BSU Volleyball travels to No. 4 Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State

The Bemidji State University volleyball team continues its regular season this weekend by traveling to face No. 4 Concordia University-St. Paul and Minnesota State University, Mankato, Oct. 8-9, respectively. The Beavers (0-15, 0-7 NSIC) face their fifth nationally ranked opponent of the season in the fourth-ranked Golden Bears (13-2, 7-0 NSIC) Friday at 6 p.m., before traveling to Mankato, Minn., to face the Mavericks (8-7, 3-4 NSIC) Saturday at 2 p.m.

Bemidji State hits the road for the weekend looking for its first win of the season after an 0-15 start to the season. The Beavers hosted Upper Iowa University and No. 11 Winona State University this past weekend and fell in three sets in both matches. Concordia-St. Paul prepares to host the Beavers as the fourth-ranked team in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll and leads the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference standings with a 7-0 league record. The Mavericks enter the weekend’s action 11th in the NSIC standings with a 3-4 league record.

The Beavers are led on offense by senior Anna Averkamp who has posted a 2.53 k/s average with 124 kills, 75 errors and 420 attacks for a .117 hitting percentage. She is followed by sophomore Hallie Mertz who averages 1.77 k/s with 46 kills in 26 sets played. Sophomore Rylie Bjerklie leads the Beavers with a .146 hitting percentage and is second on the team with 68 skills while junior Meeghen Dahlager is third with 64 kills and is second on the team with a .143 hitting percentage. Freshman Emily Wade sets the ball for the Beavers’ attack and is 11th in the NSIC by averaging 7.36 a/s and has totaled 368 assists.

On defense, the Beavers are led by sophomore Madison Weyker who is 12th in the NSIC with a 3.56 d/s average and has recorded 178 digs this season. She is followed by sophomore Lauren Justesen who has 105 digs and 2.44 d/s while Wade is third on the team with 94 digs. At the net, BSU is paced by sophomore Rilee Michaelson who has 25 blocks (1s-24a) this season. She is followed by freshman Lauren Sitter with 19 blocks (2s-17a).

On the serve, Bemidji State is led by Justesen who has 10 service aces and is followed by Averkamp with nine and Weyker with eight.