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On the Road Again: After playing at home last Saturday, the Blazers are back on the road this week for two more MIAC matches, starting with a trip to Northfield for a 7 p.m., match on Sept. 25 at Carleton. The Blazers are 4-1 on the road the season and come in with a 12-1 overall record and 1-1 mark in MIAC play. The Knights, meanwhile, are playing their first home game since Aug. 31 – and just third all season – and enter at 9-5 on the year with a 0-2 mark in conference play.
 
About the Knights: Carleton ran its record to 9-3 overall heading into conference place, but opened MIAC action with road losses to Gustavus and Augsburg, each in three sets. The opened the season with a loss to St. Scholastica, but rebounded to win nine of their next 11. They are hitting just .180 on the season, ranking 11^th in the conference, and averaging just 9.57 kills per set, also ranking 11th. One area where they do lead the MIAC is in digs, where they average 18.63 per set and are led by Camille Benson, the MIAC leader with 6.57 per set. She was MIAC Player of the Week on Sept. 17 after an 83-dig week, leading the Knights to three wins. Karen Hills leads the offense with 106 kills, while Claire Willeck is second with 90. Setters Caroline Duke and Alicia Flatt share duty with 216 and 192 assists respectively.
 
Last Year: The two teams also met in Northfield last season, playing in a late season match-up. The Blazers came in riding 10 consecutive wins and used a swift sweep of the Knights to run the stretch to 11. The Knights dropped just their third conference match of the season with the loss, while seeing their four-match winning streak ended. Each team was ranked in the regional top-10 at the time, but it was the Blazers coming away win the 25-15, 25-16 and 25-22 win. The Blazers hit .276 on the night, while Carleton was held to under .100. Lexi Alm (Forest Lake, Minn.) logged 12 kills while Lexi Rinde (Minnetonka, Minn.) hit .409 as the Blazers locked up a spot in the MIAC Tournament.
 
The Storyline: Can the Blazers continue to add wins heading into their match with St. Thomas in a week. No one wants to look ahead, but the highlight of the home schedule will no doubt be a visit from the defending champions on Oct. 2. The excitement will run highest if the two teams enter the evening with a combined two losses. Also tonight, the Blazers look for their ninth straight win over Carleton, with the only recent loss coming in nonconference play, early in the 2006 season.
 
Who to Watch: Taya Kockelman (Minneota, Minn.) remains the NCAA assist leader, averaging a season high 11.92 per set. The number also leads the MIAC by half and assist per set. Her success this season also has the Blazers leading the NCAA as a team in the category. Lexi Rinde (Minnetonka, Minn.) ranks 13th in the country in hitting percentage with an average of .391. Rinde ranks second in the MIAC, and has hit better than .300 in a match nine times, including a .609 effort last week at Augsburg. In the back row, Victoria Nass (Faribault, Minn.) has begun to hit her stride, tallying at least 15 digs in each of the Blazers' last four matches. Last season against Carleton, she had 13 as the Blazers held the Knights to a .086 attack percentage.
 

Taya Kockelman	Lexi Rinde	Victoria Nass

Last Time Out: The Blazers rebounded with their first loss of the season with a dominating sweep over St. Catherine on Saturday. The Blazers won by sweep for the 11th time, taking wins of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-16 in each set. The win was the first of the conference season for the Blazers, hitting .356 for the match for the win. The Blazers trailed just one time all night, getting 11 kills from Rinde with a .529 attack percentage, with Kockelman adding 36 assists. In the first set, the Blazers closed on an 18-to-2 win, and in the second set, they hit .414 in running out to a 2-0 lead.