by Emily Buss
Issue date: 10/24/06
Section: Womens Sports
This week, the Minnesota State volleyball team continued its fight for a place in the playoffs. Friday, the Mavericks beat the University of South Dakota in five games but lost to Augustana College in three games. With only three regular season contests remaining, the Mavs will look to put their most recent defeat behind them quickly.
Friday night, MSU traded punches with USD the first four games, with MSU winning the first two 30-21 and 30-24 but losing 38-28 and 30-24 in Games 3 and 4. The Mavs took the fifth and deciding game 15-11 and held a 71-51 attack advantage in the match.
"We started out strong, but as the match went on, we couldn't capitalize on our defensive plays," said senior Cassie Wolpern. "Luckily, we were able to find some fire in Game 5 to pull us through."
Wolpern led the Mavs with her aggressive defense and tallied 18 kills on 43 attempts. She also posted a team-high 23 digs. Junior Megan Stroud totaled 13 kills and sophomore Cathy Turner added 12 kills.
Saturday night proved to be a tougher match for MSU. Augie beat the Mavericks in straight sets with scores of 30-27, 30-21 and 30-28. The loss evened MSU's conference record to 5-5.
The Mavs held a steady lead for part of the first game but when the Vikings went up 25-22, they scored the next five points to win the game.
Wolpern led the team again with 11 kills and 17 digs while Mandy Reuter connected with 11 kills in 22 attempts for a team-high .409 hitting percentage.
"It was similar to a playoff game for both teams needing the win for post-season rankings and they just wanted it more that night," Wolpern said.
With their overall record at 15-11, the Mavs will stay on the road to play Winona State University at 7 p.m. Tuesday. MSU's final home match will be against Augustana at 4 p.m. Nov. 4.
Emily Buss is a Reporter staff writer
