LAST TIME OUT
- The Mustangs (8-2, 1-2 NSIC) lost in five sets to the Sioux Falls Cougars (7-4, 2-1 NSIC), 22-25, 27-29, 25-20, 25-11, 6-15.
- Leah Jones and Mya Krystosek led SMSU with 18 kills.
- Sydney Thein had 52 assists and 14 digs, her fifth double-double on the season.
- McKenzie Tolk had 22 digs, leading the squad.
- The Mustangs hit .216 in the match (63-22-190).
- Sioux Falls' Aubrey Gates had 20 kills, leading the Cougars.
- After her performance against Dakota State, Virginia Pruitt was named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 8.
- The freshman forward from Cashmere, Wash. led the NSIC in total points with five on the conference's opening weekend.
- Pruitt is the first SMSU soccer player to receive a player of the week since 2023.
2025 OUTLOOK
- SMSU returns 12 letter winners from its 2024 team that finished with a 23-6 overall record and made the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in program history. The 2025 team features three seniors, four juniors, five sophomores, a redshirt freshman, and six true freshmen.
- SMSU senior libero, McKenzie Tolk, was named an NSIC ‘Player to Watch’. Tolk earned AVCA All-American honorable mention honors in 2024, leading the Mustangs with 605 digs, while averaging a school single-season record 5.4 digs per set. A two-time All-NSIC second team honoree, Tolk enters the 2025 season ranking 10th in team history with 1,354 digs.
- Junior outside hitter Leah Jones returns to the team after earning All-NSIC second team honors last season, and ranking second on the team with 326 kills and first with 1,073 attacks.
- Junior right-side/middle blocker Ashley Peltier, an All-NSIC second team honoree, returns after finishing fourth on the team in 2024 with 295 kills, while hitting .284 on 728 attacks.
- Sophomore setter Sydney Thein received 2024 All-NSIC first team honors, while dishing out a team-high 1,294 assists and was third on the squad with 370 digs. Thein was seventh in the NCAA with 11.55 assists per set.
HEAD COACH TYLER BODDY
- Tyler Boddy is in his fourth season as head coach in 2025 and has a career record of 77-21 overall, including 44-16 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with two NCAA tournament appearances (2023 & 2024).
- Boddy, who spent 10 years as an assistant coach at SMSU, became the fifth head coach in the program’s 50-year history on Dec. 17, 2021.
- During his tenure at SMSU, the program has appeared in nine NCAA tournaments, including finishing as NCAA national runners-up in 2014. SMSU has a combined record of 317-89 which includes two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular season titles and two NSIC tournament championships.
- Boddy, a native of New Ulm, Minn., came to SMSU after spending two seasons (2010-11) as an assistant coach at Wisconsin-Oshkosh and one season (2009) at Ripon College. Boddy has also had a successful coaching career in club volleyball with his Southwest Minnesota Volleyball Club teams winning national championships in 2014 and 2018.
MORE ON MSU MOORHEAD
- 2025 Record: 8-3, 2-1 NSIC
- Current NSIC Ranking: 9th (as of Sept. 23)
- Head Coach: Kari Thompson, 3rd season
- The Dragons finished last season 9-17, 4-14 NSIC. MSU Moorhead were picked to finish 12th in the 2025 NSIC Preseason poll.
- Last weekend the Dragons played a pair of home matches, first winning in five sets against Augustana, before dropping a four set match against No. 17 Wayne State.
- Preseason ‘Player to Watch’ Raiah Mandell currently leads MSU Moorhead with 136 kills, with 3.09 kills per set while hitting .337.
SMSU IN THE NATIONAL RANKS
- The Mustangs have started the 2025 season with team and individual placements amongst the NCAA statistical leader boards.
- SMSU rank ninth in DII in kills per set (14.5), T-No. 14 in digs per set (17.85), and No. 27 in hitting percentage as a team (.258).
- The Mustangs are currently fifth in assists per set (13.76) and are in the top 50 in total assists (468).
- Leah Jones is top 50 in kills per set with 3.65.
- Natalie Pilney is ninth in hitting percentage in DII, hitting .434 on the season.
- Sydney Thein is currently No. 12 in DII with 398 assists and fourth with 11.71 assists per set.
SMSU IN THE AVCA POLL
- SMSU moves down two spots, from No. 6 to No. 8 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Week 3 Poll released on Sept. 22.
- SMSU is one of six NSIC schools ranked in the top 25 with the Mustangs leading the conference at No. 8 followed by Concordia-St. Paul at No. 13, Wayne State at No. 14, St. Cloud State at No. 15, Minnesota Duluth at No. 16, and Northern State at No. 18. Minnesota State is recieving votes.
- Following the AVCA poll released on Sept. 15, the Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 244 of the last 245 rankings, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.
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