2 More Verbals, Angner's Month, McCutcheon Honored

#3 posting 11.12.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

TWO MORE VERBALS
Katelyn Horihan of Mabel-Canton is headed to Winona State.

Ann Zyvoloski of St. Cloud Cathedral is headed to UM Duluth.

COLLEGE REPORTS
BIG 10
Indiana Banters with Benson.

Iowa goes on the road to Northwestern and Wisconsin.

Purdue is holding a Pizza Bash on Wednesday.

#1 Penn State heads to #17 Illinois and #18 Purdue.

Northwestern hosts Iowa and Minnesota.

MORE D1
North Dakota is headed to Bryant this weekend for the National Transitions Tournament.

SUMMIT: South Dakota State's Mackenzie Angner (Cincinnati St. Ursula) has been named Summit Athlete of the Month for October.

D3
Carleton's Sarah Kunelius (Eagan) made the MIAC All Conference list.

The MIAC has released their all playoff team.

HIGH SCHOOL
Rochester Home School was 2nd in the Bronze II bracket at the national Home School Tournament. From the Rochester Post Bulletin.

BEACH
Former Gopher Nicole Branagh and Tyra Turner head to Sanya, China for the final FIVB Beach tournament.

McCUTCHEON HONORED
Anaheim will honor USA's men's volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon as their man of the year.

Next up: tomorrow

Lange Verbals, State Previews, Red Rock All Conference

#1 posting 11.5.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

LANGE VERBALS
Hibbing Junior Katie Lange has verballed UM Duluth. From the Duluth News Tribune.

Lange is the third player from the 2010 Minnesota class to verbal and the first headed to a D2 program.

STATE TOURNAMENT
Radio Coverage: KCHK Radio from New Prague will stream games with Jordan and Shakopee at the State Tournament starting tomorrow.

AAA: Unseeded Rochester Mayo is a family with a senior outlook. Shakopee is junior dominated. Here is a thumbnail preview. From the Rochester Post Bulletin.

Unseeded Cretin-Derham Hall is looking to play five. From the StarTribune.

AA: #3 seed St. Cloud Cathedral is looking for redemption. They were second last year to Marshall. From the St. Cloud Times.

A: Unseeded Deer River's 27 year veteran coach Connie Boyum-Erzar keeps things fun. From the Duluth News Tribune.

ALL CONFERENCE
The Red Rock Conference has released their All Conference list. Only Murray County Central, Red Rock Central, and Westbrook-Walnut Grove are listed. From the Marshall Independent.

Next up: Another round of news

Joki Verbals, Final Poll, Dieter Honored

#3 posting 10.20.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

JOKI VERBALS
Brynn Joki of Grand Rapids has verballed North Dakota State. Her sister Erin plays at North Dakota. The versatile Brynn has played each position for GR. From the Fargo Forum.

Joki is the 23rd player from the Minnesota 2009 class to verbal and the 12th headed to a D1 program.
Leah Johnson of Lakeville North and Megan Lambertson of Litchfield are also headed to NDSU.

FINAL POLL
Top 10 Poll—Oct 20, 2008
AAA
1. Shakopee (8) 134
2. Eastview (1) 123
3. Lakeville North 116
4. St. Michael/Albertville 111
5. Chaska 100
6. Waconia 85
7. Alexandria 80
8. Blaine 71
9. Woodbury 64
10. Eden Prairie 44
Others: Apple Valley (20), Owatonna (15), Andover (5), Lakeville South (4)

AA
1. Jordan (9) 135
2. Marshall 126
3. St. Cloud Cathedral 112
4. Hibbing 106
5. Stewartville 98
6. Jackson County Central 89
7. Delano 87
8. LeSueur/Henderson 66
9. Belle Plaine 56
10. Wadena-Deer Creek 52
Others receiving votes: Rocori (15), Perham (8), Sauk Rapids-Rice (6), Caledonia (6), Worthington (5)

A
1. Bethlehem Academy (9) 176
2. Windom Area (3) 171
3. Minneota 154
4. Wabasha/Kellogg 140
5. Belgrade/Brooten/Elrosa 127
6. Ada-Borup 113
7. Mabel Canton 112
8. SW Christian 96
9. Climax-Fisher 42
10. Northern Freeze 31
Others: SW MN Christian (29), Parkers’ Prairie (24), SW Star Concept (13), Martin County West (13), Meadow Creek Christian (11), Lakeview (9), Sleepy Eye-St. Mary’s (6), Murray County Central (6), Deer River (6), Onamia (1)

SECTIONS
AAA Section 2: The top four teams are all ranked in the top 10. From the Southwest Scoreboard.

LATE RESULTS
The Southwest Scoreboard has more on the STMA win over host Chaska in the Hawks' tournament on Saturday. It was Chaska's third 2nd place finish in a tournament this season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Minnesota's Brook Dieter has been named Offensive player of the week in the Big 10. She shares the honor with Purdue's Stephanie Lynch. This is Dieter's 1st honor this year and 4th in her career.
Purdue's Kelli Miller was named defensive player of the week.

BIG 10
It will be Orange Out night at Illinois on Wednesday when they host Purdue.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Central Lakes was 1-4 at the Wisconsin Dells Tournament over the weekend. From the Brainerd Dispatch.

Next up: later today

Jacobs Verbals, Milestones, Freeze & WDC

#1 posting 10.9.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

JACOBS VERBALS
Kelsey Jacobs of Maple Grove has verballed Winona State. Jacobs is a 6-0 Outside Hitter.

Jacobs is the 22nd player overall in the Minnesota 2009 class to verbal and the 11th headed to a D2 program.

BREAST CANCER FIGHT PHOTOS
Pictures from the Sleepy Eye St. Mary's vs. MVL "DIG PINK" night are now posted online @ http://www.mnsportspreview.com/ or you can click on link below.
Congratulation to both schools for promoting Breast Cancer Awareness and a great night of Volleyball.

TEAM FEATURES
Apparently the only thing that can slow down the Northern Freeze is a power outage. From the Grand Forks Herald.

Wadena-Deer Creek has good team chemistry and balance. From the Fargo Forum.

STANDINGS
The Rochester Post Bulletin has the standings in Southeast Minnesota.

MILESTONES
Erin Goebel of St. Clair was named KEYC Athlete of the week after notching her 1000th career kill. Video included.

Stewartville's senior setter Emily Rainey made her 1000th career set assist (to Junior sister Julie Rainey) in Stewartville’s win over Hayfield on Tuesday.

Stewartville Coach John Dzubay is closing in on 700 career victories. He is at 693 right now.

LATE RESULTS
Wadena-Deer Creek is 19-3 adding three more wins to their totals last week. From the Wadena Pioneer Journal.

Stillwater beat White Bear Lake in four with a margin of 18 points on Tuesday. From the Stillwater Gazette.

New York Mills was 1-1 last week. From the Perham Enterprise.

Next up: college reports

Pioske Verbals

#6 posting 10.8.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PIOSKE VERBALS
Kara Pioske of Waconia has verballed Concordia St. Paul. Pioske is a 5-11 Outside Hitter for the #6AAA team and was named to the StarTribune's Athletes of the week this week.
Pioske made the girlsvolleyball recruit team of the week in Week 2.

Pioske is the 21st player in the Minnesota 2009 class to verbal and the 10th headed to a D2 program.
Also heading to CSP: Michelle Graham of Woodbury and Cassie Haag of SW Christian Chaska.

photo: Pioske in action vs Alexandria in the Eden Prairie tournament. photo by kja

Next up: tomorrow

Wittman Verbals

#4 posting 10.2.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

WITTMAN VERBALS
Junior Ashley Wittman of Shakopee has verballed Minnesota. Wittman is a 6-1 Outside Hitter for the #1 AAA Shakopee Sabers.
Wittman played with Northern Lights 16-1s this past JO season.

Wittman is the 2nd player in the Minnesota 2010 class to verbal.
Wittman joins Tori Dixon of Burnsville as a Gopher 2010 recruit.

photo: Wittman vs Eden Prairie when she had 39 kills on the night.

Next up: Later today

Three Verbals, Hope, Bleachers, and Late Results

#1 posting 10.2.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

THREE VERBALS
Setter/Right Side Michelle Graham of Woodbury and MH Cassie Haag of SW Christian Chaska have verballed Concordia St. Paul.

Outside Hitter Jordan Spatenka of Owatonna is headed to Augustana.

The three players push the verbal totals to 20 for the 2009 class and 9 headed to D2 programs.

FEATURES
Marshall's Hope Weilage is a key ingredient in their success. From the Marshall Independent.

They may have to pull all the bleachers at Waconia to handle the crowds. From the StarTribune.

LATE HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS
TUESDAY
Red Lake County Central topped Crookston in five with a margin of 24 points. RLCC led 2-0 and dominated the fifth set 15-2. From the Crookston Times.

Littlefork-Big Falls swept Hill City with a margin of 11 points in Northern Lakes action. From the International Falls Daily Journal.

Perham swept Breckenridge with a margin of 29 points in Heart O'Lakes action. From the Perham Enterprise and Wahpeton Daily News.

Here are some highlights of Hibbing's win over Grand Rapids. From KBJR.

Pequot Lakes beat Crosby-Ironton in three with an 18 point margin. Plus four more results from the Brainerd Dispatch.

LAST WEEK & LATER
#10AA Wadena-Deer Creek's past week is reviewed in the Wadena Pioneer Journal.

Kimball beat Eden Valley-Watkins and Royalton last week. From the TriCounty News.

Tartan beat North St. Paul in four with a margin of 14 points on Sept. 23. Later in the week the Titans beat Mahtomedi in four with a margin of 26 points. In the Oakdale Lake Elmo Review.

Pequot Lakes was 0-2 last week. Pine River-Backus was 1-1. From the Pine & Lakes.

Sleepy Eye St. Mary's was 2-0 last week. From the Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch.

New York Mills finished in 3rd place at the Bertha-Hewitt tournament and had a health scare in the semis. From the Perham Enterprise.

Parkers Prairie beat Underwood despite trailing 2-0. From the Alexandria Echo Press.

Alexandria swept Sauk Rapids. From the Alexandria Echo press.

STANDINGS
Here is the Southeast Minnesota standings from the Rochester Post Bulletin.

Next up: College reports

Lewko Verbals, Harms Player of the Week

#3 posting 9.18.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

LEWKO VERBALS
Brooke Lewko of Lakeville North has verballed Augustana. The 6-0 Middle Hitter also played with M-1 17-1 this past JO season.

Lewko is the 17th player from the 2009 Minnesota class to verbal and the 6th headed to a D2 program.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Katherine Harms of St. Michael-Albertville has been named AVCA/Max Preps Player of the week.

Next up: even later

Carlson Verbals, Gold on the Beach, Going for Gold Inside

#1 posting 8.21.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

CARLSON VERBALS
Ariel Carlson of Alexandria has veballed Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi on August 16th. Ari is a 6-1 MB/RH from Alexandria, MN - who has played the last two JO season for M1 18-1s and M1 17-1s, and has trained in the USA Volleyball A1 Development Program at Colorado Springs, CO for the last two summers. Ari is listed in the Breakdown's Fab 50 Seniors for this upcoming season and also as one of the Top 5 Right Sides.

Carlson is the 15th overall player from the Minnesota 2009 class to verbal and the 11th headed to a D1 program.

PREVIEWS
HIGH SCHOOL
A veteran Mankato East team is being led by new coach Kari Rodman. From the Mankato Free Press.

The Fargo Forum has capsule reviews of the eight teams in the Fargo area including Moorhead, DGF, and Park Christian.

D2
Bemidji State looks to improve under second year coach Laurie Bitter. Joining her this year is her daughter Courtney. From the Bemidji Pioneer.

POLLS
D1: Colorado State is 17th in the D1 AVCA poll.
Creighton is picked for third in the Missouri Valley.

D2: UM Duluth is 8th in the D2 AVCA poll.

D3: Bethel has received votes in the D3 AVCA poll.

SCRIMMAGE
D1: Iowa State will hold a clinic and then scrimmage on Saturday in Ames. The scrimmage starts at 1 pm.

Betsy (Spicer) Brookbank (Illinois '99) will return for the Illinois scrimmage on Saturday at 7 pm.

D2: The SW MN State women's volleyball team will hold its annual late show scrimmage tonight. From the Marshall Independent.

CC: Defending NJCAA D3 national champ Central Lakes will scrimmage their alumni on Saturday at noon. From the Brainerd Dispatch.

ON LINE CHAT
Washington State women's volleyball coach Andrew Palileo will hold an online chat on August 25. Readers can submit questions.

MEDIA
Michigan State held their media day yesterday. They also have a preseason video preview.

BIG 10
New Hawkeye coach Sharon Dingman says Iowa will not be outworked.

The Wisconsin Badgers feature "Meet the Freshman" look at Kelsey Maroney.

NOTEBOOK
In the NCAA Notebook: Penn State will not have an easy path to repeating this year.

OLYMPICS
GOLD:
Americans Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor have repeated as beach volleyball Olympic champions. They defeated the host Chinese pair of Jie Wang and Jia Tian 21-18, 21-18. From the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

GOING FOR GOLD:
The American indoor women's volleyball team got revenge against Cuba in the semifinals in Beijing in a sweep. Earlier in the tournament The Americans lost to Cuba. Former Gopher Lindsey Berg is a reason the squad is playing in their first gold medal game since 1984.

The American indoor men's volleyball team edged out Serbia in five games. Coach Hugh McCutcheon is an important part of the win. Player Lloy Ball states:

"Obviously, from a tactical and technical standpoint, it's an enormous help to have the guy who has been leading us. But just to know that when we look over there, our fearless leader — our captain, our general — who has been in every battle we've had in the last quad (four-year cycle), is there to get our back again."

McCutcheon missed the first few games in the Olympics after the stabbing death of his father in law Todd Bachman of Lakeville. From the Pioneer Press.

Next up: later today with the first of the out & abouts this year.

Finkel Verbals, Summit League Picks

#1 posting 8.19.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

VERBAL
DS Maggie Finkel of Chaska has verballed Winona State.
Finkel played with Northern Lights 17-1s.
Finkel is the 14th player from the 2009 Minnesota class to verbal and the 4th headed to a D2 program.

POLL
The volleyball poll is out this week. The #1s haven't changed. BBE is #3 in A. From the West Central Tribune.
#1s: AAA Chaska; AA Jordan; A Bethlehem Academy.

PREVIEWS
HIGH SCHOOL: Red Wing will look to win their first Missota game in two years. From the Red Wing Republican Eagle.

D1: North Dakota State is picked for third in the Summit League. Oral Roberts is tabbed for first. South Dakota State, the defending champs, are picked for fifth. Former coach Andrew Palileo is now at Washington State and the roster has changed. The Jackrabbits are looking forward, not back. From KELO (with video).

Portland is 8th in the West Coast Conference. MB Jennifer Sheedy from Totino-Grace plays for the Pilots.

There are other previews from Furman (Pamela Gehrke of Eastview is a Libero there).

South Carolina has released their schedule. Bridget Denson-Dorman has moved to SC from UConn. Their roster has been updated.

GONE
Freshman Jordan Haverly of Nebraska has left the team. Haverly is from Rockford Keith Country Day in Illinois. From the Omaha World-Herald.

BIG 10 NEWS
RADIO: You will be able to listen to Indiana Volleyball games free on the internet.

Q&A: Wisconsin has a feature Meet the freshman. First up is Sally Shumaker.

BLOG: Badger Audra Jeffers has a blog posting. More about the canoe trip.

OLYMPICS
St. Benedict's volleyball team has been have caught Olympic fever according to Rajkowski's column in the St. Cloud Times.
The American men finished pool play undefeated with a sweep of Japan. The team is coached by Hugh McCutcheon, son in law of Todd Bachman who was murdered in Beijing.

Next up: tomorrow

Chambers Verbals, Youngest Coach

#1 posting 8.8.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

CHAMBERS VERBALS
Brittany Chambers has made a verbal to Kansas State for basketball. The multiple sport athlete also entertained several D1 volleyball offers.

COACHING NEWS
Minneapolis Roosevelt has hired Wendy Vang as their new girls volleyball coach. She replaces Jill Kalvik who is now an assistant coach at the University of Chicago. Vang is the youngest head coach in the state at 19 years old. She is a 2007 high school grad from Minneapolis Henry. Last year she was an assistant at Henry.
This is the third coach that used to assist me that is now a head coach: John Yunker of St. Michael-Albertville, Bill Quan of Osseo and now Vang at Roosevelt. The odd thing was Kalvik also was an assistant with me at Henry. There must be something in the water.

Next up: more news

Haugen Verbals

#1 posting 6.7.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

HAUGEN VERBALS
Brianna Haugen appears to be headed to the Gophers. The 6-1 middle plays with Minneapolis Southwest and with Northern Lights 17-1.
Haugen is the 11th overall player in the Minnesota 2009 class and the 9th to head to a D1 program. She Joins Katherine Harms of St. Michael-Albertville in the Gopher 2009 class from Minnesota.

Next up: tomorrow

Niesche Verbal, Fond du Lac Coach

#1 posting 5.15.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

VERBAL
Chaska Libero, Kenzie Niesche, has verbally committed to Southwest Minnesota State. She plays with Chaska's 18-1s in the JO Season.
Niesche is the second player from the 2009 class to verbal a D2 school and the 10th overall.

COACHING NEWS
Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College has named Jen MacKay as their volleyball coach. MacKay played high school ball at Grand Rapids and played with the Gophers. From the Duluth News Tribune.

Next up: tomorrow

5 Signings, 2 Verbals

#1 posting 5.2.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNING
MSU Moorhead has signed five volleyball players for next year:
Katy Braaten, Hastings, 6-1 MH. She also played with Northern Lights.
Brittany Hanson, Eastview 6-0, MH. She also played with Northern Lights.
Lisa Kurtz of Central Lakes CC and Pierz. She is a 5-10 setter and RH.
Andrea Rachel of Maple Lake.
Cathy Turner of New Prague. She has also played at UW Green Bay and MSU Mankato.
Last fall they signed Nicole Buysse of Pipestone.
All in all this pushes the known 2008 signings from Minnesota to 53. The D2 Signings are at 27.

2 NDSU VERBALS
Setter Leah Johnson will join her sister Mattie at North Dakota State. Also verballing is Megan Lambertson of Litchfield. From the Fargo Forum.
These two players are the 7th and 8th players from the Minnesota 2009 class to verbal.

Next up: Tomorrow

Manuel Verbals, Northern Lights 14s

#1 posting 4.28.2008
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

MANUEL TO LONG BEACH STATE
6-6 Right Side Alexa Manuel of Eden Prairie and Northern Lights 17-2 has verballed Long Beach State.

NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFIER
The Northern Lights 14s won the Open Gold Pool in Sunday.

They were the only Minnesota team to be in the finals of the 14s or 15s this weekend.

next up; Tomorrow

Bloom, Bowman Decide

#1 posting 4.18.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

VERBALS/SIGNINGS
Wendy Bowman of Wrenshall has verballed with UW Superior to play volleyball. The 6-0 middle had 215 kills last season. From the Superior Telegram.

Amber Bloom of Carlton has signed to play volleyball at Northern State. She is expected to play on the right side.

Bowman and Bloom are the 41st and 42nd known players from the 2008 Minnesota class. Bowman is the 1st known headed to D3, Bloom is the 22nd player headed to D2.

Illinois has signed Catherine Culligan, a 5-7 libero from Wheaton St. Francis.

FALL SCHEDULE
Purdue has released their 2008 fall schedule.

Next up: tomorrow

South Dakota State and South Dakota Jobs Open

#1 posting 4.15.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COACHING NEWS
South Dakota State and South Dakota will both be looking for new head volleyball coaches. SDSU's Andrew Palileo has accepted the job at Washington State and USD head coach Brian Lamppa will join him in as an assistant. From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Illinois State assistant volleyball coach Chris Gaskill is following new Iowa head coach Sharon Dingman to Iowa City. From the Daily Iowan.

VERBAL
Sheboygan Christian, WI junior Liz Egerer has made a verbal to Michigan State. Egerer is a 6-1 OH. From the Sheboygan Press.

SPRING EVENTS
Iowa State finished 2-1 in their event last weekend. Their only loss was to Minnesota. ISU travels to Minnesota for the Gophers spring event on Sunday.

Illinois is done with their spring schedule and now are getting ready for a trip to Italy and Slovenia.

St. Thomas scrimmaged their alumni and beat them in five on Saturday.

ST. PAUL ATHENA WINNERS
This banquet will be held on Wednesday at the Prom Center in Oakdale. These are the volleyball players being honored:
Ali Vandercook, Henry Sibley
Jennifer Annoni, Hill-Murray
Lindsey Weaver, Lakeville North
Amanda May, Randolph
Cynthia Caughey, St. Bernard's
Megan Howard, St. Paul Central
Jamie Kasal, St. Paul Johnson
Courtney Kranz, Visitation
For a full list of names check here, and here.

Next up: tomorrow

Gaffen Verbals

#2 posting 4.8.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GAFFEN VERBALS
Tia Gaffen of Wayzata has made a verbal to California. The 6-2 Middle originally verballed Georgia Tech in the fall, and decommitted.

Gaffen is the fifth Minnesota High School player in the 2009 class to verbal a D1 school.

next up: tomorrow morning

Braun Verbals

#1 posting 3.31.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BRAUN VERBALS

Amy Braun of Lakeville North, a three time Minnesota All State Selection and 2007 PrepVolleyball.com High School All American (HHM) has committed to the UNI Panthers and Head Coach Bobbi Petersen. Amy is a 5-10 Junior OH and plays with Mizuno Minnesota One Volleyball Club 18-1's team.

'

Braun was also named player of the year in the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 2007.

'

Braun is the 4th player from the 2009 Minnesota class to verbal a D1 school.

'

Next up: Tomorrow

Dunbar Comments, Templeton Verbals

#1 posting 3.28.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

HOOSIER HUDDLE
You can check out Indiana coach Sherry Dunbar and her comments on the all-access site from Indiana. It is free. Also free is the admission to the 8 team event this weekend. Action starts at 9 am with the championship starting at about 4:30 pm.

VERBAL/SIGNING
Caitlin Templeton of Rapid City Stevens has verballed Creighton. Templeton is a junior, and I don't think signing is available until the senior season. From the Rapid City Journal.

Thanks to the readers for the tips and news. If you have news, go to my profile and email me.

Next up: tomorrow