LAST TIME OUT
- The No. 17 ranked Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team (11-4, 4-4 NSIC) defeated the No. 8 ranked Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears (11-4, 7-1 NSIC) in five sets, 19-25, 25-16, 29-27, 18-25, 15-13.
- The win on Friday night broke a five-match losing streak for the Mustangs against the Golden Bears.
- Leah Jones led the Mustangs in kills with 18 and added four digs. Mya Krystosek had a double double of 17 kills and 17 digs, hitting .333 on the night. Ashley Peltier added 12 kills and hit .231.
- McKenzie Tolk led the team in digs with 22, and was one of three Mustangs with double-digit digs. Sydney Thein had 59 assists on the night, her second highest assists in a match this season.
- The Mustangs as a team hit .239 (66-23-180) while the Golden Bears, who were led in kills by Makenna Nold with 25, hit .259 (69-23-179).
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 80-23 overall, including 47-18 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 WINONA STATE
- 2025 Record: 10-6, 5-3 NSIC
- Current NSIC Ranking: 6th (as of Oct. 7)
- Head Coach: Kristine Pelky, 1st season
- The Warriors started the season 5-3 in non-conference play, before starting NSIC action with two four set victories against then No. 15 Northern State and Jamestown.
- The Warriors went 1-1 last week, first losing in four sets against No. 9 Wayne State, before sweeping Augustana on Saturday.
- Junior Outside Hitter Kenna Kornely leads the Warriors in kills with 220 and averages 4.00 kills per set. She currently leads the NSIC in kills, and is second in kills per set. She is also in the top 25 in DII for kills per set and total kills.
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 in the top 15 in DII in kills per set (14.13), No. 35 in digs per set (17.20), and No. 24 in hitting percentage as a team (.254)
- The Mustangs are currently ninth in assists per set (13.36) and are T-No. 15 in total assists (735)
- Leah Jones is No. 31 in kills per set with 3.89, and is currently T-No. 19 in total kills (210).
- Sydney Thein is currently fifth in DII with 625 assists and seventh with 11.36 assists per set.
SMSU IN THE AVCA POLL
- SMSU moves down five spots, from No. 12 to No. 17 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Week 5 Poll released on Oct. 6.
- SMSU is one of seven NSIC schools represented in the recent poll, with Concordia-St. Paul leading the conference at No. 8. St. Cloud State jumps to No. 10 followed by Wayne State dropping to No. 11. Minnesota Duluth moves up two places to No. 13 with the Mustangs at No. 17. Minnesota State joins the top 25 for the first time this season at No. 22, and Northern State is at No. 23.
- Following the AVCA poll released on Sept. 15, the Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 246 of the last 247 rankings, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.
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