AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll Week 2 (Sept. 14, 2015)
NSIC Volleyball Weekly Release No. 2 (Sept. 14, 2015)
UMD's No. 1 Rankings

A weekend of upsets across the NCAA II landscape led to a shake-up atop the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Coaches Top 25 poll in week two, with the University of Minnesota Duluth landing the No. 1 spot after a 4-0 performance at the University of Indianapolis Tournament last Friday and Saturday in Indianapolis. Also announced Tuesday, junior middle blocker Sydnie Mauch added an NSIC Player of the Week selection to her weekend resume.

No. 1 UMD (7-1) opens up Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play on Thursday evening taking on the University of Minnesota Crookston. The Bulldogs were previously ranked No. 1 in the nation two seasons ago on Sept. 23, 2013 having spent two weeks atop the poll.

Including UMD, four NSIC schools still rank in the top ten as No. 2 Southwest Minnesota State University, No. 3 Concordia University, St. Paul, and No. 8 Wayne State (Neb.) College remain despite each suffering a loss on the weekend. The previously top-ranked No. 5 University of Tampa falls out of the top spot after falling to UMD, SMSU, and Concordia each over the past two weekends. Two more NSIC schools - No. 22 Northern State University and No. 25 Augustana (S.D.) University crack the top 25 for the first time this season. Winona State University and Minnesota State University Mankato are among the teams receiving votes. No. 16 Western Washington University, the lone team to edge the Bulldogs through non-conference play continued its climb after knocking off a pair of ranked foes last weekend.

MAUCH NAMED NSIC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
As the UIndy Tournament MVP, Mauch added NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors for collecting 52 kills on the weekend, an average of 3.47 per game, while hitting .482. She also knocked back 18 blocks (1.20 per game). She finished the weekend hitting .636 against No. 10 Wheeling Jesuit University, collecting 16 kills and five blocks in five sets. She played a part in eight blocks and collected 11 kills in a three-set sweep of No. 6 Colorado School of Mines, and hit .519 with 16 kills in a four-set win over Ashland University.

The Bulldogs will begin NSIC action in their return to Romano Gymnasium on Thursday night as UMD and UMC square off at 7:00 p.m. The match between the Bulldogs and Golden Eagles will air locally on the My9 Sports Network.