by Dax Larson
November 15, 2005
With the score at 21-22, sophomore Stef Sandstrom dove for a ball in the middle of the court and hit it over the net to save a point. She then sprinted to the far side and contributed to a block. The Mavericks ended up scoring the point.
Unfortunately for Minnesota State, it lost the game and ended up losing the match to University of Nebraska-Omaha. The story of the season is explained in that play.
Although the Mavericks played well and improved all season they came up just short and lacked consistency. MSU finished the season with an overall record of 12-15 and a 6-6 conference record. The Mavericks needed a winning overall record to compete in the regional tournament. A little more consistency and focus could have got the Mavericks to the regional tournament this year. MSU had six 2-3 losses this season. If MSU could have changed the results in just half of those, they could have been going to the regional tournament.
“I am really encouraged,” said head volleyball coach Dennis Amundson. “The returning players showed an emotional maturity and the freshman made tremendous strides and formed a core that I will be able to rely on for years to come.”
In the final two matches of the season, MSU went 1-1. The Mavericks beat University of North Dakota Friday night and then lost 0-3 in the season finale on Saturday against UNO. MSU didn’t make the win for UNO easy, losing the games 30-28, 30-27, 20-25. MSU had an early lead in games one and three, but couldn’t keep the pressure on UNO.
“That’s a win because we competed throughout the entire match,” Amundson said. “Everyone played as well as they could possibly have played.”
Senior Tiffany Graham finished her career with a couple of strong performances. Friday in a win against UND, Graham tied a career-high in kills with 20. Graham led the team in kills and blocks. She was fifth in the NCC in blocks, sixth in hitting percentage and seventh in kills.
“I had a great time being a Maverick,” Graham said. “These girls will be in my life forever.”
Junior Cassie Wolpern was moved from the outside hitter to the libero position this year where she thrived. She led the team in digs and was the only player on the team to play in all 108 games. She finished fifth in digs in the NCC.
Junior Mandy Reuter played solid all year and was second in kills and digs for the team. Sandstrom moved from libero to setter and had an outstanding season. She led the team in assists and was tied with Wolpern with the most serving aces. Her career-high 64 assists is 11th all-time in assists in a game.
Freshman standout Ashley Nachreiner finished her freshman year third in kills for the team. She played in more games than any other freshman on the team and had double digits in kills in the last 17 matches.
