THIS WEEK: North Dakota State (22-3, 18-0) is the No. 1 seed for the Summit League women’s volleyball tournament presented by Doublewood Inn this week at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse (1,206) in Fargo. The tournament begins at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, with No. 2-seeded IUPUI (20-9, 12-6) taking on No. 3 seed IPFW (18-11, 11-7). North Dakota State will face No. 4 seed UMKC (15-15, 10-8) in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. or 45 minutes following the conclusion of the first match, whichever is later. The championship is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21. Live stats and live video for all three matches will be available on GoBison.com.

TICKETS & PARKING: Tickets for the Summit League women’s volleyball tournament 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, $5 for students with a valid NDSU ID, 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 first 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.

THE SERIES: Friday will be the 11th meeting between North Dakota State and UMKC. The Bison have a 10-0 lead in the series dating back to 1982 when the teams first met at the Kansas State Invitational. NDSU has won all eight meetings since moving to Division I in 2004, including a 3-1 victory in Kansas City and a 3-0 win in Fargo earlier this season. ... North Dakota State has an 8-0 lead in the all-time series with IUPUI dating back to 2006. The Bison won 3-0 in Fargo and 3-1 in Indianapolis this year. ... North Dakota State has a 10-7 lead in the series with IPFW dating back to 1987. The Bison have won four straight, including 3-2 in Fort Wayne and 3-0 in Fargo this year.

ABOUT UMKC: The Kangaroos have won five straight matches and 11 of 15 since the beginning of October to improve to 15-15 overall. UMKC won 3-2 at Oakland on Saturday to force a tie for fourth place at 10-8 in league play. The Kangaroos had the tiebreaker by virtue of a 1-1 record against second-place IUPUI. UMKC finished the season ranked third in the league stats in kills per set (12.89) and opponent hitting percentage (.161), and the Kangaroos were the top blocking team in the league with 2.77 blocks per set. Sophomores Christiana McQuin and Brittany Fossier ranked second and third in the league in blocks, respectively. Sophomore Kelsey Knoche is UMKC’s top attacker with 309 kills and 2.92 kills per set. Head coach Geno Frugoli (UNLV, 1992) has a 32-62 record in his third season at UMKC.

ABOUT IUPUI: The Jaguars have set a school record for wins at 20-9 overall. IUPUI won its last five straight league matches and earned the No. 2 seed with a 12-6 record after beating Western Illinois in five sets on Saturday. IUPUI ranks third in the nation with 18.82 digs per set, and the Jaguars led the league stats in digs per set (20.00) and were second in opponent hitting percentage (.157). Libero Shari Bernhardt led the league with 5.19 digs per set and Rachel Holmes was sixth with 4.14 digs per set. Sophomore Kalyse Reimbold was fifth in the league with 3.41 kills per set and is IUPUI’s top attacker overall with 372 kills and 3.41 kills per set. Head coach Steve Payne (Northern Illinois, 1987) has a 186-219 record in his 13th season at IUPUI.

ABOUT IPFW: The Mastodons are 18-11 overall and finished third in the league with an 11-7 record. IPFW finished fourth in the league stats for opponent hitting percentage (.185) and was second in blocks per set (2.43). Taryn Parker was the league’s top blocker with 1.30 per set, Rebekah Roehm was second in the league with 4.07 kills per set, Mayara Schlindwein led the league with 25 service aces and was second with 0.37 aces per set, and libero Jamie Schwartz was fourth in the league with 4.46 digs per set. Head coach Kelley Hartley Hutton (Toledo, 1991) has a 227-120 record in her 11th season at IPFW. She is 364-187 in her 16th season overall.

BISON EXTEND LEAGUE RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WINS: North Dakota State won its 37th straight Summit League regular-season match against Oral Roberts on Saturday, Nov. 14. NDSU broke the record of 34 set by Northern Illinois in 1992 and 1993 when the Huskies went 16-0 and 18-0. Only two other schools have won more than 20 straight league matches. Oral Roberts won 29 straight from 1997 to 1999 and Valparaiso won 21 in a row from 2003 to 2005.

STANDING ROOM ONLY: A standing-room-only crowd of 1,808 packed the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse to watch North Dakota State beat South Dakota State 3-2 and break the record for consecutive Summit League wins on Saturday, Nov. 7. It was the second largest crowd in school history, passing the 1,746 on "Dig For The Cure" night Oct. 16 against Oakland and the 1,579 in the Sept. 11 home opener against Oral Roberts. 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.

BISON ON THE ATTACK: North Dakota State continues to lead the Summit League stats in team hitting percentage for the 10th straight week with a .260 mark through 18 league matches. On the flip side, NDSU leads the league in lowest opponent hitting percentage for the ninth straight week at .127. North Dakota State has outhit its opponents in 21 of 25 matches and 12 in a row, and Bison opponents were been under .200 hitting in 17 straight before last Saturday’s match at Oral Roberts. Only Florida State (.214), Northern Colorado (.199), Miami (.216) and BYU (.185) have outhit NDSU this season, and the Bison went 1-3 in those matches.

JOKI NAMED OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State outside hitter Brynn Joki was named Summit League women’s volleyball Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, Nov. 2. Joki hit .633 with zero attacking errors and averaged 3.17 kills per set in North Dakota State’s 3-0 victories over UMKC and Southern Utah. She hit .625 with 10 kills, five digs, two blocks and a career-high two service aces in the win over UMKC. She had a career-high .643 hitting percentage with nine kills, seven digs and three blocks against Southern Utah. It was the seventh Player of the Week award for NDSU this year. Chrissy Knuth has been Offensive Player of the Week three times, Lauren McLaughlin has been named once, and Kelly Lopez has two Defensive Player of the Week awards.

BISON IN THE NCAA STATS: North Dakota State ranks 11th nationally with 17.81 digs per set in the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball statistics through Sunday, Nov. 15. IUPUI is third with 18.82 digs per set and UMKC is 28th with 16.92 digs per set. Individually, NDSU sophomore Chrissy Knuth is 24th with a .371 hitting percentage and senior libero Kelly Lopez is 43rd with 4.89 digs per set.

BISON 45th in SIXTH NCAA RPI LISTING: North Dakota State remained No. 45 in the sixth Division I RPI listing released by the NCAA through matches of Sunday, Nov. 15. NDSU debuted at No. 63 in the first RPI report on Oct. 12 and was 47th, 38th, 43rd and 45th in subsequent weeks. Three Bison opponents are in the most recent top 100 with Florida State ranked third, Miami ranked 46th and BYU 97th. IUPUI was second in The Summit League with a No. 132 ranking, IPFW was third at No. 150 and Oakland was fourth at No. 160.

BISON LEAD LEAGUE IN FIVE CATEGORIES: North Dakota State led The Summit League in five statistical categories this year. NDSU topped the league in hitting percentage (.260), opponent hitting percentage (.127), assists per set (13.25), kills per set (14.31) and service aces per set (1.43) through 18 league matches. Individually, middle hitters Chrissy Knuth (.371) and Janna Deyle (.317) were 1-2 in hitting percentage, Knuth was third in kills per set (3.69), Brooke VandenBergh was third in service aces per set (0.35), setter Jennifer Lopez was sixth in service aces per set (0.30) and assists per set (9.56), and libero Kelly Lopez was second in digs per set (5.05).

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.

ATTENDANCE RANKED 31st NATIONALLY: North Dakota State’s average attendance of 1,300 through the first nine home matches ranked 31st in nation through Sunday, Nov. 15, according to unofficial NCAA Division I attendance figures compiled by the University of Wisconsin. NDSU has drawn more than a thousand fans to 14 of its last 16 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 an 19-match winning streak and have won 31 of 34 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 319-56 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 an 83-28 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.