by Emily Buss
Issue date: 9/26/06
Section: Womens Sports
After playing a stellar two matches at home, the Minnesota State volleyball team hit the road to play two games this weekend. The Mavs beat St. Cloud State 3-2 Friday, but fell 3-1 to the No. 6-ranked University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs Saturday.
In Friday's match, the Mavs fought into all five games to narrowly defeat SCSU. They lost the first match 30-27 but took some time during the break to regain momentum. SCSU was out-hitting the Mavs the first match but MSU stepped it up in the second to come away with a solid hitting average of .317 as well as the 30-21 win.
The next two matches were back and forth with each team coming out with 30-22 wins. Within Game 5, there were 11 ties and it literally went point-for-point the entire contest. With the match tied at 13, Megan Stroud wailed across an ace to give the Mavs a one-point advantage. To finish off the game, Ashley Nachreiner pounded a kill with the help of Stef Sandstrom's set to win 15-13. Stroud led the team with 14 kills and excelled in the final match.
"I was pleased with the victory the kids came away with," said head coach Dennis Amundson. "St. Cloud loves to play us and we hung tough and showed them we meant business."
Other outstanding players of the evening were Cassie Wolpern, who had 10 kills and 17 digs, and sophomore middle hitter Cathy Turner, who had a career-high 12 kills.
With yet another win under their belts, the Mavs went into the Minnesota-Duluth game Saturday with momentum. The nationally-ranked team proved to be a greater challenge than expected.
"It was a frustrating four games and I wasn't sure we played up to our potential against them," Sandstrom said.
The Mavs lost Game 1 30-13. They were only able to score five kills in the opening match but hit stronger in the second. Despite the improved play, MSU failed to defeat UMD in Game 2 as well, losing 30-23. MSU looked like it could be on the comeback, winning Game 3 30-20, but the Bulldogs beat them in the fourth game 30-25.
"Despite our share of unforced errors, we were able to get a game from them," Wolpern said. "As the afternoon progressed, it was evident that we put them in situations they have not yet faced this season."
Sophomore outside hitter Lisa Rohret led the team with 14 digs while Cassie Wolpern added 12 digs, 6 kills and 26 attempts. Although there was a few mistakes, sophomore Ally Kwikkel was error-free in her attacks and was able to get 11 kills and 18 attempts to net a season-high attack percentage of .611.
With their conference record at 2-1 and their overall record at 12-5, the Mavs will have another shot at the Bulldogs when they play 3 p.m. Saturday at Bresnan Arena.
"We now have five days to refocus and fine-tune all areas of our game, and you can bet that Saturday will be an exciting one," Wolpern said.
