by Emily Buss
Issue date: 11/7/06
Section: Womens Sports
A productive conference season came to an end for the Minnesota State volleyball team as it lost to Augustana Saturday. After a strong battle with the Vikings, the Mavs fell in five grueling games with scores of 24-30, 32-30, 32-30, 29-31 and 15-11.
The loss dropped MSU's record to 17-12 overall and 6-6 in the North Central Conference but didn't prevent the Mavs from being selected to compete in the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship Tournament for the first time since 2003.
The Mavericks come into the tournament as the No. 7 seed and will play the No. 2 seed and NCC regular season champion Minnesota-Duluth (27-3) 2:30 p.m. Thursday in St. Paul. UMD beat MSU 3-1 Sept. 23 in Duluth and 3-0 Sept. 30 in Mankato.
"We have nothing to lose at this point and being the underdog at the No. 7 seed is even better," senior Cassie Wolpern said. "We will give it our best effort and leave everything we have out on the floor Thursday."
While the team will head into the tournament coming off a loss, three individuals put together career nights against Augie. Playing in her final home game, Wolpern lit up the court, tallying a career-high 26 kills and snagging 25 digs to lead the Mavericks.
"Our passing and setting allowed me to have such an explosive night," Wolpern said.
The team set a season high with 89 kills, 17 of which came from outside hitter Ashley Nachreiner. Setter Stef Sandstrom set a new career high with 77 assists, blowing away her previous record of 64.
"I felt our kids played really well against Augustana but we need to work on sticking with the match and getting a win after 25 points," said head coach Dennis Amundson.
Emily Buss is a Reporter staff writer
