South Dakota Hires

#1 posting 6.12.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SOUTH DAKOTA HIRES
Matt Houk has been named the new volleyball coach at South Dakota. Houk has been an assistant at UW Green Bay and UW Milwaukee.

MORE COACHING NEWS
Lisa Bicknese has been hired at Kingsland. From the Spring Valley Tribune.

Rob Wolter has been hired as interim volleyball coach at UW Parkside. He had been an assistant there and also at South Dakota State, MSU Mankato, and Winona State.

AWARDS
Vicky Braegelman will receive the NCAA D2 female athlete of the year award on June 23 in New York. Braegleman played her high school ball at Albany and her college ball at UM Duluth. From the St. Cloud Times.

TOURNAMENTS
Minnesota North is off to the nationals JO tournaments in Dallas. The 18s and 14s qualified. From the Pine Journal.

SCHEDULE
Denver has released their schedule. Kresson Vreeman of Central Christian is on the Denver roster.

Next up: tomorrow

St. Benedict's Additions

#1 posting 6.11.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ST. BENEDICT'S INCOMING
The St. Cloud Times looks at the new additions to the St. Benedict volleyball program--
Alex Lenzen, St. Cloud Cathedral, Libero
Hallie Noah, South Anchorage, RH
Chelsie Sobieck, Forest Lake, OH

This makes 59 known 2008 Minnesota players continuing to play volleyball post high school and the 8th and 9th headed to a D3 program.

SCHEDULE
North Carolina has released their 2008 schedule. One of their trips will be to Minnesota. Brianna Eskola of Columbia Heights is a libero for the Tar Heels.

AWARD
Audra Jeffers of Wisconsin received the Big Ten’s Outstanding Sportsmanship Award.

next up: tomorrow.

Bethel Review, Death in Poland

#1 posting 6.10.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SEASON REVIEW
Bethel is reviewing their sports seasons for 2007-08. Today the volleyball season is reviewed.

INTERNATIONAL DEATH
The Polish National team lost Agata Mroz to bone marrow disease. She had helped Poland to two European Gold medals since 2003. From the AP.

Next up: tomorrow

Hermosa Beach Results

#1 posting 6.9.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor remain undefeated with their win at Hermosa Beach Open on Saturday. From ESPN.

JO NATIONALS
The Junior Olympic National tournament begins on June 26 in Dallas.

Next up: tomorrow

Pan Am 5th; Recruiting Standards

#1 posting 6.8.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PAN AM CUP
The US National team finished 5th in the Pan Am Cup in Mexicali

RECRUITING STANDARDS
Ever wonder what coaches look for in a player? This is from the National Collegiate Scouting Association and looks at standards for a low, medium, and high candidate for D1, D2, and D3.
For example the height of an middle hitter
D1----6-2
D2----6-0
D3---5-11

Next up: tomorrow

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

USD Interviews, Mankato West Hires,

#1 posting 6.6.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COACHING NEWS
The University of South Dakota is interviewing two candidates for the head women's volleyball coaching job: Mary Schroeder-Miller, Briar Cliff head coach, and Matt Houk, former assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee. From the Yankton Press & Dakotan.

Mary Nelson has been hired as girls volleyball coach at Mankato West. She was an assistant at West. From the Mankato Free Press.

TRANSFER
Laurel Heggernes has transferred from St. Benedict to St. Cloud State after two years. She played her high school ball at Mora. From the St. Cloud Times.

SCHEDULE
Bemidji State has released their 2008 volleyball schedule.

AWARDS
The Northern Lights held their banquet this week and Ashley Suapaia received the 2008 Maurice Batie Award of Excellence. The award was presented by Naomi Johnson, last year's winner. Suapaia will attend Minnesota this fall. Johnson plays for Northwestern. Both went to high school at Bloomington Kennedy.

BRANAGH AND THE BEACH
Former Gopher Nicole Branagh was named Olympic Athlete of the Week by USA Today. Branagh was named Most Outstanding Player of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Tournament in Barcelona, Spain last weekend.

Next up: tomorrow

Roysland Wins Sportsmanship Award

#1 posting 6.5.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AWARDS
Gopher Kelly Roysland is one of 22 winners of the Big 10 Outstanding Sportsmanship Award.

Pretty thin today.

Next up: tomorrow

Buehler Hired

#1 posting 6.4.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

EDINA HIRES
Emily Buehler, a St. Thomas grad, has been hired as volleyball coach at Edina.

MORE SCHUMACHER
A few days ago we reported Allison Schumacher of Crookston is headed to Jamestown College. Here is the Crookston Times with their report.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Flygare Decides, Awards, St. Thomas to Italy

#1 posting 6.3.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COLLEGE DECISIONS
5-6 Setter Marcie Flygare of Minnesota Valley Lutheran is headed to Bethany Lutheran in Mankato.
Flygare is the 57th known Minnesota 2008 volleyball player to decide on a college. She is the 8th player known player headed to a D3 school.

AWARDS
UM Duluth volleyball coach Jim Boos is the only member of the school to be honored by the now defunct North Central Conference with the Legacy Award.

Megan Groen of Renville County West won the Hengstler-Ranweiler Award. Groen is an outside hitter in volleyball. From the West Central Tribune.

TRIPS
The St. Thomas volleyball team will be leaving for Italy on June 4th for a nine day trip.

JERSEYS FOR BRAZIL
Ever wonder what to do with those old, used, volleyball jerseys? Ever wonder what to do with those old, used volleyball/tennis shoes? We have got a GREAT use for them!
The Augsburg College volleyball team (MN Select alumni: Julie Jenkins & Laura Harms) recently played volleyball in Brazil. As part of their trip they participated in a social service project in one of the poor areas of Rio de Janeiro. Underprivileged children in Brazil play volleyball on rough, cement courts wearing no shoes. Jerseys are like gold to ALL the children and young adults in Brazil. The group’s tour guide indicated Americans throw away used shoes that these children would consider new. Minnesota Select will collect used volleyball jerseys, used warm up shirts, and tennis shoes. Those wishing to make donations can do so by bringing their items to Ralia. Scott will collect the items within his office. Thank you for caring and donating items that would mean more to children in Brazil than you or I could ever imagine

SUMMER CAMPS
If you haven’t done so already, please register online for the MN Select Summer camps you intend to. Many camps are nearing capacity… If you are interested in private lessons over the summer months, email us at privatelessons@mnselect.com to schedule… Also, Velocity has organized an opportunity for MN Select members to train with them this summer. Fliers about this opportunity are available at Ralia. MN Select is also planning some other opportunities geared toward returning players for this summer and this fall so stay tuned…

Thanks to the readers that help make this site go. Your information is appreciated.

next up: tomorrow

Atlanta Beach

#1 posting 6.2.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ATLANTA BEACH TOURNAMENT
Misty May and Kerri Walsh won the Atlanta AVP beach tournament, their 5th title this year. From NBC.

Next up: tomorrow

Beach Gold in Spain

#1 posting 6.1.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOLD IN SPAIN
The beach volleyball pair of Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs won the Barcelona Open. Branagh is a former Gopher. B&Y are edging closer to the Beijing Olympics.

Next up: tomorrow

Schumacher Signs, Worthington Hires

#1 posting 5.31.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNING
Allison Schumacher is headed to Jamestown College in North Dakota to play volleyball. She will also play basketball there. From the Jamestown Sun.

COACHING NEWS
Alumnae Melissa Schutz has been named the new volleyball coach at Worthington. Assisting her will be Jessica Hogan who had been the head coach at Fulda. From the Worthington Daily Globe.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Former Gopher Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs, the current #2 American team, are in the finals of the Barcelona Open. From NBC.

USA ADULT OPEN
Ellen Herman of Ohio University was named MVP of USA Adult Open Volleyball Championship. Herman played for the National A2 Red Team.

SCHEDULE
Iowa State has released their 2008 schedule.

Next up: tomorrow

The Future of Beach Volleyball

#1 posting 5.30.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

NCAA BEACH VOLLEYBALL?
The NCAA is considering adding Beach Volleyball to their sports offered at colleges and universities. Colleges are looking for women's sports to add with title IX. Think indoor/outdoor track. From the Fort Myers News Press.

AVCA SHOWCASE
The AVCA Showcase between The Big 12 and Pac 10 will take place at Omaha on August 29-31. Teams include Nebraska, Texas, Stanford, and USC. From KMEG.

next up: tomorrow

Boeve Graduates, Purdue Returns Home

#1 posting 5.29.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

IOWA STATE GRADS
Erin Boeve (Hills-Beaver Creek) , Laura Cady and Lauren Cummings have graduated from Iowa State and reflect on their times at ISU. Boeve is now working at Sanford Health Foundation in Sioux Falls.

PURDUE LEAVES EUROPE
Purdue finished up their 12 day European trip last week. Coach Shondell looks at the benefits of the journey.
Former player Brittany Dildine will now be a volunteer assistant volleyball coach for the Boilermakers.

Next up: tomorrow

Marquette Signing, Outer Space

#1 posting 5.28.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MARQUETTE SIGNING
Libero Alex Coello of St. Charles East, IL is the 7th signee at Marquette this year. Minnesotans in the 2008 class include Sammie Hertaus of New Prague, and Tiara Russell of Osseo.

NOMINEE
Naomi U'ren of Redwood Valley is a Hengstler-Ranweiler Nominee. U'ren was a setter for RV for the last four years with 1510 assists in her career. From the West Central Tribune.

OUTER SPACE
Former Henning volleyball player Karen Nyberg (1988) is headed into orbit. She is part of the STS-124 mission to the International Space Station. From MinnPost.

INJURY
The M1 player with the ankle injury, according to sources, is Alyssa Johnson of Spring Lake Park.

next up: Tomorrow.

National Junior Classic Champs

#1 posting 5.27.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

NATIONAL JUNIOR CLASSIC
Northern Lights 16-1 took first in the National Junior Classic at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora, IL. Tori Dixon (Burnsville) MH won Best Blocker and Ashley Wittman (Shakopee) OH was the Tournament MVP. Lights beat Fusion in 3-0 in the best of five Championship match. Fusion was undefeated at the 16-s level until this weekend.

Northern Lights 15-1 finished 4th in the 15 division. Ashley Murtha was named best attacker.

M1 finished in second in the 18 division with Kelsey Brandl (Lakeville North) taking the Best Blocker honor. A player from M1 18-1 had a very serious ankle injury.

In the 17 division M1 finished in 6th.

BEAST OF THE EAST
Northern Lights 17 team won the Beast of the East tournament in Pittsburgh finishing undefeated. They beat HVVC National Blue 25‑14, 25‑18, 25‑11.

Next up: tomorrow

Olympic Qualifiers

#1 posting 5.26.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS
Here are the 12 countries that have qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The USA qualified by finishing 3rd in the World Cup.

On the Beach side former Gopher Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs are ranked 5th.

next up: tomorrow

Who Does What

#1 posting 5.25.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AWARDS
Heather Tretbar was named female athlete of the year at Park Rapids. She earned four volleyball letters in her career. From the Park Rapids Enterprise.

WHO DOES WHAT
The Patriot League had some of their players explain who does what in volleyball.
Outside Hitter, Middle Hitter, Setter, and Libero.
Questions include
What is expected from your position?
What skills/natural abilities must an athlete possess to be effective at your position?
Why do you play your position?

Next up: tomorrow

SDSU Hires

#1 posting 5.23.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE HIRES
Nana Allison-Brewer has been hired at South Dakota State to coach the women's volleyball program. Allison-Brewer was an assistant at Dartmouth and is believed to be the first Native American (Navajo) head coach at a D1 school. From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

ADULT OPEN
A pair of Badgers will take part of the 2008 USA Volleyball Adult Open Championships in Atlanta. Audra Jeffers and former UW setter Jackie Simpson will play with the Exterminators.

AWARDS
Steph Stassen of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg is a Hengstler-Ranweiler Nominee. From the West Central Tribune.

Next up: tomorrow

Awards, Roman Holiday

#1 posting 5.23.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AWARDS
Badger volleyball coach Pete Waite received the Don Shondell Lifetime Achievement Award from Ball State University.

Jenny Noordmans of Hancock is a Hengstler-Ranweiler Nominee. She had 207 kills her senior year. From the West Central Tribune.

WHEN IN ROME...
The Purdue volleyball team is in Rome wrapping up their European tour. They spent day 11 and day 12 seeing the sites like the Vatican.

OLYMPICS
KARE 11 looks at Minnesotans attempting to take gold in Beijing. Nicole Branagh is highlighted in beach volleyball. They don't mention Cassie Busse who is on the national volleyball team however.

Next up: tomorrow

Hawkeye Hire, Purdue in Italy

#1 posting 5.22.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AWARDS
Iowa passed out their end of the year awards.

Kortney Mulder of Renville County West is a Hengstler-Ranweiler Nominee. From the West Central Tribune.

COACHING
Jason Allen has been hired as an assistant at Iowa. Allen got his start as a grad assistant at Southwest Minnesota State.

FALL SCHEDULE
The University of Albany has released their fall schedule. The closest they get to Minnesota is when they are in the Michigan tournament. Libero Tawny Dahmes of Chaska is on the roster for the Great Danes.

PURDUE IN ITALY
On day 9 of their European trip Purdue beat San Donà, an Italian League third division or B1 league, 3-2. Assistant coach John Shondell gives his views of the trip as the Boilermakers head for Rome.

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
What exactly is the job (or jobs) of the volleyball director of operations? Wisconsin's Stephanie Schultz is featured along with a few other Badger sports Director of Operations in an article.

Next up: tomorrow

Shining Northern Lights

#1 posting 5.21.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

YOUTH NATIONAL TEAM
Three Minnesota players have made the US Girls’ Youth National roster in Atlanta last weekend. OH Ashley Wittman of Shakopee, MH Tori Dixon of Burnsville, and Molly Kreklow of Blaine. All three play with Northern Lights.

PREP VOLLEYBALL RANKINGS
I don't know if you subscribe or not to prepvolleyball.com, but Northern Lights 16u-1 team is the #1 ranked team. They have won three tournaments this season--Omaha, Atlanta and Minneapolis and have not lost to a 16u or 17u team this season.

AWARDS
Danielle Beckstrand of UM Duluth has won the North Central Conference Honor Award. Beckstrand played her high school volleyball at Lake of the Woods.

Next up: tomorrow

SMV Spring Tournament, Award Nominees

#1 posting 5.20.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

TOURNAMENT WINNER
Here is a pic of the Minnesota Northern Lights 16-3 team from Sunday. They won the SMV Spring Tournament in Rochester (beat the SMV 16-2 team in the championship match).


AWARDS
Danielle Meyer of Ohio State is up for the Big 10 Medal of Honor.

Megan Groen of Renville County West is a Hengstler-Ranweiler Nominee. She had 849 kills in her career. From the West Central Tribune.

HALL OF FAME
Jan Nasers Aggen from the Worthington class of 1979 has been named to their school's hall of fame. She played volleyball there and at Worthington CC. From the Worthington Daily Globe.

PURDUE IN VENICE
Purdue's volleyball time is now in Venice, Italy.

DEATH
Veronica Schrader, former Eastview volleyball player, died of heart disease last week at St. Olaf. From the StarTribune.

Next up: tomorrow

Branagh on the Beach, Purdue in the Mountains, Clinic in Sauk Rapids

#1 posting 5.19.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Former Gopher Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs finished 3rd in the Seoul, South Korea event this weekend. From NBC.

PURDUE IN SLOVENIA
The Boilermakers lost to the Slovenian National team in five in Planica.

MINNESOTA COACHES ASSOCIATION VOLLEYBALL CLINIC
The Minnesota Coaches volleyball clinic moves to Sauk Rapids this year. The event takes place on July 30 and 31. Cost is $130.

Next up: tomorrow

Junior Olympic Nationals, Slovenia Beats Purdue

#1 posting 5.18.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

JO NATIONALS
The Junior Olympic National tournament will be held in Dallas June 26 to July 5. The 18s open the first four days of the tournament, other ages chime in with the 14s closing the event. Here are the wave schedules.

PURDUE TRIP
Purdue lost to the Slovenian National Team in three. They did win a 4th game. The Boilermakers are in Maribor, Slovenia.

ACADEMICS
Betty Slinger received the Chancellor's Medallions at UW Green Bay. Slinger played her high school volleyball at Faribault Bethlehem Academy.

Next up: tomorrow

North Dakota Five, Purdue in Slovenia, Volleyball & Badminton

#1 posting 5.17.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNINGS
North Dakota has a press release on their first D1 volleyball signing class. Five players are headed to Grand Forks:
Kaytlyn Aust, Tahoma, WA OH
Taylor Bohannon, Eagan, L
Annika Smed, Albert Lea, MH
Amy Stroup, Fargo South, MH
Jessika Weber, Idaho Falls, S/DS

PURDUE'S SPRING TRIP
Purdue has left the Czech Republic and is now in Maribor, Slovenia by way of Vienna, Austria. Usually the players blog (like it the first posting linked with Purdue). Now coach Dave Shondell takes a turn.

VOLLEYBALL & BADMINTON
Katie Vohnoutka, Eden Prairie's MH in the fall, won the state badminton individual title yesterday. Badminton is similar to the hitting motion in volleyball. From the StarTribune.

Next up: Tomorrow

Rochester Cup, Prague Spring, Death in St. Olaf

#1 posting 5.16.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ROCHESTER CUP
Here are the results from the Rochester Cup Volleyball tournament. From the Rochester Post Bulletin.

PURDUE'S PRAGUE SPRING
Purdue's volleyball team spent day three and four in Prague shopping. Day five the Boilermakers left for Brno. KP Brno beat Purdue in three.

DEATH
Former Eastview volleyball player Veronica Schrader was found dead in her dorm at St. Olaf. From the StarTribune.

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

Augsburg in Brazil, Augustana Coaching Change

#1 posting 5.14.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

TRIPS
The Augsburg volleyball team spent 8 days in Brazil. There are diaries and photos of the trip to the land of the Samba. Of course the Brazilian Beaches were part of the trip along with beach volleyball.

Purdue beat a Czech team 3-2 on day 3 of their European Trip.

COACHING NEWS
Assistant coach Ashley Buckley is the new head volleyball coach at Augustana. She played volleyball at Sioux Falls Roosevelt and was a captain at Penn State. She was known as Ashley Pederson then. She replaces Kim Sudbeck who resigned yesterday. From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Nick Whaley is the new volleyball coach at Winona Cotter. He will be the third volleyball coach in three years at Cotter. Whaley was the baseball coach at St. Mary's. From the Winona Daily News.

AWARDS
New London-Spicer volleyball coach Kay Czarnetzki received the Robert L. Lindsay Meritorious Service Award by the North Country Region USA Volleyball Association.
Also picking up the Lindsay Award was Dave Schmidt head of the Rochester Youth Volleyball Association (scroll).
The third to be honored is Michyl Dalager of Marshall.

Brooke Monson of Austin was named Riverland CC female Athlete of the year. From the Austin Post Bulletin.
From the West Central Tribune and Rochester Post Bulletin.

ACCIDENT DEATH
Caitlin Calgaro of Cherry was killed in a car crash on April 28. She played volleyball and was in the band. Her funeral was postponed so the band trip to Chicago could continue as scheduled. From the Duluth News Tribune.

Next up: tomorrow

Verbal, Tourney Results, SDSU Coaching Search, Pay to Play

#1 posting 5.13.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

VERBAL
Lindsey Sathre, a 5-11 MH from Osseo class of 2009, has verbally committed to Michigan Tech. She had 167 kills last year.

ROCHESTER TOURNAMENT
Mizuno Northern Lights 16-3 team won 3rd Place at the Rochester Cup this weekend. Northern Lights 16-2 won the event. Here is a photo of the NL 16-3 team along with the roster.

COACHING NEWS
South Dakota State has three candidates for the volleyball coaching job. All are D1 collegiate assistants.

SCHEDULES
The Minnesota State High School League has made adjustments to the volleyball schedules. The maximum amount of games in a tournament was raised from 12 to 15. From the StarTribune.

PURDUE'S SPRING TRIP
Purdue is off on their European trip. Day 1 was spent in the Czech Republic with Mandy Nichols describing the airports along the way. Sam Ainsworth has Day 2 with how to beat jet lag.

ATHLETIC FEES
Also in the StarTribune this morning they take a wide ranging look at the cost of high school athletics from the rural Minnesota to the Metro area. Activity fees of $320, elimination of programs, and other money saving or cost cutting are discussed. Robbinsdale needs to raise $13,000 to save middle school volleyball for example. It is important to read the comments after from the readers.
What is going to happen is the lower end kid is going to be pushed out of athletics. All players will pay $320, but not everyone is going to play equal time. Depth will suffer. The elite athlete will still have a place to play. However the youth programs, where a student may get their first taste and develop into a player, is where the problem will be. The players with money will make it. The best athletes may not be playing the sport.

SERVICE AWARD
the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has awarded Patricia Hicks of Anoka-Ramsey CC with the 2008 Service Award for her significant contribution to college athletics. Hicks started the volleyball program at AR back in the 1970s. From the Coon Rapids Newspaper.

Next up: tomorrow

3 Minnesotans on National Training Team Roster

#1 posting 5.12.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

US GIRLS YOUTH NATIONAL TRAINING TEAM ROSTER
22 players throughout the country have been selected to the U.S. Girls’ Youth National Training Team. The team will train May 15-18 at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Tori Dixon of Burnsville, Ashley Wittman of Shakopee, and Molly Kreklow of Blaine are the Minnesota players on the roster.

Next up: tomorrow

Mother's Day, Beach Volleyball Junior Tour

#1 posting 5.11.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MOTHER-DAUGHTER
The Star Tribune has an article today on Mother's Day about Jordan volleyball coach Colleen Chambers and her daughter Brittany.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
With spring here (finally, or is it?) the Beach Volleyball season is in full swing. Here is the USA Beach Volleyball Junior Tour. The closest spot on the tour is Milwaukee on June 21. Sign ups and age requirements (12u to 20u) are also listed.

next up: tomorrow

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Parent's Eye View of Recruiting

#1 posting 5.10.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AWARDS
The West Central Tribune lists a couple of the 2008 Hengstler-Ranweiler Nominees:
Courtney Frank of Benson and Greta King of Willmar.

RECRUITING
Here is a parent's eye view of the recruiting process. On Rick Kern.com site Sara Pavan (Nebraska); Tara Hittle (Hawaii); Jessica Keefe (Hawaii); and Darlene McCray (Florida). The article is older, but the information may be helpful in opening eyes to the recruiting process.

Next up: tomorrow

3 Ridgewater Signings, Illinois to Italy, Athena Winners

#1 posting 5.9.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNINGS
Ridgewater has signed three players for next season
Darcie Listul, Yellow Medicine East 5-5 S, DS
Molly Miller, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, 5-11 MH
Stephanie Boulton, Minneota, 5-9, OH
From the Marshall Independent.

SCHEDULE
UM Duluth has released their 2008 schedule. They open the season at the Ferris State tournament on August 29. They host Concordia St. Paul on Oct. 11 and travel to CSP on Nov. 4. The North Central Regionals are Nov 20-22.

ATHENA WINNERS
Minneapolis area schools honor their Athena Award Winners today. 12 are volleyball players.

SPRING TRIP
Illinois is off to Italy on May 18 for two weeks. They will also travel to Croatia and Slovenia.

CHASKA YOUTH VOLLEYBALL
The Chaska Herald looks at the Chaska Area Youth Volleyball Association and their results from the 11s to the 18s.

STUDENT ATHLETE ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Sophomore outside hitter Andrea Millerbernd of Littlefork-Big Falls has been named to the St. Benedict SAAC board.

Next up: tomorrow

Gophers Get Regional in 2009

#1 posting 5.8.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

FINAL FOUR REGIONAL SITES SET
The final four sites in 2008 and 2009 have been selected:
2008 regional sites include Colorado State, Penn State, Texas and Washington. The regions are set for December 12 and 13. The final four will be held at Omaha (Nebraska the host).
2009 regional sites include Minnesota (the Sports Pavilion), Florida, Omaha, and Stanford. The regions are set for December 11, and 12. The final four will be held at Tampa.
The Gophers last hosted the regional in 2004 when they beat Georgia Tech and Ohio State to head to the final four where the finished second in the nation.
From the Dallas Morning News and Minnesota Daily.

CAPTAINS
Ashley Hughes and Chelsea Noble have been named captains at Ohio State.

FALL SCHEDULE
Creighton has released their schedule for the fall 2008. Allie Oelke of Chaska was Missouri Valley Freshman of the year last year. They host the Gophers in Omaha in the Bluejay Invitational on August 29, and 30.

Next up: tomorrow

D1 Attendance Leaders

#1 posting 5.7.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ATTENDANCE NUMBERS
Wisconsin was 3rd overall in D1 attendance with 4328 per match. If you look at Big 10 only matches the number shoots up to 5970.
In case you are wondering Minnesota was 4th at 2961 and Penn State 5th at 2832. Also from the Big 10 in the top 25: Purdue-12, Ohio State-20, Michigan State-23, Illinois-24.
Hawaii led the nation at 6452.

North Dakota State was 45th in D1 in the attendance race with an average of 852.

AWARDS & HONORS
Sophomore Emma Jaynes (Hibbing) has been named the College of St. Benedict's athlete of the year.

next up: Tomorrow

SDSU Coaching search, Eskola MVP

#1 posting 5.6.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE COACHING SEARCH
The Sioux Falls Argus Leader looks at the SDSU volleyball coaching search. 25 people have applied for the position.

END OF SPRING & BANQUET
North Carolina finished 3rd in the Spring Tournament in Chicago this spring. The Tar Heels also held their end of the year banquet and Brianna Eskola of Columbia Heights was named their MVP. Eskola will be a senior in the fall.

TOURNAMENT WINNER
The Sauk Centre Slam 13u team won the MSF State tournament last weekend in Becker. From the St. Cloud Times.

#10
UM Duluth finished #10 in the nation in D2 attendance in 2007.

next up: tomorrow morning

Walsh Withdraws, Branagh/Youngs Wins

#1 posting 5.5.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Kerri Walsh was forced to withdraw from Sunday's Cuervo Gold Crown beach event due to the after effects of her right shoulder surgery. Former Gopher Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs won Sunday's event. From USA Today.

Next up: tomorrow

Penn State Men Join Women as Volleyball Champs

#1 posting 5.4.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PENN STATE CHAMPS AGAIN
This time the Penn State men won the volleyball D1 title with a 3-1 win over Pepperdine yesterday. Usually a California team wins the championship. The PSU women won the D1 title in December.

next up: tomorrow

Penn State 2 for 2?

#1 posting 5.3.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

PENN STATE DUAL CHAMPS?
In case you haven't heard, the Penn State men are #1 in the country and are playing Pepperdine for the NCAA D1 championship today. The Penn State women won the D1 title in December. The game is on ESPN 2 live at 6 pm.

INDIANA POSTCARD
Martyna Popik of Indiana is back in Poland and writing a blog/postcard.

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

North Dakota State Spring, Augsburg to Brazil

#1 posting 5.1.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SPRING VOLLEYBALL
North Dakota State has had just enough volleyball players to put on the floor in their spring tournaments. The Fargo Forum looks at the opportunities that players had to stretch their skills plus the fall 2008 schedule.

SPRING TRIP
Augsburg Volleyball will leave for a spring trip to Brazil on Monday, May 5th. The team has been fundraising for the past two years (great commitment by the girls) and are looking forward to the trip.
Here is the Augsburg fall 2008 schedule.

Next up: tomorrow

Two Signings, Purdue to Europe

#1 posting 4.30.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNINGS
Jamie Bauer of Durand is headed to UM Crookston to play volleyball. The 5-8 setter played one year at UW Stout. From the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.

Lauren Carisch of Benilde-St. Margaret's will be playing volleyball at the University of St. Thomas next fall. She is a 5-10 MB who plays for M1 in the off season. She is on the 18-2 team this year. This makes 50 known 2008 players headed off to college to play volleyball. Carisch is the 7th known player headed to D3.

BANQUETS & AWARDS
Marquette held their end of the year volleyball banquet and passed out awards.

SPRING TOUR
Purdue is headed to Europe and will play volleyball in four countries: The Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia and Italy.

FALL SCHEDULES
Ohio has released their 2008 volleyball schedule. Amanda Andersen of Centennial plays for Ohio.

next up: tomorrow

Two Eden Prairie Signees

#1 posting 4.29.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COLLEGE BOUND
Jesse Peterson from Eden Prairie and Northern Lights 17-1 has verballed Winona State. The 5-11 outside hitter had 307 kills last year for EP.

Katie Vohnoutka of Eden Prairie is headed to Concordia Moorhead. The 5-11 Middle had 250 kills for the Eagles this year.

That makes 49 known players from the Minnesota 2008 class headed to college to play volleyball next year. Peterson is the 23rd headed to a D2 school. Vohnoutka is the 5th known player going to a D3 school.

ATHLETIC AWARDS
Greta King was named senior outstanding female athlete at Willmar. From the West Central Tribune.

JO TOURNAMENTS
The Sauk Centre Slam 18’s Junior Olympic volleyball team took second place in the Gold Division at the NCR tournament held Sunday in St. Cloud. From the St. Cloud Times.

Next up: tomorrow morning

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

Northern Lights Qualifier, Ohio Spring

#1 posting 4.27.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SPRING TOURNAMENTS
Ohio was 3-1 in the Cincinnati tournament on Saturday. Amanda Andersen of Centennial plays with Ohio.

NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFIER
Northern Lights 14 1s are playing in the Open gold #1 pool today.

There are no Minnesota teams in the Open gold pools.

Here is the schedule page.

Next up: tomorrow.

Lursen Verbal, Kuklock Hired, 2 Schedules

#1 posting 4.26.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

VERBAL
Karlee Lursen, Eastview has verballed Southeast Missouri State. Lursen is a 5-7 RH who had 132 kills in the 2006 season for the Lightning. She plays with Northern Lights 17 1s in the JO season.

COACHING NEWS
Apple Valley has hire Dan Kuklock as their new volleyball coach. Kuklock is currently Head Coach for Crossfire 18-2 and Assistant Coach at Burnsville High School. He previously worked for Midwest Volleyball Warehouse/Mizuno Northern Lights. He will be replacing Dan Seppala who resigned after one season to spend more time with his family.
As a sad aside, Dan Seppala and his wife came home from a Spring Break trip to find that their Richfield home had burned down. It is a complete loss and their baby is due in about 4 months. Hopefully they will be in temporary housing by the time their little girl arrives.

SPRING SCHEDULE
Marquette is hosting their final spring event today. UM Duluth, UW Green Bay and Marquette Alumnae are taking part. The event starts at 9 am.

FALL SCHEDULE
Ohio State has released their fall schedule. They are in the Wichita State and Kent State tournaments. They travel out to California for a pair of games. They face the Gophers at home on Oct. 24 and travel to Minneapolis on Nov. 22.

Next up: tomorrow

3 for St. Kate's, Badgers Win

#1 posting 4.25.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ST. KATE'S BOUND
Callie Teigen from Meadow Creek Christian; Kaitlin Reed from Irondale and Kayla Sis from St. Cloud Tech are headed to the College of St. Catherine. All players play or have played for MN Select.

WISCONSIN BEAT ALUMNAE
The Wisconsin Badgers beat the alumnae in four last night. Nikki Klingsporn of Tartan had 54 assists for the current Badgers. The Badgers are also honored NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate.

TRANSFER
Melany Rarey will be playing with Indiana this fall. For two years she played with Michigan State. She does a Q&A with the Hoosier site.

NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFIER PART 2
Today at the Minneapolis Convention Center the 14s and 15s take over. Here is the schedule link.

next up: Tomorrow

Badger Schedules

#1 posting 4.24.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SCHEDULE
The Wisconsin Badgers have released their fall 2008 schedule. They travel to Kentucky, UNLV, and Marquette for tournaments, besides hosting their own. They are at Minnesota on September 27 and host the Gophers on November 14.

Today the Badgers face their alumni at 6:30. From the Badger Herald.

next up: tomorrow

Gopher Spring Results

#1 posting 4.23.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SPRING EVENTS
Minnesota finished 2-0-1 on Sunday. I had the report on the Marquette match. The Gophers site has more on the win against North Dakota State, and the tie with Iowa State.

Iowa State also finished 2-0-1 in the Sunday event.

NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFIER PART 2
The Northern Lights Qualifier continues this weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The 14s and 15s take over this time. Here are the schedules.

I hope to add the photos soon.

Out & About: Invasion Black/Northern Lights

#2 posting 4.22.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFIER
17 GOLD CHAMPIONSHIP
INVASION BLACK 2, NORTHERN LIGHTS 0

Invasion, a team from Kansas City, beat Northern Lights 2-0 in the NLQ 17 Championship. The Lights fell behind in each game by wide margins and had to expend a lot of energy trying to climb the mountain.

In game one Invasion jumped out to a 7-1 lead when NL took a time out. Jessica Kopp had two kills to lead the charge for Invasion, both on side out balls. Invasion had three straight side outs to start the contest while the Lights were only 1/3. NL fell further behind at 12-4 before starting their long climb back. Brianna Haugen had two kills, one on a slide and then a quick to start a 7-2 run. NL was helped in that run by four Invasion hitting errors. But the Lights also helped invasion with two straight side outs on missed serves. NL cut the margin to 16-14 on an ace by Karlee Lusen, but Kaylee Miller delivered two straight kills for Invasion to put the margin back to 4. The game see sawed with a 4/3 split with five straight side outs until a NL hitting error opened up the gap. NL took a time out, but Invasion scored on a block right after the break to lead 23-18. Invasion finished the first game with two points from Kopp on a kill and then a block.

Game two started off worse for Lights as they fell behind 10-1 (10-2 after the side out) after only two Invasion servers. The back breaker was a 8 point run on the second serve with five points at the hands of Morgan Reynolds (3 blocks, 2 kills). Even a NL time out a 7-1 couldn't stop the freight train. Invasion bumped it up to 14-4 before NL mounted their rally. After a block by Haugen, Brittany Chambers served up three straight. That started a scoring run where five straight NL players squeezed points off of serves. NL ramped up their side out defense as well stopping the Invasion three straight times. As a result NL tied the game at 17. Invasion was forced to call time at 14-8. They got the point then on a Chambers missed serve, but Haugen gave the ball right back to NL with a slide. Chelsea Fogarty had three kills in the 13-3 run up to 17. NL took a 20-19 lead after three straight points, the last two coming on Invasion hitting errors. The game was tied three more times after that, the last coming at 22 all. On Miller's serve for Invasion Kate Harris, the setter, had a kill which brought about a NL time out. Ashton Bodenstab, the Libero had a kill after the TO to put Invasion on the verge 24-22. Haugen prevented the end with a kill. Haugen served for the Lights and Aubri Renshaw ended the match with a kill.

photos: #1 Stephanie Kent for Northern Lights with a jump serve. #2. Chelsea Fogarty hits through the Invasion window. #3. Morgan Reynolds reaches high for a hit for Invasion. Blocking for NL is Kelsey Mattai and Brittany Chambers. photos by kja.

INVASION BLACK
Rotation; player, School, position, aces-blocks-kills-total
1. Kate Harris, S 0-0-1----1
2. Aubri Renshaw, OH 1-1.5-3---5.5
3. Jessica Kopp, MH 1-2-5---8
4. Morgan Reynolds, RH 1-2.5-4---7.5
5. Kaylee Miller, OH 1-0.5-8---9.5
6. Brooke Fay, MH 0-0.5-3---3.5
L: Ashton Bodenstab 0-0-1---1
totals: 4-8-25---37 points, 13 points on NL errors

NORTHERN LIGHTS
1. Madeline Haben, Holy Angels, S 0-1-0---1
2. Chelsea Fogarty, Belle Plaine, OH 0-0-5---5
3. Karlee Lursen, Eastview, BR 2-0-0----2
3fr Kelsey Mattai, White Bear Lake MH 0-0-2---2
4. Stephanie Kent, Eastview 0-2-1---3
5. Brittany Chambers, Jordan 0-0-4---4
6. Brianna Haugen, Mpls Southwest 0-3-8----11
Totals: 2-6-20---28 points, 13 points on Invastion errors

TRENCH PLAYER
When Morgan Reynolds was in the front row, the point % was .627 (32-19) clearly the best of any player today. Her wing span made it hard to hit on NL's Left side.

Invasion Black 25 25 50
Northern Lights 18 23 41

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/att; fbso%; %earned, %allowed
Invasion Black 14/24-.583; .740; .317
Northern Lights 12/24-.500; .683; .260
3+runs: NL 6, IB 5
missed serves: NL 6, IB 1
NL cut their own throats with six missed serves on the day.

ROTATIONS
INVASION
1 Harris 8-7 .533
2 Renshaw 15-7 .682
3 Kopp 9-5 .643
4 Reynolds 6-8 .429
5 Bodenstab 10-9 .526
6 Fay 3-5 .375
totals: 50-41 .549

NORTHERN LIGHTS
1 Haben 8-6 .571
2 Fogarty 5-14 .263
3 Lursen 8-10 .444
4 Kent 6-9 .400
5 Chambers 9-6 .600
6 Haugen 6-6 .500
Totals: 41-50 .451

Next up: tomorrow morning. I hope to add the photos later in the day on this and the NL 16 game I posted yesterday.

4 Northern Lights Qualifier Winners

#1 posting 4.22.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFER WINNERS
18 Open: Invasion Black beat Minnesota Select 25-19, 25-17

17 Open: Invasion Black beat Northern Lights 25-18, 25-23....I will have this game up in an out & about (I hope before noon) today.

16 Open: Northern Lights #1 beat Tampa Bay 25-12, 25-15

16 Club: Northern Lights #2 beat TAV 16 Advantage 14-25, 25-17, 15-8

Next up: Later this morning with the 17 Open finals

Out & About: Northern Lights 16/Ascis Mavs

#2 posting 4.21.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFIER
16 GOLD POOL 1
NORTHERN LIGHTS 1s 2, ASICS MAVS 0
Today I was able to catch a few games at the Minneapolis Convention Center, host of the Northern Lights Qualifier. Unfortunately I was not able to get to the court (they have 54 courts going on at once) on time. When I did get there I saw the Northern Lights 16 1s beat ASICS Mavs in two 25-17. In game one NL won 25-19. The 16s are primarily from the 2010 class.

NL started off game two with a 3-0 lead after a pair of kills by Katie Froehle and Tori Dixon. Lauren Grant added an ace. Lights were able to get runs of three like this five times in this game while Asics had two three point runs. The Lights gave the Mavs two points in their first four on missed serves. At that time NL led 11-4. The Mavs were able to close to 14-11 on a 7-3 run. Liz Gohde had two straight kills to close the gap for the Mavs. Ashley Wittman had five of the next eight Lights' points, including an ace, to make it 21-13. Grant finished up with three kills in the last four NL points.

Later in the day NL beat Tampa Bay Black 25-12; 25-15 for the championship.

photos: #1. Ashley Wittman hits from the left side. #2. Mollie Geske gets the dig for Northern Lights. #3 Tori Dixon catches the Mavs off guard going down the right line. photos by kja

NORTHERN LIGHTS
Rotation; player, School, position, aces-blocks-kills-total
1. Lauren Grant, Eastview, RH 1-0-4---5
2. Katie Froehle, Eden Prairie, OH 0-0-1---1
2br Danielle Dombeck, Farmington 0-0-1----1
3. Tori Dixon, Burnsville, MH 1-1-5---7
3br Kelli Elhardt, Blaine DS 0-0-0---0
4. Molly Kreklow, Blaine, S 0-0-0----0
5. Ashley Wittman, Shakopee, OH 2-1-4---7
6. Natalie Walseth, Simley, MH 0-0-0---0
L: Mollie Geske, Shakopee
totals: 4-2-15---21, 4 points on Asics Mavs errors

ASCIS MAVS
totals: 2-0-8--10, 7 points on NL errors

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/att; fbso%; points, %earned, %allowed
Northern Lights 10/13 .769
Ascis Mavs 5/12 .417
3+runs: NL 5, AM 2
missed serves: NL 3, AM 0

ROTATIONS
1. Grant 4-2 .667
2. Froehle 4-4 .500
3. Dixon 5-2 .714
4. Kreklow 4-2 .667
5. Wittman 5-3 .625
6. Walseth 3-4 .429
totals: 25-17 .595

I tried to get this story up earlier in the evening, but a thunderstorm complete with lightning kept the computer off line. I also have a story on the Northern Lights 17s competing in their Open championship which I will get up tomorrow.

I also heard from a couple of sources that Molly Kreklow may be headed to Delano.

next up: tomorrow.

Wisconsin 5th on the Beach

#1 posting 4.21.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Wisconsin finished 5th at the Collegiate Nationals Beach Championship on Sunday in San Diego. Nikki Klingsporn (Tartan) and Brittney Dolgner were paired together. Texas won the event.

COACHING NEWS
Here are the 8 people being considered for the head volleyball position at Dickinson State. From the Dickinson Press.

NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFIER
The Northern Lights Qualifier wraps up today at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
The 18, 17, and 16 open divisions have their championships at 1 pm. Before that their is action at 8, 9, and 10 am.
In the 18s: MN Select and Northern Lights are still battling.
In the 17s: MN Select and Northern Lights (again) are battling.
In the 16s: Northern Lights are still alive.

Next up: tomorrow

Out & About: Minnesota/Marquette

#2 posting 4.20.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS SPRING TOURNAMENT
Today the Minnesota Gophers hosted a four team event with Marquette, Iowa State, and North Dakota State. Action started bright and early at 8:30 am with the Gophers taking on Marquette. I was there for that contest and the following match with Iowa State and North Dakota. Here is the report

MINNESOTA gophers 3, MARQUETTE warriors 0

The Gophers swept Marquette in a the new 25 point format. The depleted teams experimented and adjusted to new realities. The bench was nonexistent. As it was in game one Marquette led early 2-0. Brooke Dieter had two kills to tie it up. The first 3 point run for the Gophers, who led with 10 on the day, pushed them out to a 5-3 lead and they never trailed after that. They soon added another three point run to make it 8-4 after Dieter's serve. The Gopher side out game had five straight side outs to close the game. Rachel Hartmann serve out the last three points, the last two coming on Marquette hitting errors.

The Gophers opened game two with two kills by Kelly Schmidt and they soon had a 7-3 lead. The five straight side outs carried over into game two with seven of the first eight Marquette serves done in one. Combined with the end of the first game that was 12/13. It was 15-8 at that point. Lauren Gibbemeyer delivered points 16-18 via kills. Then the side out machine started to sputter. Marquette was able to squeeze on point off the next three serves and closed the margin to 21-18. The Gophers had a run of three with a kill by Dieter, Vatterodt and an ace by Christine Tan to put them on the verge 24-18. The Warriors answered with their own run of three thanks in part to two Gopher hitting errors. Gibbemeyer finished the second game with a kill, her 6th of that frame.

Two Marquette hitting errors put the Gophers in front 2-0. Marquette got hot in the side out game stopping the Gophers serve four straight times. That helped put them up 7-6. After a ball handling error, Hartmann served up four straight. There was a disputed call with what looked to be a kill by Cowles ruled a replay in that sequence. After Hartman's run was done it was 11-7. Tan delivered four straight service points to make it 17-10. Marquette had a run of three to respond with a kill by Rabbecka Gonyo followed by two hitting errors. Hartmann, as she did in game one, served out with three straight. Cowles delivered two kills with Schmidt and Cowles combining for a block on the match point.

photos: #1 Gibbemeyer ready to attack. #2 Hartmann in a joust at the net. photos by kja

Minnesota 25 25 25 (75)
Marquette 14 21 16 (51)

MINNESOTA
Rotation; player, position, aces-blocks-kills-total
1. Hailey Cowles, OH 0-1-13---14
2. Christine Tan, L 1-0-0---1
2fr Kelly Schmidt, MH 0-4.5-5---9.5
3. Katie Vatterodt, RH 0-2.5-6---8.5
4. Brooke Dieter, OH 0-0-3----3
5. Lauren Gibbemeyer, MH 0-5.5-9---14.5
6. Rachel Hartmann, S 0-1.5-3---4.5
totals: 1-15-49---65

Point Errors for Marquette:
Gibbemeyer 6
Dieter 4
Cowles 3
Hartmann 2
Vatterodt 2
Tan 1
Schmidt 1

MARQUETTE
The fact is Marquette had permanent players in the front row and permanent players in the back row. All teams were short on numbers due to graduation and some nagging injuries (Kyla Roehrig was out for the Gophers for example). At this point I will summarize their point totals, and disregard their service order since it was creative to say the least.
Rabbecka Gonyo 0-4-11---15
Hailey Viola 0-0.5-8---8.5
Laira Akin, 0-1.5-4---5
Jessica Kieser 0-0-2---2
Caryn Mastandrea 0-0-1---1
totals: 0-6-26---32

TRENCH PLAYER
Hailey Cowles

BY THE NUMBERS
team, fbso/att; fbso%; points, %earned, %allowed
Minnesota 24/38; .632; 75; .733; .373
Marquette 19/37; .514; 51; .627; .267
3+runs: MN 10, Marquette 2
missed serves: MN 6, Marquette 5

ROTATIONS
1. Cowles 13-10 .565
2. Tan 17-12 .586
3. Vatterodt 10-6 .625
4. Dieter 11-9 .550
5. Gibbemeyer 8-8 .500
6. Hartmann 16-6 .727
totals: 75-51 .595

I also stayed for the Iowa State vs North Dakota State battle won by ISU 25-23, 25-15, and 19-15. There was automatically three games. There were a few Minnesotans playing for both squads. For ISU, Diane Kieger, a 6-4 middle from Mounds View had 1.5 blocks and 9 kills for 10.5 total points. For NDSU Mattie Johnson of Lakeville North set. Also Kristen Hille of Sauk Rapids hit on the out side. Hille had 17 kills, 1 ace and 1 block for a total of 19 points. In game three Hille had five of the first six points on kills for NDSU as they raced out to a 6-2 lead. Hille ended up with 10 points in game three.

photos: #1. Diane Kieger (#11) for Iowa State. #2. Kristen Hille of NDSU (#12). #3 Mattie Johnson (#8) for NDSU. photos by kja

next up: tomorrow

Gopher Spring Event, Northern Lights Qualifier

#1 posting 4.20.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SPRING TOURNAMENTS
The Sports Performance College Invitational at the Great Lakes Center was the big event on the Saturday calendar. Ohio was one of the 24 teams in action and the Bobcats finished 0-5. Ohio lost to Indiana State and Northwestern in the morning and to North Carolina, Illinois State and DePaul in afternoon bracket play.

GOPHER ACTION
Minnesota Spring Tourney Schedule
Marquette vs Minnesota 8:30 a.m.
Iowa State vs. North Dakota State, 10 a.m.
Iowa State vs. Marquette, 11:30 a.m.
North Dakota State vs Minnesota
Marquette vs North Dakota State 3:10 p.m.
Iowa State vs. Minnesota, 4:40 p.m.
All matches held at the Sports Pavillion. Admission is free.

NORTHERN LIGHTS QUALIFIER
The NLQ is going on this weekend at Minneapolis Convention Center. Here is the schedule.

Here is the list of North Country Regional Qualifiers in PDF format.

Next up: Later today with a report on the Gopher action.

UMD Awards, Beach Schedule

#1 posting 4.19.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AWARDS
Vicky Braegelmann was named Senior Athlete of the year at UM Duluth. Danielle Beckstrand picked up the Rasmussen Award as the school's top-scholar athlete for on the female side.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Wisconsin is the 4th seed in the Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championships on Sunday. The are in a pool with #1 USC and #5 Clemson.

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

Beach Volleyball in a Northern State, Gopher Sunday Tournament

#1 posting 4.17.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
The 2008 Collegiate Nationals event in San Diego is more than just volleyball. The event will have flowboarding, a music fest and new this year an eating contest. The volleyball is the only event with NCAA players.

Wisconsin is headed to the event and are getting ready for the sand by bringing the beach inside.

SPRING TOURNAMENT
Marquette is prepping for their appearance at the Gopher Spring tournament this Sunday. It is free and open to the public. Action starts with the Gophers vs Marquette at 8:30 am at the Sports Pavilion. North Dakota State and Iowa State are the other two teams involved in the event.

Next up: tomorrow

Gopher Signings, Washington State Bound

#1 posting 4.16.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNINGS
Here is the Gopher press release on the latest two signings--Jessica Granquist of Blaine and Pamela Luiz of Limeira, Brazil by way of Frank Phillips College (a 2 year school in Texas).

COACHING
Here is the official press release from South Dakota State on Andrew Palileo's resignation. He is leaving for Washington State. The Sioux Falls Argus Leader explains why Washington State is a good fit for Palileo.

Also Brian Lamppa is leaving the University of South Dakota. Assistant coach Kevin Marquis will be the interim coach.

Kingsland High School in Spring Valley, MN has a head volleyball coaching position open.

LAST WEEKEND
We posted this before, but now the Gophers have added a few more stats to last weekends 2-1 tournament experience down at Iowa State. Brook Dieter had 39 kills and Hailey Cowles 36 more.

Ohio State was 4-0 last weekend to win the Purdue tournament. They only lost one game as they swept three matches.

AROUND THE BIG 10
Indiana has been spending time bonding this spring.

Purdue will be involved with the Great Lakes Center /Sports Performance Collegiate Spring Tournament this weekend. Here are the 24 teams involved: Purdue, Albany, Virginia, DePaul, Georgia Tech, Illinois-Chicago, Illinois State, Indiana State, Iowa, Kansas State, Kent State, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, Maryland, Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio, Saint Louis, South Carolina, UConn, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee

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

USA Volleyball Coaching Staff

#1 posting 4.14.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COACHING NEWS
USA Volleyball has announced coaching staffs junior national and youth national teams. Former Ohio State Coach Jim Stone is the head youth coach.

Next up: Tomorrow morning

Gopher Signing & Spring, SDSU Coach on the Move?

#1 posting 4.13.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHER SIGNING
The Gophers received this week signed NLIs from Jessica Granquist of Blaine and Pamela Luiz of Frank Phillips College in Texas.

Luiz was a first team NJCAA Division 1 All-American in 2007 and a second team AA as a freshman. Luiz is a 5-11 right-side hitter from Limeira, Brazil.

That makes four for the 2008 signing class: Alex Blatt (S) from Illinois, Ariana Filho (MB) from Colorado, Granquist, and Luiz

SPRING EVENTS
Minnesota was 2-1 Saturday at Iowa State beating the hosts and Northern Iowa, but falling to Creighton.

Ohio dropped two to host Dayton and Louisville yesterday.

COACHING NEWS?
South Dakota State volleyball coach Andrew Palileo is one of the ten remaining candidates for the head coaching position at Florida Gulf Coast. SDSU won the Summit League and made it to the NCAA tournament this season. From KSFY in Sioux Falls.

Next up: tomorrow

Schmit Signs, Iowa State Event, Badgers on the Beach

#1 posting 4.12.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNING
Samantha Schmit, of Fairmount-Campbell-Tintah, has signed a letter of intent to play for the North Dakota State College of Science volleyball team in 2008. NDSCS is in Wahpeton. From the Wahpeton Daily News.

SPRING TOURNAMENT
Iowa State is hosting a four team event today with Minnesota, Creighton and Northern Iowa. The event starts at 10 am and the final matches take place at 1:30 pm.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Wisconsin will be taking part of the 2008 Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship in San Diego, Calif. on Sunday, April 20. The event will be broadcast on CBS on May 25. (Don't ask me why it needs to be delayed a full month). Nikki Klingsporn of Tartan will be one of the Badgers taking part.

Next up: Tomorrow

West, East, North, and South

#1 posting 4.11.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

COACHING NEWS
Mankato West has an opening for girls volleyball coach.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RESULTS
Here is the Marquette version of events from the Wednesday contest with Wisconsin. (the East)

JO VOLLEYBALL
Minnesota North volleyball team is making a major impact. The 16u team won the Rochester tournament and finished 3rd in the President's Day event in the Twin Cities. From the Pine Journal.
I have added a link for East End Juniors and MN North in the JO links on the right.

SIGNING
Rachel Hockaday a 6-0 outside from Decatur, Ill. (Maroa-Forsyth) has signed with Iowa State. She is the 5th player headed to the Cyclones next season. (the South)

Next up: tomorrow

Smed, Schuster Sign, Klingsporn Steps Up

#1 posting 4.10.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

VERBALS/SIGNINGS
Annika Smed of Albert Lea has signed with North Dakota. Smed is a 6-0 outside hitter. North Dakota is transitioning to D1 this year. From the Albert Lea Tribune.

Tia Schuster of Our Redeemer's in Minot, North Dakota will play volleyball next season at Augsburg. From the Minot Daily News.

STEPPING UP
Wisconsin's Nikki Klingsporn will be taking over at setter for the Badgers after a redshirt season. Klingsporn was Minnesota's Miss Volleyball in 2005 when she finished her high school career at Tartan. Badger Coach Pete Waite evaluates her talents. From the Badger Herald.

The Badgers beat Marquette last night taking four of the five games.

Wisconsin's Brittney Dolgner will be competing in the 2008 Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship in San Diego on April 20.

BANKRUPTCY
The Michigan High School Athletic Association may file for bankruptcy. This results from the volleyball /girls basketball season switch lawsuit. Before the volleyball season was in the winter making it hard to compete in the JO events around the country. The MHSAA's bill is $7.4 million. From the Holland Sentinel

Next up: tomorrow

Spring Events, Qualifier News, Texas Transfer

#1 posting 4.9.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SPRING EVENTS
Marquette is hosting Wisconsin today at 6 pm. No admission charge.

On Saturday Purdue will host a 9 team tournament.

The Gopher Volleyball team will host their annual spring tournament on Sunday, April 20, 2008 in the Sports Pavilion. The schedule is as follows:
8:30-9:50 Marquette vs. Minnesota
10-11:20 Iowa State vs. NDSU
11:30-12:50 Marquette vs. Iowa State
12:50-1:20 Break
1:40-3 Minnesota vs. NDSU
3:10-4:30 Marquette vs. NDSU
4:40-6 Minnesota vs. Iowa State
Admission is FREE

QUALIFIER
The Northern Lights Qualifier will be charging admission this year for the first time. $6/day/person or a three day pass at $15/person. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Convention Center. Purchasing online will cost an extra $1.50 per ticket. For more information check out the Northern Lights site.

RUMORAMA
The Gophers are rumored to be signing a Texas JUCO player today.

SEASON WRAP
Alexandria's season is reviewed in the Alexandria Echo Press. Maggie Snyder was named the Cardinals MVP.

ATHENA WINNER
Jennifer Annoni of Hill-Murray is that school's Athena winner for 2008. Annoni lettered three years in volleyball. From the White Bear Press.

Next up: tomorrow (unless news breaks)

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

Iowa State, Ohio State Sweep; No to Rochester

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

SPRING TOURNAMENTS
At the Northern Iowa spring volleyball tournament last weekend, Iowa State swept the other three Iowa schools. This Saturday ISU hosts Minnesota, Creighton and Northern Iowa.

Ohio State swept the competition at the Indianapolis volleyball tournament last weekend. It was the first time out with new coach Geoff Carlston.


NO BONDS
The National Volleyball Center in Rochester is one of the projects hit by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's veto pen. From the StarTribune.

Next up: tomorrow

Assistants Other Lives, Plyometrics

#1 posting 4.7.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

THE LIVES OF ASSISTANTS
Henry Assistant coach Rich Jackson is a police officer in Minneapolis. His main duty is housing inspector. With many empty, foreclosed houses he is busy. Here is a recent example found on KARE 11.

GET THE JUMP ON PLYOMETRICS
I found this in the Hagerstown, Maryland Herald-Mail about how to improving your jumping with plyometrics.

next up: tomorrow

A Gopher in China, Nebraska Spring

#1 posting 4.6.2008
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

NATIONAL TEAM
Team USA was 5-3 in China. Former Gopher Cassie Busse is a member of Team USA.

SPRING EXHIBITIONS
Nebraska split two games in Denver beating New Mexico, but falling to Colorado State yesterday. From the Lincoln Journal Star.

Next up: Tomorrow