MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois, fresh off its third straight home-opening victory, opens Summit League play this weekend with a trip to the Dakotas. The Fighting Leathernecks take on North Dakota State Friday and South Dakota State Saturday.

The Fighting Leathernecks (7-3) swept Chicago State Tuesday in the 2011 home opener and are off to their best start since the 1993 season. Western looks to pick up its first victory on the Dakota Swing since starting play there in 2007.

SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE
North Dakota State is off to a 6-5 start under the guidance of first-year head coach Kari Thompson. The Bison lost 3-1 at North Dakota last Tuesday before dropping consecutive home matches to No. 17-ranked Iowa State on Friday and Saturday. NDSU participated in the NCAA Tournament last season and was picked to win The Summit League for the fourth straight season. The Bison return four starters including All-Summit League first team middle hitters Chrissy Knuth (2.39 kills per set) and Megan Lambertson (2.19 kills per set), second team outside hitter Brynn Joki (3.47 kills per set) and senior setter Jennifer Lopez (10.62 assists per set).

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
South Dakota State is 8-4 under first-year head coach Phil McDaniel. The Jackrabbits went 2-2 at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational and were picked to finish second in The Summit League this season. SDSU returns two all-league selections in 2010 Player of the Year and first team all-league honoree Kelli Fiegen (3.50 kills per set and 43 total blocks) and second team all-league member Ellyce Youngren (2.05 kills per set).

EGAN'S HUNT FOR MILESTONES
Senior Cait Egan had a team-high 15 kills on 31 attempts against Chicago State Tuesday and now owns 886 career kills. She currently ranks tenth all-time in program history and needs seven more kills to move past Kim Phillips (1989-93) into ninth place. With 14 more kills, Egan will become just the ninth player in school history to amass 900 career kills. She also collected her 300th career total block Tuesday, which ranks seventh all-time in program history.

MCKAY REACHES WINS MILESTONE
Head coach Kym McKay reached the 100-win plateau with a four-set victory over SIU-Edwardsville (Sept. 3) at the Drury Inn/ASICS Challenge. She joins Western Illinois legend Juli Kartel (111) as the only coaches in program history to collect 100 career wins. McKay currently owns 103 wins at Western and needs just nine more victories to become the winningest coach in program history.

MILLER CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
Freshman Ann Miller impressed the Fighting Leatherneck fans during her home debut Tuesday night. She had 13 kills on 31 attempts and 18 digs for her team-high fifth double-double of the season. Miller ranks second on the squad in kills (2.68 per set) and digs (3.65 per set). Elsewhere, she has six service aces, 10 total blocks and her 102.5 total points is second on the squad.

FOURNIER SHINES IN HOME DEBUT
Freshman Samantha Fournier put on a show in her third start of the season Tuesday night. The Coal Valley, Ill. native put down a season-high 13 kills on 28 attempts and collected three block assists in her home debut. She is hitting at a .270 clip (63k-23e-148ta) this season and ranks second on the squad with 12 total blocks.

MURPHY ACTIVE IN THE BACK ROW
Junior libero Bridget Murphy tied with Ann Miller for a team-high 18 digs Tuesday night. Murphy had 10 digs in the final set and raised her Summit League-leading average to 5.35 digs per set in the process. Murphy has earned two tournament MVP honors (SIU-Edwardsville Invitational & Drury Inn/ASICS Challenge) and the Summit League's Defensive Player of the Week (Aug. 29) so far this season.

LEATHERNECKS IN SUMMIT LEAGUE RANKINGS
Bridget Murphy is not the only Fighting Leatherneck in the Summit League's elite. Middle hitters Cait Egan (.311) and Katie Hosteng (.277) rank sixth and tenth, respectively in attack percentage while freshman Molly Murphy, who has averaged 10 digs over the last three matches, sits third with 14 service aces. Freshman Ann Miller has collected double-digit digs in all nine matches in which she has appeared and ranks eighth in the conference with 3.65 digs per set.