LAST TIME OUT
- The No. 15 ranked Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs volleyball team was defeated last Saturday afternoon by the No. 7 ranked Wayne State Wildcats (17-3, 10-1 NSIC) in four sets, 18-25, 25-23, 26-28, 21-25.
- Leah Jones led the Mustangs in kills with 16 in the match, hitting .289, with seven digs. Natalie Pilney had 14 kills, hit .417, and had four total blocks. Ashley Peltier had 13 kills, and Karli Arkell added 11 kills.
- McKenzie Tolk led the team in digs with 27, and Sydney Thein had a double double of 56 assists and 10 digs.
- The Mustangs as a team hit .224 (64-23-183) while the Wildcats, who were led in kills by Channatee Robles with 24, hit .241 (64-18-191).
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 82-24 overall, including 49-19 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 330-94 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 SIOUX FALLS
- 2025 Record: 10-9, 5-6 NSIC
- Current NSIC Ranking: 9th (as of Oct. 21)
- Head Coach: Dan Matthews, 5th season
- Since defeating the Mustangs on Sept. 23, the Cougars have gone 3-5, leaving the team at an overall record of 10-9 on the season.
- Last weekend the Cougars lost on Thursday to now No. 6 ranked Wayne State in three sets and lost to Augustana in five sets on Saturday.
- Preseason 'Player to Watch' Sadie Voss currently leads the Cougars with 224 kills, averaging 3.15 kills per set, while hitting .243. She is also second on the team in digs with 180.
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 No. 13 in DII in kills per set (14.24), No. 19 in hitting percentage as a team (.260), and are in the top 50 in digs per set (17.34)
- The Mustangs are currently ninth in assists per set (13.53) and are No. 20 in total assists (947)
- Leah Jones is No. 34 in kills per set with 3.86, and is currently No. 27 in total kills (266).
- Sydney Thein is currently fifth in DII with 813 assists and third with 11.61 assists per set.
SMSU IN THE AVCA POLL
- SMSU moves down two spots, from No. 15 to No. 17 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Week 7 Poll released on Oct. 20.
- SMSU is one of seven NSIC schools represented in the recent poll, with Wayne State leading the conference at No. 6. Concordia-St. Paul remains at No. 10 followed by St. Cloud State at No. 11. The Mustangs are at No. 17, followed by Minnesota Duluth at No. 18. Northern State remains at No. 22, and Minnesota State moves up two spots to No. 23.
- Following the AVCA poll released on Oct. 13, the Mustangs have now been ranked in the Top 25 for 248 of the last 249 rankings, dating back to Sept. 5, 2006.
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