THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State women’s volleyball team (17-3, 13-0) is home for its next three Summit League matches beginning this Friday, Oct. 30, against UMKC (10-12, 6-6) and Saturday, Oct. 31, against Southern Utah (6-16, 4-8). Match time is 7 p.m. both nights at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse (1,206) in Fargo. Live stats and live video for both matches will be available on GoBison.com.

TICKETS & PARKING: Tickets for North Dakota State home volleyball matches are available in advance at the Bison Sports Arena ticket office, online at GoBison.com/tickets, or by telephone toll free at (888) 231-NDSU. General admission tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for youth ages 17 and under. Game day tickets are sold at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. Doors open 1 hour prior to the match. Free parking after 4:30 p.m. is available in the CF and SF lots adjacent to the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, Vistors Lot E, and the RF lot south of the Bison Sports Arena.  Click here for a map.

BISON CAN CLINCH AT HOME: North Dakota State can clinch the Summit League regular-season championship and No. 1 tournament seed at home this week. The Bison would clinch Saturday with two victories over UMKC and Southern Utah, and could clinch the outright title as early as Friday night with a win over UMKC and an Oakland loss at IPFW. Oakland is four matches behind NDSU in the standings with five left to play, and seven other teams are in contention to make the four-team league tournament.

THE SERIES: Friday will be the 10th meeting between North Dakota State and UMKC. The Bison have a 9-0 lead in the series dating back to 1982 when the teams first met at the Kansas State Invitational. NDSU has won all seven meetings since moving to Division I in 2004, including a 3-1 victory in Kansas City earlier this season. ... Saturday will be the second meeting between North Dakota State and Southern Utah. NDSU won this year’s first match 3-0 in Cedar City.

ABOUT UMKC: The Kangaroos are 10-12 overall heading into a Tuesday non-conference match at Kansas. UMKC has won five straight matches and six of its last seven in league play with the only loss at the hands of NDSU on Oct. 3. The Kangaroos are 6-6 in The Summit League and a half-match behind IUPUI for fourth place in the standings entering the weekend. UMKC has the top blocking defense in the Summit League stats with an average of 2.69 total blocks per set and the Roos are second behind the Bison in opponent hitting percentage at .148. Three sophomores top the stat charts for UMKC. Summit League Offensive Player of the Week Kelsey Knoche leads the team with 3.09 kills per set and 23 service aces, libero Nicole Kerkman leads the defense with 4.00 digs per set, and middle hitter Brittany Fossier is the top blocker with 1.03 blocks per set. Head coach Geno Frugoli (UNLV, 1992) has a 27-59 record in his third season at UMKC.

ABOUT SOUTHERN UTAH: The Thunderbirds are 6-16 overall and 4-8 for eighth place in The Summit League after a 3-0 loss at UMKC last Saturday. This is Southern Utah’s first season of Division I women’s volleyball since dropping its NAIA program after the 1988 season. Freshman outside hitter Analaine Pelaez leads the team with 353 kills and 4.20 kills per set, and is second on the team with 237 digs and 2.82 digs per set. Freshman libero Courtney Lelepali leads the T-Bird defense with 3.79 digs per set. Head coach Debby Baker (Utah State, 1993) came to Southern Utah from New Mexico State, where she spent six season as an assistant coach and director of volleyball operations.

BISON TOP WESTERN ILLINOIS, 3-1: Chrissy Knuth had 17 kills to lead four players in double figures as North Dakota State charged past Western Illinois 23-25, 25-12, 25-20, 25-21 last Friday in Macomb. Brooke VandenBergh had 14 kills and the Bison got 12 kills apiece from Brynn Joki and Lauren McLaughlin. Setter Mattie Johnson made 30 assists and Jennifer Lopez had 18. NDSU libero Kelly Lopez made 25 digs for the fourth time in five matches and VandenBergh added 12 digs to lead the Bison defense. NDSU outhit Western Illinois by a .210 to .148 margin and the Bison tied a season high with nine service aces, including three by Kelly Lopez, two by VandenBergh and two by Jennifer Lopez.

BISON WIN 3-1 AT IUPUI: Lauren McLaughlin had 19 kills and Chrissy Knuth added 16 kills and five blocks as North Dakota State defeated IUPUI 24-26, 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 last Saturday. Brooke VandenBergh added 12 kills as the Bison outhit IUPUI by a .268 to .121 margin. Setter Jennifer Lopez dished out a career-high 54 assists for NDSU. Libero Kelly Lopez made 23 digs to lead six Bison players in double digits. Andrea Henning had 16 digs, VandenBergh made 13, Knuth and Jennifer Lopez had 11 digs each, and Abbey Perez made 10 digs. NDSU had an 11-6 advantage in blocks. Knuth and Jennifer Lopez had five apiece and Brynn Joki and Paige Nash had four blocks apiece.

LOPEZ DIGGIN’ IT: North Dakota State outside hitter Kelly Lopez leads the Summit League stats for the second straight week with 5.30 digs per set in league play. Lopez, playing as NDSU’s libero, has made at least 20 digs in five of the last six matches and has jumped her season average to 5.01 dps. She moved past Angie Converse (1990-93) for seventh place on the NDSU career list with 1,268 digs.

BISON CRACK TOP 10 IN NCAA STATS: North Dakota State moved into the top 10 and was one of four Summit League teams in the top 50 nationally in digs per set in the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball statistics through Sunday, Oct. 25. IUPUI was ranked eighth with 17.90 digs per set and North Dakota State was ninth with 17.86 digs per set. UMKC ranked 20th and IPFW was 41st. Individually, NDSU senior Kelly Lopez jumped 10 spots to a No. 30 ranking with 5.01 digs per set and sophomore Chrissy Knuth was 26th in hitting percentage at .382.

BISON 38th in THIRD NCAA RPI LISTING: North Dakota State ranked 38th in the third Division I RPI listing released by the NCAA through matches of Sunday, Oct. 25. That’s a jump of nine spots from a No. 47 ranking in the second report. NDSU debuted at No. 63 in the first RPI report on Oct. 12. Three Bison opponents are in the most recent top 100 with Florida State ranked second, Miami ranked 49th, and Central Michigan 84th. Northern Colorado is 104th and BYU is 114th. Oakland was second in The Summit League at No. 123 and IPFW was third at No. 149.

BISON WINNING STREAK RANKS SECOND: North Dakota State’s current 32-match Summit League regular-season winning streak is the second longest in league history. Northern Illinois won all 34 matches it played as a member of the Mid-Continent Conference with a 16-0 record in 1992 and an 18-0 record in 1993. Oral Roberts holds the third longest streak with 29 straight victories from 1997 to 1999. Former member Valparaiso is the only other school to win more than 20 straight matches in league play. The Crusaders won 21 straight from 2003 to 2005.

DIG FOR THE CURE RAISES $2,170: North Dakota State’s "Dig For The Cure" volleyball match on Friday, Oct. 16, against Oakland raised $2,170 for the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer research. Fans made one-time donations or pledged an amount for every dig the Bison volleyball team made (76). Sandella’s Flatbread Cafe donated a percentage of sales at the match and Bison Illustrated donated a percentage of sales from October’s magazine. A crowd of 1,746 was on hand for NDSU’s 3-0 victory.

KNUTH, LOPEZ PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State’s Chrissy Knuth and Kelly Lopez were named Summit League women’s volleyball players of the week Monday, Oct. 19. It was the second straight Offensive Player of the Week award for Knuth and her third of the year. She had 12 kills against Oakland and followed with 19 kills and a .586 hitting percentage against IPFW. Lopez averaged 7.00 digs per set as NDSU’s libero in both matches. She made 25 digs for the third straight match against Oakland and added 17 digs against IPFW for her second Defensive Player of the Week award of the season. NDSU has had six Summit League award winners this year. Lauren McLaughlin was the Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 14.

SUMMIT LEAGUE TICKETS ON SALE: Tickets for the Summit League women’s volleyball tournament are on sale at the Bison Sports Arena ticket office and online at GoBison.com/tickets. Prices are $8 for adults, $5 for NDSU students with a valid ID, and $5 for youth ages 17 and under. For group tickets or more information, call the Bison Ticket Office toll free at (888) 231-NDSU. The top four teams from the regular season advance to the tournament, which will be played at NDSU’s Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. The winner automatically qualifies for the 64-team NCAA Division I tournament. Semifinals are at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, and the championship match is at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. North Dakota State University is the defending Summit League regular-season and tournament champion.

STANDING ROOM ONLY: A standing-room-only crowd of 1,746 packed the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse to watch North Dakota State beat Oakland 3-0 on "Dig For The Cure" night Friday, Oct. 16. It was the second largest crowd in school history, passing the mark of 1,579 set in the home opener against Oral Roberts on Friday, Sept. 11. The NDSU single-match attendance record is 2,259 set against Minnesota State Moorhead in November 1986. Current seating capacity at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse is 1,206.

ATTENDANCE RANKED 29th NATIONALLY: North Dakota State’s average attendance of 1,309 through the first six home matches ranked 29th in nation through Sunday, Oct. 25, according to unofficial NCAA Division I attendance figures compiled by the University of Wisconsin. NDSU has drawn more than a thousand fans to 12 of its last 13 matches dating back to Sept. 27, 2008. North Dakota State ranked 42nd in 2008 with an average home attendance of 970, and the Bison were 45th in 2007 with an average crowd of 852.

HOME SWEET HOME: North Dakota State plays its home volleyball matches on campus at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, where the Bison have a 16-match winning streak and have won 28 of 31 home matches since 2006. The Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse will host the Summit League tournament Nov. 20-21. The completely renovated facility seats 1,206 fans in new chairback seats. NDSU has a 318-56 record at the BBF since 1978.

KNUTH MAKES RED-HOT START: Reigning Summit League Player of the Year Chrissy Knuth got off to a hot start at the Florida State Invitational on opening weekend. Knuth connected for 28 kills in the first two-plus matches before finally committing an attacking error in the first set against Florida State. Knuth had match highs of nine kills and three blocks against Central Michigan, and match highs of 17 kills and seven blocks against Florida A&M.

HITTING PERCENTAGE RECORDS NEARLY BROKEN: Two school records nearly fell in North Dakota State’s 25-9, 25-10, 26-24 sweep of Florida A&M on Friday, Aug. 28. North Dakota State committed only four attacking errors and its .529 team hitting percentage was second best in school history behind the 22-year-old school record of .540 set against Augustana in 1987. Middle hitter Chrissy Knuth led the Bison with 17 kills and 0 errors in 23 attacks for a .739 hitting percentage that also ranked second in school history behind the .762 set by Chloe Quirk against Florida Tech in 2003.

BISON RETURN FIVE STARTERS: North Dakota State returns nine letterwinners including five starters and the libero from last year’s 24-4 team that won The Summit League with a 16-0 record and advanced to the NCAA tournament. Leading returners include middle hitter Chrissy Knuth, the Summit League Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, and senior outside hitter Kelly Lopez, who was Summit League Defensive Player of the Year as NDSU’s libero last season. Other returning starters include sophomore setter Jennifer Lopez and junior outside hitter Brooke VandenBergh, who were both named to the All-Summit League team last year. NDSU also returns senior setter Mattie Johnson, the Summit League Setter of the Year in 2007, and Summit League All-Freshman middle hitter Janna Deyle.

BISON UNANIMOUS NO. 1 IN PRESEASON POLL: North Dakota State was picked to win The Summit League in a preseason poll of the league’s 10 head coaches. NDSU collected all nine possible first-place votes for 81 points, IPFW was second with 70 points, Oral Roberts (64) was third, IUPUI (55) fourth and South Dakota State (51) fifth. The top four teams from the regular season advance to the Summit League tournament Nov. 20-21 at North Dakota State.

RECRUITING CLASS 30TH IN NATION: North Dakota State’s freshman recruiting class was ranked 30th in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com in June. North Dakota State’s four freshmen are middle hitter Megan Lambertson from Litchfield, Minn., outside hitter/setter Brynn Joki of Grand Rapids, Minn., defensive specialist Andrea Henning of Jackson, Wis., and setter Leah Johnson of Lakeville, Minn. Only first-year freshmen are acknowledged in the annual rankings. Transfers and foreign players are excluded.

THE COACH: Erich Hinterstocker is in his fourth year as head coach at North Dakota State with a 78-28 record. Hired in May 2006, Hinterstocker inherited a program that went 5-31 prior to his arrival and made the third-best turnaround in the country to finish 17-13 in his first year. He has posted consecutive 20-win seasons and led NDSU to its first NCAA Division I tournament in 2008 after winning The Summit League with a 16-0 record. Hinterstocker came to NDSU from Alabama, where he was an assistant coach for two seasons. He also spent three seasons as an assistant at Wisconsin-Green Bay and one year at Alverno College in Wisconsin.