from Poland, leads the team with 2.48 kills per set, while Kelci Madrid, a freshman from Colorado, leads the team defensively with 2.92 digs per set. The Beavers opponent hitting percentage of .281 also ranks last in the NSIC.

UMary’s roster features local talent, with 2019 Marshall High School graduate Kaia Sueker returning to the Marauders as a fifth-year freshman. In each of her first four years as UMary’s libero, Sueker led the team on digs. She hit 451 digs, an average of 4.70 per set, in 2022 and 2023 and currently leads the Marauders with 4.28 digs per set this season.

Barring a dramatic turnaround for the Marauders to reach the top 8 of the conference and qualify for the NSIC Tournament, Saturday will be the last time Sueker plays her hometown team.

The Mustangs’ game against UMary starts Friday at 6 p.m., while Saturday’s game against Minot State is scheduled for 1 p.m. Both matches will be played in the PE Gym and both matches will have live video available online at SMSUmustangs.com.