Riesgraf Awarded

#1 posting 12.27.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

RIESGRAF HONORED
Kristin Riesgraf of Hibbing Community College was named to the 2006 NJCAA Division III Women’s Volleyball All-American Volleyball First Team. From the Hibbing Daily Tribune.

next up: tomorrow

Stocking Wishes

#1 posting 12.25.2006
your holiday dose of girls volleyball news & information

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I hope everyone got what they wanted in their stockings:

A finisher on the outside.

A middle that can move and jump.

A setter that is calm, and delivers the ball.

A defense that doesn't let the ball hit the floor.

An NCAA that can seed the tournament squarely.

Three & out for all teams (on the left hand side of course)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

Next up: tomorrow morning

not much stirring

#1 posting 12.23.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information.

Not much stirring...not even my mouse

next up....tomorrow.

Late Awards

#1 posting 12.22.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

Central Lakes had two players make All American: OH Jen Kempenich and S Lisa Kurtz. They are Central Lakes' 12th All Americans

In the HS realm Littlefork-Big Falls listed their honorees. from the International Falls Daily Journal.

next up: tomorrow

Minnesota #6

#1 posting 12.21.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA 6TH
According to the AVCA Minnesota was the 6th best team in the nation. But how is it a team that pushed the national champion Nebraska team to five games is only #6? why not 2 or 3? Of course the final four teams get the top four spots whether they deserved it or not. It goes to show that the Gophers were not seeded properly headed into the NCAA tournament, and still didn't quite get the respect after pushing the Cornhuskers to the precipice.

NORTHERN SUN RISING
MSU Mankato is knocking on the door for admittance to the Northern Sun now that the North Central has been gutted.

Lindsay Jacobson

#1 posting 12.20.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

Lindsay Jacobson, Hibbing has been named by the American Association of University Women a Future Collegian and given $50 to further her education. Jacobson was a middle hitter on the state tournament entrant and she was honorable mention all conference. From the Hibbing Daily Tribune.

Next up; tomorrow.

UMM Academic Winners

#1 posting 12.19.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

UM Morris announced their players that made the UMAC Academic Honor list. There were 7 volleyballers to make the list including seniors Kirsten Nelson of White Bear Lake and Sara Nelson of Alexandria. To find out the others read on.

next up: tomorrow

Mikayla Boerger

#1 posting 12.18.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

Here is the obituary from the StarTribune for Rogers setter Mikayla Boerger.

Our sympathies to the family and to the Rogers volleyball program.

Next up: tomorrow.

Nebraska Champs

#1 posting 12.17.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

NEBRASKA CHAMPS
Nebraska won the NCAA D1 championship with a 3-1 win over Stanford.

The Minnesota Gophers were the only team to take Nebraska to five in the tournament. So with a break here or there......

Ifs ands and buts

Next up: tomorrow

All Area; Tragic Death

#1 posting 12.16.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ALL AREA
The Worthington Daily Globe has listed their All Area team for the past season.
Here is the listing, since I couldn't find a link
First team
Brittany Bakalyar, Jackson Co Central L
Ashley Weatherly, Pipestone S
Laura Kramer, Fulda MH
Kaitlyn Kramer, Fulda MH
Linnea Henkels, SW Star OH
Nicole Buysse, Pipestone OH
Second Team
Cassie Oddson, Windom L
Alexa Vanden Bosch, Edgerton S
Amy Kallemeyn, Edgerton MH
Beth Tinklenberg, Pipestone OH
Megan Bezdilcek, JCC MH
Kesley Van Dyke, SW MN Christian OH
Third Team
Chelsey Cranston, SW Star S
Kelsey Lorenzen, Pipestone L
Traci Fransen, JCC OH
Faith Tinklenberg, Pipestone OH
Casey Christensen, Windom MH
Danielle Trapp, Red Rock MH
Honorable Mentions
Ashley Aggren, Worthington
Laura Meers, Murray County Central
Megan Ysker, Windom
Brenna Munoz, JCC
Kelli Correll, Round Lake-Brewster
Sydney Place, SW Star
Brooke Kramer, Ellsworth
Malori Paplow, Windom
Whitney Frank, Westbrook-Walnut Grove
Kelly Shaner, Red Rock Central
Kasey McNab, Round Lake-Brewster
Audra Schmidt, Westbrook-Walnut Grove
Allison Carlson, Murray Co Central
Kayla Bullerman, Adrian
Amanda Baumgarn, Round Lake-Brewster

TRAGEDY
Mikayla Boerger, a junior setter on the Rogers volleyball team, died this past week. Our sympathies go out her family and the Rogers volleyball extended family on this untimely death.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Championship Set

#1 posting 12.15.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

FINAL MATCH UP
It will be host Nebraska against Stanford in the D1 championship.

Stanford beat defending champ Washington in a sweep in rather convincing fashion 12, 25, 15. From the Seattle Times.

Nebraska lost the first game, but finished off UCLA in three after that.

Is the D1 tournament headed to Omaha forever? like the baseball tournament? The Seattle Post Intelligencer explores the issue.

Next up: tomorrow

Nelson 2nd Team All American

#1 posting 12.14.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

NELSON MAKES 2ND TEAM
MB Meredith Nelson made the AVCA 2nd team All American list yesterday. Nelson is the all time Gopher leader in career blocks, and in block assists.
L Malama Peniata made the honorable mention squad.

Here is a list of the AVCA All Americans.

Congratulations to both.

Also of note: Erin Boeve, Hills-Beaver Creek and Iowa State was honorable mention.

next up: tomorrow.

Autoposy; Mac; HOL

#1 posting 12.13.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

DEATH OF A COACH
The cause of death, according to the corner, of TriState coach Sarah Steele was internal bleeding. From the AP wire in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

MAC STATS
Macalester had three players ranked in the final national D3 stats. Andrea Hansen finished 9th in hitting%; Sonia Muzikarova was 41st in kills per game; Kari Tanaka was 49th in assists per game.

HEART O' LAKES AWARDS
At least for West Central HS
Tana Lohse was on the all conference team
Honorable mentions went to
Krstyal Lacey and Kendra Vipond.
If you know the rest of the Heart O'Lakes squad drop me a line at my email in my profile. I will get the rest up when you readers help on this one.

Thanks for the readers that do provide us with solid information. That helps make this the go to site for volleyball news & information

Next up: tomorrow.

Gopher Recap; Sudden Death

#1 posting 12.12.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHER RECAP
The MN Daily recaps the Elite 8 season for the Gophers beginning with the Europe trip this past summer.
Also, from the day before, the MN Daily digests the Nebraska loss.

SUDDEN DEATH
Tri State, a D3 college in Angola, Indiana, had their young head coach die suddenly. Sarah Steele died at the age of 28.
Our sympathies go out to the Steele family and the extended TriState family.

got news? send it along. This site is driven by readers that are in the know.

Next up: tomorrow

Erin Joki POY, Pac 10 Invite

#1 posting 12.11.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

The NCAA finals will be a PAC 10 invite in Omaha with Nebraska crashing the all west coast party. Nebraska will face UCLA while Stanford takes on Washington in the other bracket. Semis are on Thursday, Finals on Saturday.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The Hibbing Daily Tribune named their player of the year and Grand Rapids' Erin Joki takes the honor. She will be off to North Dakota next year. The rest of the team is also listed with first, second and honorable mentions.

STATS
St. Benedict's was in the top 50 in five categories in the D3 final stats, and Laura Zwach was #19 in the nation with 6.7 digs per game; while Beth Hanson was #37 with 11.2 assists per game.

Thanks to the readers for providing good information to keep this site the top place to go for breaking news & information.

next up: tomorrow.

Gophers Season Ends

#1 posting 12.9.2006
Your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

NEBRASKA TAKES MINNESOTA IN FIVE
The #1 Nebraska Cornhuskers avoided the upset bid and beat #8 Minnesota in a five game match in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday. They did it after MN led 2-0. Nebraska cleaned up their game after the break and took command. Here is the Pioneer Press and StarTribune with more.

Nebraska now goes home, or close enough, to Omaha to take on the rest of the country. Penn State, the only other Big 10 team left in the hunt, was beat by Washington 3-1.

Congratulations to the Gophers on a strong year. If you get beat, you want to get beat by the best. That may have happened last night.

ALL CONFERENCE
Albert Lea's Kat Ladwig and Annika Smed were named all conference. They also are playing club ball this winter. From the Albert Lea Tribune.

Got information? send it in & it will get posted.
Thanks for all the help the readers have provided for this site.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Gophers Chomp Gators

#1 posting 12.9.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS CHOMP GATORS
Despite being forced to play in Gator alley in Florida, the #8 seeded Minnesota Gophers ruined #9 Florida's Saturday night or afternoon plans with a 3-1 win over the Gators. It ended 34 straight home wins by Florida. Here is the box.
The StarTribune was there and covered the event. It was mentioned on KARE11, but no video.

Minnesota now faces #1 Nebraska at 3pm central time for the right to go to Omaha and the final four. Nebraska beat Minnesota earlier in the year and beat San Diego in a sweep last night.

Next up: tomorrow morning.

Gophers vs Gators

#1 posting 12.8.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS VS FLORIDA TODAY
Can't make it to Gainesville? You can watch the action for FREE on the internet thanks to the GatorZone.com. The link is on the Gopher site.
You can read quotes from Coach Hebert, Meredith Nelson and Malama Peniata.


StarTribune writer Jerry Zgoda talks about the Gophers are under the radar going into this game.
The MN Daily has their preview of the weekend's action.

HS TRANSFERS/CLASSIFICATION
The MSHSL has one big change in the 3 class system: the top 96 teams will be in AAA now, with 128 in the AA division, the rest in A. Before the classes were divided equally. Also they are waiting on the transfer rule because the private schools are not crazy about the proposed changes.

HALEY BOWER
Haley Bower is a junior at Augsburg with strong defensive credentials and a 3.91 gpa. She is featured in the Brainerd Dispatch.

I have added a few more JO teams to the links on the right. Have more? email me by going to my profile. It is on now.

Thanks to all the help provided by the readers for making this the go to site for volleyball.

next up: tomorrow morning

AVCA Honors

#1 posting 12.7.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

AVCA HONORS
The American Volleyball Coaches Association is handing out post season honors. In the Coaching department Gopher Coach Mike Hebert picked up Mideast coach of the year, his 3rd such honor.

The AVCA also has handed out awards for players and two Gophers landed on the All Mideast team: MH Meredith Nelson and L Malama Peniata. Kelly Bowman was an honorable mention selection.
Betty Slinger, UWGB and Bethlehem Academy was honorable mention in the Midwest Region.

Congratulations to all award winners.

Thanks to the viewers that help with information to this site. my email is now on (for some reason it was off) on my profile.

Next up: Tomorrow morning with more news.

Gophers Prepare, Lanesboro's Divided MVP

#1 posting 12.6.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS GET READY
Coach Mike Hebert was featured in the StarTribune with his frame of mind expectations.

The Gophers are headed to Gainesville Florida. Here are some of the background stats involved and media sources.

END OF HS WRAP
Lanesboro split their MVP between Hannah Glor and Bonnie Albright. From the Republican Leader.

got news? email from my profile.

Next up: tomorrow, I hope before noon.

Minnesota #9 in AVCA Poll, Prairie All Conference

#1 posting 12.5.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

#8 SEED MINNESOTA #9 IN POLL
The Minnesota Gophers are unchanged in the latest AVCA poll. Their opponent on Friday is the #7 Florida Gators. However they are the #9 seed. Shouldn't Florida be the #7 seed in the tournament then? or is their a fix?

ALL CONFERENCE LIST
The Prairie conference has named their all conference players.
Kayla Tschida, Upsala offensive MVP
Beth Burggraff, Upsala
Kari Roering, Upsala
Alexandra Knettel, Upsala
Jordan Noska, Browerville defensive MVP
Rachel Johnson, Browerville
Jessica Thompson, Browerville
Stephanie Roggenbuck, Osakia
Stacey Kern, Osakis
Cari Jo Hohncke, Osakis
Leah Jendro, Royalton
Brooke Winscher, Royalton
Rachel Allen, Eagle Valley
Kalyn Beseman, Swanville
Honorable Mention
Denise Ripplinger, Upsala
Mallory Johnson, Upsala
Amanda Boeckermann, Upsala
Emily Salber, Browerville
Kirsten Winscher, Royalton
Rachel Wagner, Eagle Valley
Missy Kassube, Eagle Valley
Jamie Kulzer, Swanville
Tracy Fruechte, Swanville

Thanks for sending the conference list in. If your conference has been sent in get it to me and it will get up. Go to my email to email me.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Sweet 16 Preview

#1 posting 12.4.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS OFF TO FLORIDA
The U of M site previews the action to come this weekend in Florida. Minnesota will face the hosts in the late game.

The MN Daily reviews the St. John's game that went the max.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Wisconsin in Sweet 16

#1 posting 12.3.2006
your daily dose of girls basketball news & information

WISCONSIN TOPS IOWA STATE
Wisconsin is in the Sweet 16 after sweeping Iowa State. Hills-Beaver Creek MH Erin Boeve had 11 kills for Iowa State. Wisconsin is now headed to Texas to see the hosts next weekend.

Five Big 10 teams are left standing: Penn State will play Purdue in one Sweet 16 match. Ohio State is on the other side of the same regional at Washington and will face the hosts. The Pac 10 also provided four teams with Stanford playing Missouri today with a chance to match the Big 10. So of the 16 teams left a potential 10 are from the two power packed conferences. 3 teams (or 4 if Missouri upsets Stanford) are from the Big 12. San Diego, Hawaii and Florida crashed the party from three other conferences.

Here is the Minnesota/St. John's
NUMBER CRUNCHING
fbso, points; earned-%; allowed-%
Minnesota 38/69--.551; 125; 93-.744; 38-.330
St. John's 33/67-.493; 115; 77-.670; 32-.256

The FBSO % is one of the lowest on the year. That number has to be north of .600 for things to be clicking.

ROTATION POINTS
1 Tan 23-17 .575
2 Peniata 23-21 .523
3 Bowman 20-15 .571
4 Crumpston 21-23 .477
5 Nelson 22-24 .478
6 Hartmann 15-15 .500

The Gophers adjusted after game four with Crumpston's rotation moved to #1. As you can see that collective half of the rotations were sub .500 on the match. Only three rotations above .500, not one in the .600s which usually is the case.
The Gophers have had big road wins during the year at Wisconsin, Purdue and Ohio State. They will need to duplicate those efforts in Gator Alley.

thanks to all that help with the blog providing information and tips. it is appreciated.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Gophers Survive St. John's

#1 posting 12.2.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS SURVIVE ST. JOHN'S
Minnesota let a 2-0 lead develop into a 2-2 game with St. John's and had to work game five 15-12 to advance to Gainesville, Florida to take on the Gators, 3-1 winners over Arizona State, next week. A Jessy Jones kill finished the contest. I will have more on the numbers much later.

OTHER GAMES OF NOTE
Iowa State, with Hills-Beaver Creek Middle Erin Boeve, swept UW Milwaukee. Boeve had 10 kills. From the Pioneer Press news wire.

Wisconsin will face Iowa State. The Badgers swept Notre Dame in Madison.

ALL STATE
South Dakota had their AA listed in the Pioneer Press off the news wires. You can contrast and compare. SD teams did play in the Apple Valley tournaments during the year.

Next up: Tomorrow morning

Gophers Sweep Siena, UMD, Winona Signings

#1 posting 12.1.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS SWEEP SIENA
Minnesota moves on to the round of 32 with a 16, 25, 15 sweep of Siena in Siena's back yard. At least at the Siena site you can see the play by play, something that hasn't been on the MN site all year. MN takes on St. John's tonight. They beat host Albany 3-1.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
fbso-%; points; earned-%; allowed -%
Minnesota 31/42--.738; 90; 72--.800; 25--.463
Siena 20/40--.500; 54; 29--.537; 18--.200
A dominating performance with fbso and earned points.

ROTATION POINTS
1 Tan/Chin (3) 16-9 .640
2 Peniata 15-11 .577
3 Bowman 17-9 .654
4 Crumpston 10-10 .500
5 Nelson/Fallon (3) 10-7 .588
6 Hartmann 22-7 .759

Hartmann's rotation really kick it last night. Hartmann had a string of 9 points in game one. For the early part of the year that rotation was trailing the others. Crumpston's rotation was hampered by missed serves. If this keeps up, who knows where the Gophers will stop? Omaha?

SIGNINGS
UM Duluth signed four players for next season
April Hansen, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, MH
Alyssa Nelson, Hayfield, MH/OH
Eleena Iisakka, Esko, S
Rachel Lamers, Kimberly, WI, OH

Winona State signed three
Mollie Bjelland, Grantsburg, WI, RS/S
Susan Clausen, Johnston, IA, S
Kim Nemcek, Geneva, IL MH

ALL STAR GAMES
The 2nd Polar all star game along with the Polar League All Conference team can be found on the Cloquet Pine Journal article.

Next up: tomorrow morning with the St. John's recap.