by Josh Berhow
Issue date: 10/4/07
Section: Womens Sports
The Minnesota State volleyball team came out firing Tuesday night in the Taylor Center. MSU had a dominating performance beating Upper Iowa University 30-13, 30-15 and 30-12 in a non-conference match. The Mavericks haven't played at home in a while and a good crowd was on hand to see the Mavs make their return.
No. 14 MSU improved to 3-1 at home with a 14-3 overall record. This is the best start for the Mavericks since 1993 when they started 16-1. MSU is still 2-1 in the North Central Conference.
The Mavs looked fresh coming out in the first game controlling the net and setting the tone for the rest of the match. Having not played a match in a week, the Mavericks looked energized.
"I expect them to come out and play like that all the time," said head coach Dennis Amundson. "The sign of a championship program is how they handle those times when they're coming off rough spots in the season."
MSU got off to an early 10-5 lead in the first game causing Upper Iowa to take a timeout. The Mavericks then went on a 13-2 run after the timeout and were in the driver's seat the rest of the match.
"Its been a while since the last time we played a match and it was nice to be in front of our own fans again," said freshman Amanda Beekman, who tied for the team lead with 11 kills. "There was a big crowd that showed up and it was fun."
Ashley Nachreiner also had 11 kills and added eight digs for the Mavs. Dana Ostertag led the team with 11 digs. Stef Sandstrom had 35 assists for the Mavericks and Danielle Zimmermann led the team with six total blocks, giving her 86 total blocks on the year.
MSU was also able to get every player on the roster in the match at some point. A bonus for winning a game like this would also be getting the younger girls in for some experience and getting contributions from everyone.
As a team, MSU had an outstanding hitting percentage of .449. Beekman was a very impressive 11-for-20 on attacks for a .550 hitting percentage. Megan Stroud also had a good hitting percentage of .429 in 14 total attempts.
"Hopefully we can build on this for the weekend. We will continue to practice hard and use this momentum and just keep striving to get better," said Beekman.
Josh Berhow is a Reporter staff writer
