DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica volleyball team will face No. 1 seed University of Northwestern (Minn.) in an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Semifinal match Wednesday night.
Where:
Ericksen Center – St. Paul, Minn.
When:
Wednesday at 7 p.m.
UMAC Tournament Web Site: http://umacathletics.com/tournaments/?id=122
Live Video: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/unw/
Live Stats: https://unweagles.com/sports/2012/11/7/gen_1107121456.aspx
Social Media:
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/SaintsVball
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaintsvball
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/csssaints
St. Scholastica Saints
Stats
Record: 12-17, 9-7 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
What You Need To Know About The Saints:
-The Saints currently own a four-match win streak.
-CSS eliminated Bethany Lutheran College with a sweep on Monday, the second sweep of the season over the Vikings.
-The Saints faced Northwestern in late September in Duluth and fell in four sets, it was the first time they were not swept by the Eagles since 2015. In the three sets they lost, they were within six points by the end.
-The Saints then again faced Northwestern in St. Paul and were swept, but pushed set three to 26-24.
-The Saints have five players with over 120 kills,
Madissen Burns (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer HS) (120),
Sofia Rajala (Deer River, Minn./Greenway HS) (141),
Tatum Swanson (Carlton, Minn./Wrenshall HS) (167),
Emily Bounds (Hill City, Minn./Hill City HS) (216), and
Brooke Schermann (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) (319).
-Junior outside hitter
Brooke Schermann (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) is the first Saint since 2015 to record over 300 kills in a season and ranks fourth in the conference averaging 3.24 kills per set.
-Senior middle hitter
Sofia Rajala (Deer River, Minn./Greenway HS) ranks second in the conference with a .320 hitting percentage.
-
Espi Austvold (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer HS) is fifth in the conference with 5.26 assists per set.
What You Need To Know About Northwestern:
Record: 22-8, 15-1 UMAC
-The Eagles captured their fifth straight UMAC regular season title.
-The Eagles captured the outright title after University of Wisconsin-Superior slipped up against University of Minnesota Morris.
-The Eagles only loss this season was being swept by UWS in Superior.
-Northwestern has either swept or been swept in each of its last six matches (3-3).
-The Eagles are led by Mariah Halvorson, who ranks at the top of the conference averaging 4.33 kills per set, and ninth in NCAA Division III.
-Freshman Sydney Schwitters leads the conference with11.59 assists per set, which also leads the nation.
-Schwitters also ranks sixth in the country with 1031 total assists.
-The Eagles are seventh in the country averaging 13.64 kills per set.
-Northwestern has not lost a home UMAC Tournament match since the 2009 championship when it fell to the Saints.
Series Records: UNW leads 58-43-1 (
Last Meeting: 3-0 UNW – 10/6/2018)
Series History: This will be the first postseason meeting between the two programs since 2015 when Northwestern barely skated by in five sets. The Eagles are 10-6 all-time against the Saints in the UMAC tournament.
Looking Ahead: The winner of Wednesday's match moves on to the UMAC Tournament championship where they will face the winner of the other semifinal which pits Minnesota Morris/UW-Superior.
