by Emily Buss
Issue date: 10/17/06
Section: Womens Sports
As the season winds down, a short-lived tradition reached its peak at Minnesota State volleyball's last home game Saturday when the Mavericks beat St. Cloud State. The "Battle For The Paddle" - a traveling trophy much like those in college football - stayed with MSU as the team won in five sets. This competition has only been in effect for a short while and deals with teams MSU plays that lie on the other side of the Mississippi River.
"St. Cloud is a team that loves to play tough against us. But we also love to show them up," said MSU head coach Dennis Amundson.
SCSU came into the match looking ready and eager to shut out the Mavericks but the women came out strong and won the first match 30-26. The next two games seemed to be the beginning of the end with the Mavs losing both 30-16 and 30-24. But the big comeback took place early in the fourth match with Mandy Reuter setting up a huge block that tied up the game at 7-7. MSU earned another point and the frustrated Huskies took a time-out. The players were very consistent with almost every player on the court for the Mavs knocking down kills. MSU won the fourth game 30-26 and headed into the final match with high spirits.
This fifth game went back-and-forth between both teams and having the scores tie every other ball. Stef Sandstrom led the way with 44 assists Saturday night, which helped the Mavs win with a final score of 15-10.
Cassie Wolpern had 14 kills and 19 digs and helped the women get back into the swing of things even when they were down on their luck. MSU fell short of the Huskies attack percentages but held a 15-5 blocking advantage, which helped in preventing SCSU to score.
"I'm really happy the kids were able to win this game tonight and especially at home," Amundson said. "But now we need to keep pushing until the end."
The game ending sight was when the "Battle for the Paddle" was awarded and the ladies bowed in front of 505 fans.
"It was nice to keep the paddle in Minnesota State Mankato and the kids just played their hearts out in this game," Amundson said.
Before the SCSU game was a quick loss Friday night when the Mavericks fell to the University of North Dakota in three games. They dropped the match with scores of 30-24, 30-27 and 30-23.
The three games teetered between both teams but MSU was unable to pull away with the win. North Dakota came out strong in the first match earning 15 kills. UND's Aileen Cahill tallied 16 kills throughout the course of the three games.
"None of us were very pleased with the way things turned out against UND," Amundson said. "But it was only a short 24 hours until we could redeem ourselves."
MSU was led by Wolpern's 14 kills and 11 digs and Sandstrom's team-high 32 assists. The Mavs were able to out block UND with an 8-7 ratio and led by Cathy Turner's five.
"Having girls like this on our team is extremely beneficial," Amundson said. "When matches go to the fifth game, it's good to have players that can make crucial plays."
The Mavericks will play another home match Tuesday when they face Concordia-St. Paul at 7 p.m.
"This team is always a very good team and they don't lose very often. So we need to show them our best effort in order to get the win," Amundson said.
Emily Buss is a Reporter staff writer
