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