Gophers Open NCAAs, Metro All Conference Teams

#1 posting 11.30.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS OPEN NCAAS TODAY
Minnesota starts its NCAA journey today on the road at Albany. They take on Siena, a school in the Albany suburbs, at 5 pm. A look at the match up from the MN Daily.

FALL ALL CONFERENCE
The StartTribune has a boatload of metro area all conference teams.

Lanesboro's season is reviewed and the Southeast all conference team is named in the Spring Grove Herald. Lanesboro's Hannah Glor was POY in the league.

If you have any All conference teams send them this way so we can get them up.

Good Luck Gophers tonight.

Next up: tomorrow morning

SW Signings, Siena's Outlook

#1 posting 11.29.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNINGS
SW MN State signed four players for next season:
Tiffany Burch, Shanwnee Mission East, KS
Kasey Uran, Sartell-St. Stephen the St. Cloud Times POY
Krystal Schwanke, Springfield the New Ulm Journal POY
and Leah Bjerke, Rochester Mayo

SIENA
Here is the Siena site again to check out the Gophers first opponent.

I digested the numbers, if it means anything for their last game against Fairfield in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championships:

NUMBER CRUNCHING
fbso: total points; earned %; allowed %
Siena 35/68--.515; 111; 71-.640; 35-.289.
Fairfield 39/66--.591; 121; 86-.711; 40-.361
Fairfield had better fbso #s and total points, but that didn't prevent Siena from winning in five. Fairfield had too many mistakes to survive.

A look at the Siena rotations
1 Hummel 27-18 .600
2 London 22-21 .552
3 Hackett/Honore (5) 17-21 .447
4 Kobayashi 11-16 .407
5 Robello 20-16 .556
6 Gustafson/Hackett (5) 15-26 .366

In game five Siena made a switch starting off with Honore instead in Hackett's spot, serving first, followed by Kobayashi, Robello, then Hackett, Hummel and London.

The points in their rotations appear that they do have some holes. Gophers like to climb in holes.

Next up: tomorrow morning, probably not as late.

Minnesota Trio All Big 10

#2 posting 11.28.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ALL BIG 10
Three Minnesota Gophers have been named to the All Big 10 first team: Meredith Nelson, MH unanimous; Kelly Bowman RH and Malama Peniata, L. Peniata was also named defensive player of the year.
Jessy Jones, MH was named honorable mention.

Penn State's frosh phenom Megan Hodge was POY and Frosh of the year.

Congratulations Gophers

Next up: tomorrow morning

UND, SCSU Signings, Falkenhagen Resigns

#1 posting 11.28.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNINGS
North Dakota has signed Devin Trefz, Bagley a 6-1 MH and Shanna Schmiesing, Sauk Centre, a 5-10 OH.
St. Cloud State has signed Jennifer Waterman, Anoka a 5-11 S; Amy Gatz, Howard-Lake-Waverly-Winsted a 6-2 MH and Ashley Shields, Whitefish Bay, WI an OH.

HIEBERT
Gopher coach Mike Hiebert is featured in an article on the Big 10 site. It recounts his career at both Illinois and of course MN with his skill at program building.

POLLS
The #8 NCAA tournament seeded Gophers are the #9 team in the AVCA poll. Don't ask me how these things work out.

COACHING NEWS
Kim Falkenhagen has resigned at Bemidji State. Falkenhagen had a four year record of 35-94.

CONFERENCE NEWS
Milaca and Mora have a new conference home--the West Central. With the end of the Rum River five schools had to find a new conference. Foley already had been accepted into the now 18 team conference. The conference could divide into three 6 team divisions.

UM Crookston's fate could be headed to D3. from the Grand Forks Herald

VIDEO
I know it is about a month ago, but you can watch the Wayzata Armstrong 5AAA match right from your computer. Cable 12 the NW Suburban cable station has each game of the match on video if you want to watch. Here is game one, game two and game three.

Next up: tomorrow morning

More on Seeds and All Area

#1 posting 11.27.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MORE ON GOPHER SEED
The Minneapolis StarTribune was also in attendance and has their take on the tournament at hand and the mysterious seeding process.

The MN Daily recaps the pair of wins over Purdue and Indiana.

MORE ALL AREA
Well fans you pulled through, here is the rest of the Winona Daily News all area team
First Team:
Tori Lind - Mabel-Canton sr MH, first team all-state, 381 kills, 181 digs,62 blocks, 900 career kills
Kate Kreuzer - Winona sr. S, 70 kills, 246 assists, 187 digs
Jenny Gilbertson - Winona Cotter jr. MH, 293 kills, 163 digs
Hannah Glor - Lanesboro sr. MH, 275 kills, 115 ace serves
Jackie Hust - W-K sr. OH, 293 kills, 163 digs
Ashley King - Caledonia sr. OH, 258 kills, 325 digs
Second Team:
Katelyn Horihan - Mabel-Canton soph MH, first team all-state, 400 kills,.454 efficiency, 98 blocks, 700 career kills
Raechelle Manning - Mabel-Canton sr S, 889 assists, 64 ace serves, 1,730career assists
Danielle Peters - W-K sr. OH, 285 kills, 178 digs, 46 ace serves
Savannah Sawle - Rushford-Peterson sr. MH, 216 kills, 71 ace blocks, 160 digs, 526 career kills
Devin Bowlin - Winona Cotter sr. OH, 219 digs, 138 kills
Afton Glander - Alma, WI sr. libero, 157 digs

If you know of all conference or all area teams that this site hasn't covered let me know. Go to my profile to email me the missing information. I am still looking for the Duluth News Tribune All area team.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Gophers Shown No Love

#2 posting 11.26.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

#8 GOPHERS SENT TO ALBANY
I went to the Minnesota Gopher selection party and the good news is the Gophers are the #8 seed in the country. The bad news is, for the third year in a row, the Gophers are on the road to start in Albany, NY. In 2004 the Gophers had to go east, and in that year they were runners up to Stanford. But the lack of love from the NCAA had many gasps and groans from the many in attendance this afternoon. They also will play the Thursday/Friday games.

First off the NCAA only seeds 16 teams. Why? I think they want to keep things local, build up attendance. The other three teams in the Albany bracket are from NY: Siena of the Metro Atlantic, the Gophers first opponent, and then the nominal host Albany and St. John's from the Big East.

Siena is close to home and is counting on their fan base to provide them a lift. Siena made the tournament as an automatic qualifier with a five game win over Fairfield in the Metro Atlantic tournament.

7 Big 10 teams are still dancing. Penn State, as you would expect is home, but so is Wisconsin and Purdue. Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State are all road warriors. Of the top 8 seeds only #6 Washington is sent packing to Colorado, but if they get the job done there they are back in Seattle.

Why is Minnesota the Rodney Dangerfield of this tournament?

The NCAA needs to seed ALL 64 teams, and it probably needs to do away with home court advantages too. Texas and Florida don't have to leave home if they want to make the final four. That is a fairness issue. I know the Gophers benefited in 2004 when they hosted the regionals.

Here is the NCAA press release.

I don't know if anyone does bracketology, but make a copy of this bracket and start an office pool.

And of course you need the official website of the NCAA tournament. not much there yet.

I will have more on Siena as the week progresses.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Gophers 2nd; Hust POY

#1 posting 11.26.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS 2ND IN BIG 10
Minnesota closed out the regular season with a sweep at Indiana. Now today they will await word on the NCAA seeding which should take place between 2-3 pm today.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, FBSO; points, earned tot-%; allowed tot-%
Minnesota 28/45-.622; 90; 68--.756; 23-.333
Indiana 18/47---.383; 69; 46--.667; 22--.244

ROTATION POINTS
Tan 15-11 .577
Peniata 18-14 .563
Bowman 16-12 .571
Crumpston 17-9 .654
Nelson 12-15 .444
Hartmann 12-8 .600
A day after being the lowest, Crumpston's rotation rose to the top. However the next rotation faltered. Hartmann again had her second straight game of over .600

HUST POY
Jackie Hust, Wabasha-Kellogg has been named player of the year in the Winona Daily News.
I have tried to find the other members of the WDN all area team, but I couldn't find a link. If you know them send them along so the rest of the world can see too.

In the Hust story it was reported that coach Katie Gove is resigning. That makes three coaches that I know about: Apple Valley's Walt Weaver and Central Christian's Tracy Grussing have also resigned. I will be putting a link up soon for coaching openings.

Next up: after the NCAA seedings today.

Gophers Hammer Purdue

#1 posting 11.24.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

GOPHERS HAMMERDOWN PURDUE
The #10 Minnesota Gophers put the hammer down last night at #22 Purdue in a convincing post thanksgiving day sweep 22, 22, 23. A powerful .430 hitting % left no doubt in anyones mind where the Gophers stand. Minnesota will play at Indiana tonight and that should go the Gophers way. Penn State is at home against Northwestern. If MN has a chance to tie for the title NW would have to win, but then Penn State has the tiebreaker anyway.

Here are the Minnesota and Purdue views of the match last night.

BY THE NUMBERS (points-earned-earned %-gave away-ga%)
Minnesota 90; 67; .744; 23; .343
Purdue 67; 44; .657; 23; .256
FBSO
Minnesota 37/50---.750
Purdue 22/48--.458

ROTATION POINTS
Tan 13-9 .591
Peniata 20-11 .645
Bowman 14-10 .583
Crumpston 13-17 .433
Nelson 12-8 .600
Hartmann 17-11 .607
Three rotations over .600 with two knocking at the door. The only problem was rotation #4 with a game high 17 points scored on it.

POST SEASON AWARDS
Cook County has a wrap up of their season in the Cook County News-Herald.

The Hiawatha Valley League has named their all conference squad:
State runner up Stewartville had four members of the squad:
Leigh Splittstoesser, S, 2007
Alex Nold, MH, 2007
Amanda Thompson, MH, 2007
Julie Rainey, OH, 2010

Three schools had 3
Ashley Pyfferoen, Byron, OH, 2007
Jill Storlie, Byron, MH, 2008
Racquel Reker,Byron, MH, 2007
Jenny Gilbertson, Winona Cotter, MH, 2008
Devin Bowlin, Winona Cotter, OH, 2007
Paula Angst, Winona Cotter, MH, 2007
Ashley Ahmann, Roch Lourdes, OH, 2007
Emily Welhaven, Roch Lourdes, OH, 2007
Caitlin Brunkhorst, Roch Lourdes, RH, 2007
4 schools had 2
Laura Canton, Pine Island, MH, 2007
Christina Maley, Pine Island, MH, 2008
Alyssa Nelson, Hayfield, OH, 2007
Leslie Wilson, Hayfield, OH, 2008
Amanda Schroeder, Kasson-Mantorville, S, 2007
Ashleigh Betha, Kasson-Mantorville, L, 2007
Erin Nibbe, Lake City, OH, 2007
Amy Vaith, Lake City, S, 2007
4 had one each
Kristin Boyum, Kenyon-Wanamingo, OH, 2007
Natassja Elliot, Triton, S, 2007
Julia Thompson, Cannon Falls, S, 2007
Kelli Boras, Zumbrota-Mazeppa, L, 2008

Thanks to all the readers that help make this site a must see spot on the internet superhighway.

Next up: tomorrow morning

D1 Minnesotans Pick Up Awards

#1 posting 11.24.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

Today the Gophers have a big contest at Purdue with NCAA hosting implications. If the Gophers take care of business it would be close to impossible for the NCAA to stiff them like they did last year.

MINNESOTANS IN D1
Today we will take a look at how some of the Minnesota players in D1 did this season.

UConn was the 7th seed in the Big East tournament and lost to Louisville in quarterfinals in four games. Bridget Denson-Dorman, Hopkins; Megan Frey, Chaska and Lorelle Schaub, Irondale made up the Minnesotans on the squad. UConn was 19-11 on the year. Denson-Dorman played in 103 games and averaged 12.69 assists per game and led the team with 44 ace serves. Schaub played in 84 games had 1.5 kills and 1.11 blocks pg. Frey played in 24 games.

Denson-Dorman was named to the Big East Second team.

UW Green Bay had three Minnesotans: Sarah Rauen, North Branch; Betty Slinger, Bethlehem Academy; and Leah Steinbauer, Medford. Both Rauen and Slinger were involved in 113 games, Steinbauer played in 57.
Rauen had 2.82 kills per game, 3rd on the team, 2nd on the digging front, and led UWGB with 40 aces.
Slinger averaged 9.12 assists to lead the team, averaged 2.33 kpg which is good for fourth and 3rd in digging.

Slinger was named to the Horizon all Conference first team, her second straight honor. Both Rauen and Slinger were players of the week once during the season.

Central Florida, with Jana Mitchell from Ossseo, lost in the first round of the C-USA tournament to UAB losing in four. Mitchell had 9 kills along with a hand in six blocks. UCF was 5-24 on the year. Mitchell had 96 kills for the year. She led the team with 1.15 blocks per game.

North Dakota State has 7 Minnesotans on their roster. Mattie Johnson, Lakeville North was voted newcomer of the year in the D1 independent teams and second team all conference. Johnson averaged 12.29 assists per game.

Christy Stuewe, Mayer Lutheran, was first team all conference. Stuewe had 2.67 kpg, and 1.43 bpg. She led NDSU with in kill % with .356.

Kari Fagnan, Fridley led the Bison with 4.82 dgp. Chloe Quirk, Mankato West was 3rd in digs with 2.74. Kelly Kauffmann, Hopkins; and Kristen Hille, Sauk Rapids-Rice also saw big court time.

South Dakota State had six Minnesotans on their roster. Samantha Pearson, Chaska was named to the second team for the Independent squads in D1. She led SDSU with 4.91 dpg.
Laura Slagter, Mounds View also saw a lot of court time.

Iowa State, Northern Iowa, and Marquette's regular seasons are not over. I will review those teams when they are done.

Thanks to all the help from my readers that make this site what it is.

Next up: tomorrow morning.

Photos From State

#2 posting 11.23.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

here is the photo edition of the state tournament taken by my trusty Olympus D-490. None of theese photos will be up for Pulitzers. The problem was I thought I was taking a shot of the action when it was a split second after. So most of the time the photos are either players standing around after the attack, or players sprawled on the floor with the ball richocet off in the distance. Any way here is the best of the bunch.



When Spuds attack. This is probably an Ashley Wheeler attack.

Here is Eagan, Moorhead's conqueror moving to the ball (top center)

Hibbing's Alia Cook? going up for an attack against Blaine.

Blaine's Jessica Granquist on the floor. Jackie Kelly ready to set.

Lake of the Woods Carlie Waibel setting. Courtney Bitter is next to her.

Leigh Splittstoesser ready to set for Stewartville.

Before the A championship between Minneota and Bethlehem Academy

Minneota's Hayley Hennen about to set.

Minneota's Samantha Hennen with both hands up in celebration.

BAs Holly Hafemeyer going up for the block.

BA setting it up.

This is about the only shot that I have a player going up for an attack. I think it may be an overpass kill coming up judging from the players on the floor for Minneota.

Stewartville up for the block on Jordan.

Stewartville setting up after a Leah Dietel attack.

Jordan calling the ball out.

Celebrating the AA Jordan State Championship.

Next up: tomorrow morning. happy thanksgiving

Uran POY, Channel 12 Team

#1 posting 11.23.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

HAPPY THANKSGIVING
Thanks to all the readers that help providing this site with worthwhile information

URAN POY
Casey Uran, Sartell has been named player of the year in the St. Cloud Times. Here are profiles of the balance of the squad.

Cable channel 12 in the Northwest suburbs has a video clip that is quite good about their all area volleyball team. It is worth three to four minutes of your time. Click on play video when you get there.

If you know of any all this or all that list I will get it up.

SIGNINGS
To catch up:
Casey Uran, Sartell to SW MN State
Shanna Schmiesing, Sauk Centre, to North Dakota
Steph Wallin, Armstrong to High Point

ALL DISTRICT
UW Green Bay players Betty Slinger (Bethlehem Academy) and Sarah Rauen (North Branch) have recognized for the Academic All-District V First Team. From the ECM Post Review.

REVIEWS OF THE YEAR
Anoka-Ramsey finished fourth in the latest JUCO state tournament. Here is the review of their season from the East Central MN Post Review.

Murray County Central handed out their awards recently. From the Murray County News.

Pequot Lakes and Pine River-Backus named their award winners. From the Lake Country Echo.

Lanesboro and Mabel-Canton also join the award parade. From the Republican-Leader.

ALL STAR GAME
The Duluth all stars beat the Area all stars last week in five games in the Bernick’s Pepsi All-Star Volleyball Game. Esko's Eleena Iisakka was named MVP for the Duluth squad, Erin Jacobson, Virginia was MVP for the Area team. From the Cloquet Pine Journal.

Next up: the long awaited state tournament photos. Come back after your turkey. They will NOT be amazing photos due to the photographer and the slow, slow camera.

Braegelmann National POY

#1 posting 11.22.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BRAEGELMANN CO D2 POY
Vicky Braegelmann, UM Duluth has to build a new edition to her home as she has been named national co-player of the year for D2. She of course was named to the first team by the AVCA. She has pulled in 9 major awards this year.
UMD's Kari Wolford, and Katie Ganglehoff were named to the AVCA second team. Rachel Langseth made honorable mention.
Concordia St. Paul's Jessica Lucia, Kelsey Kyro, and Maggie McNamara also were honored. Lucia made the first team; Kyro and McNamara were second teamers. McNamara also was named Freshman of the year.
Here is a list of all the winners from the AVCA.

ALBERS POY
Allison Albers, Goodhue has been named player of the year in the Red Wing Republican Eagle. The first team and second team are also listed.

GOPHERS ROAD TRIP
The MN Daily looks at the road trip to Purdue and Indiana this weekend.

HS SEASON ENDING WRAPS
Elk River and Rogers seasons are recapped in the Elk River Star News. MVPs: Arika Jullierat for ER; Amy Neubauer for Rogers.

Next up: tomorrow morning. Also pictures, the ones that are passable, from the state tournament.

Brandl Verbals

#1 posting 11.21.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

BRANDL VERBALS
Kelsey Brandl, Lakeville North 2008 has made a verbal to Cincinnati. The 6-3 Middle helped LN to a second place finish in the recent MN AAA state tournament. Brandl also plays JOs with M1.

SIGNINGS
Mollie Bjelland, Grantsburg, WI has signed with Winona State to play softball and volleyball. You will get the softball information at the WSU site.
Kresson Vreeman, Central Christian has signed with Denver.

SCHWANKE POY
Krystal Schwanke, Springfield has been named player of the year in the New Ulm Journal.
She is headed to SW MN State. Here is the balance of the team.

ALL CONFERENCE
The Pheasant conference named their team with Whitney Boom, of state A entrant Wheaton the MVP
Fergus Falls named their award winners. Sam Revering was named MVP of the Otters. From the Fergus Falls Daily Journal.

GOPHERS CRACK TOP 10
After beating Wisconsin for the second time this year, Minnesota now is #10 in the AVCA poll. Wisconsin fell one spot to #11. Penn State is the top Big 10 team at #5. Minnesota plays #22 Purdue on Friday.
Malama Peniata won the Big 10 defensive award for the 3rd time this year.

SUSSENGUTH
Joe Sussenguth, coach of the national champs Ridgewater, has a feature in the Marshall Independent.

CENTRAL LAKES 3rd
Central Lakes finished third in the JUCO tournament. CL, after losing to Ridgewater in the semis, rallied for a 3-2 win over Brookhaven. CL trailed 29-25 in game four. From the Brainerd Dispatch.

Tampa, the team that ended UM Duluth's season won the D2 tournament, Juniata won the D3 tournament.

If you have all conference lists send them my way.
Thanks to all the readers that help make this site a must see destination on the internet superhighway.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Ridgewater Champs

#1 posting 11.20.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

RIDGEWATER NATIONAL CHAMPS
Ridgewater knocked off MN rival Central Lakes in the semis in four and then Edison, OH in a sweep. Ridgewater has won two titles in the last five years. Joe Sussenguth, in his first year at Ridgewater, was named coach of the tournament as well. Sussenguth was coach at A Champ Minneota for five seasons, so he had a hand in developing two winners. Here is the West Central Tribune on their march to the title.

SENIOR NIGHT, ONE MORE TIME
The MN Daily recaps the senior night celebration win over Iowa. The next item on the menu: at Purdue in a crucial battle the day after Thanksgiving.

POLICE BLOTTER
A former Shawnee Mission East Kansas HS coach Terry Wright, will be spending 13 and 1/2 years in prison for sex crimes involving two former players. He recently married one of them a few weeks ago. From the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Thanks to all the readers that provide me with information. You are what makes this site a destination stop on the internet highway.

Next up: tomorrow morning, Coming on Thanksgiving: photos of the state tournament, but keep in mind they are amatuer photos.

Adams, Ryan POYs; Ridgewater Champs

#1 posting 11.18.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

ALL AREA TEAMS
Award season is in full swing with Brainerd and Duluth naming names.

Annie Adams , Crosby-Ironton, was named player of the year in the Brainerd Dispatch. Here are stats, standings and the balance of the all area team.

Amber Ryan, Hermantown, has been named player of the year in the Duluth News Tribune. I could find no links for the rest of the team. If you know, let me know.

RIDGEWATER NJCAA CHAMPS
Central Lakes was facing Ridgewater in the semifinals yesterday. Ridgewater won that contest in four and then beat Edison in a sweep. The official tournament site has more information along with the all tournament team. Ridgewater's Ashley Olson was MVP.

Each school had the build up to the big event. The Brainerd Dispatch has the Central Lakes story. Ridgewater is in the West Central Tribune.

ALL STAR GAME
There is a photo of the North Central All Star action from Bemidji in the Bemidji Pioneer. No story however. Action continues today.

I have added links to JO programs. If you know of more let me know.

I have tons of photos from the state tournament. It seemed when I clicked the camera was slow. When I thought I was getting a hitter about to swat the ball, I got the action about 1.4 seconds later with celebrations or ball in the net. I hope to put some up on Thanksgiving.

Thanks to all the readers that help make this website what it is. We appreciate the information.

Next up: tomorrow morning

Out & About: Minnesota./Iowa

#2 posting 11.18.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA 3, IOWA 0
30-21, 30-17, 25-30, 30-21

It was senior night at Minnesota and the senior exited the stage with a four game win over Iowa. Kelly Bowman, Megan Crumpston, Meredith Nelson, and Malama Peniata all received accolades and the heartfelt appreciation from the 4000+ fans in attendance. It may have been the last game for those maroon and gold clad veterans. Season ticket holders received a ticket form for NCAA playoff tickets. Minnesota may host on the December 1-2 weekend. Final decision on that will occur after the Purdue/Indiana trip next weekend.

The first two games MN had a strong fbso game checking in .704. They opened with a strong five straight fbso with two blocks and three kills, two by Nelson. The Gophers also had another string of five later in the frame. The only rotation that delivered points off the serve was Peniata's with five straight taking a 10-7 game to 15-7. Iowa's time out did get the ball back in the Hawkeye's hands. They did close to 17-14 on a 7-2 run. MN had a 6-1 run late to push the lead to 29-19, but Iowa fought off the inevitable for three more points.

The second game was much quicker with only 12 servers, the fewest on the night. Peniata again had the best run with 8 straight points taking a 14-9 game to 22-9. Liberal substitutions allowed Iowa some hope and they ran off five straight points late with three straight on Gopher hitting errors.

After the break the Gophers kept the subsitute players and the timing and rhythm was off. Passing was not clean, plus the serving game handed the ball back three of the first six serves. Minnesota did lead in this stanza, the biggest margin was three at 18-15. The game was tied at 22 when Iowa closed with a 8-3 run. The reason was that the Gophers couldn't get a point off their serve as Iowa's fbso game slammed the door on Minnesota seven straight times. Minnesota could not get the fbso game rolling coming in with 11/20 for this frame.

Minnesota went to the regular line up in game four and again started pulling away on Peniata's serve with a run of five points. Bowman added four more so after a 12-12 tie Minnesota went on a 11-1 run.

No word on why Kayla Roehrig did not play in any game tonight. Rachelle Hagerty filled in that OH spot all night.

Here are the Minnesota and Iowa releases. And box, we can't forget the box.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Minnesota 38/61--.623; 115; .817; .393
Iowa 34/60---.567; 89; .607; .183
Minnesota will not have the luxury to allow so many points later this week in Indiana or in the NCAA tournament. Again MN gave away 35 points. They need to drop mistakes to 22 or under to be solid.

ROTATION POINTS
1 Tan/Fallon 18-19 .485
2 Peniata 32-15 .681
3 Bowman 22-20 .524
4 Crumpston 14-13 .519
5 Nelson 14-10 .583
6 Hartmann 15-12 .556
totals 115-89 .564
In the first two games Peniata's rotation had a .769 %. In the third game Peniata's rotation was like most of the rest of the Gophers--in the minus category. The only rotation to creep over to the positive side was Bowman's in game three (6-4).

Next up: tomorrow morning

UMD Falls in Semis, CSP Signings

#1 posting 11.18.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

SIGNINGS
Concordia St. Paul inked five for their squad: Emily Palkert, SW Christian (Chaska); Krista Erickson, Andover; Blair Murphy, Hermantown; Rachel Knutsen St. Michael-Albertville and Kasey Woodcock, Delano.

UM DULUTH, UW WHITEWATER FALLS IN SEMIS
UM Duluth lost to #1 Tampa in the NCAA D2 semifinals in four games. Vicky Braegelmann had 26 kills in the effort. UMD finishes 31-4 on the year.

UW Whitewater was swept in the NCAA D3 semifinals to Washington St. Louis. The Recap didn't work, the box score did.

JUCO NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Central Lakes is looking for their first national title in their fourth trip to the big event. A preview fromt the Brainerd Dispatch.
Central Lakes went 3-0 in pool play, Ridgewater was 2-1. Here is the results from the Rochester CTC site, the hosts for this tournament. Central Lakes will play Ridgewater in the semis today at 11 am. Finals are at 4 pm.

SENIOR NIGHT
It could be the last home game for Gopher Seniors Kelly Bowman, Megan Crumpston, Meredith Nelson, and Malama Peniata. Tonight's oppenent is Iowa. From the MN Daily.

POLICE BLOTTER
Katelyn Applewick has been given three years probation for an automobile crash that severly injured Winona State volleyball coach Connie Metille, and the football coach. Both read statements at the sentencing. From the Winona Daily News.

ALL STAR GAME
The North Central All Star game will take place today and tomorrow at Bemidji State. Game starts at 1 pm. They list the rosters on the site. From the Bemidji Pioneer.

NUMBER CRUNCHING
KILLS
Vicky Braegelmann, UM Duluth 26 vs Tampa 1-3

Next up: tonight after the Gopher game.

UMD Semi Bound, Lopez Verbals

#1 posting 11.17.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

LOPEZ VERBALS
Jennifer Lopez, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, 2008 a 5-11 setter and hitter, has made a verbal to North Dakota State. From the Fargo Forum.

UM DULUTH TO D2 SEMIS
#2 UM Duluth beat UC San Diego 3-1 in the D2 quarterfinals in Pensacola and will see #1 Tampa today at 4 pm in the Semifinals. Also the Duluth News Tribune has more.

Vicky Braegelmann of UMD was named to the Daktronics All American second team.

The McNamara sisters of Concordia St. Paul have a blurb in the Red Wing Republican Eagle.

WHITEWATER MOVES TO SEMIS
UW Whitewater beat California Lutheran 3-0 to move to the semifinals. The host site has more details in their recap. Here is the bracket. Here is the final 8 site. You can get live audio.

NATIONAL JUCO TOURNAMENT
Ridgewater's first year coach Joe Sussenguth takes his squad to Rochester for the National NJCAA D3 championships in Rochester MN. Ridgewater opens the tournament today as the #3 seed and will face #6 Monroe NY at 11 am. This is pool play.
Central Lakes is the #1 seed and sees

HS SEASON RECAPS
Cannon Falls finished the year 15-14 this year. The article in the Cannon Falls Beacon lists awards and honors for the team.
Freshman Cassidy Whalen was MVP from the Randolph Rockets. Also from the CF Beacon.

Next up: tomorrow morning

D2 Tournament Begins, Grussing Retires

#1 posting 11.16.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

D2 ELITE 8
Jim Boos, UM Duluth was named North Central coach of the year and four of his players made the North Central team. The Bulldogs open the D2 Elite 8 tournament against UC San Diego today at noon at West Florida in Pensacola. To get stats check here, to get the webfeed check here. No word if the video is free, my guess is no.

GOPHERS ALONE IN FIRST
The MN Daily recounts last night's big win in Madison snapping the Badgers home winning streak.
The Wisconsin State Journal and Badger Herald also has their recap from a different perspectives.

Megan Crumpston gets a feature in the StarTribune. Her rise mirrors the Gophers. Her whipsaw serve and powerpacked kills have given Minnesota another dimension in their attacks.

COACHING NEWS
Traci Grussing has resigned at Central Christian. Grussing won A titles 1998 when the tournament was still two classes, and then two more in 1999, and 2000 when their were three tournaments. She coached 17 All State players. From the West Central Tribune.
She is the second prominent coach to retire this year. Walt Weaver, the only coach Apple Valley has had, also is leaving.

TRANSFERS SHUT DOWN
If the MSHSL gets their way the transfer door will be slammed shut. That is the preliminary report that a committee recommends. The board of directors look at the issue next on Dec 7. Then it goes to regions throughout the state; the final step is the general assembly on Feb 12. From the StarTribune.

AWARDS & HONORS
Bemidji had their banquet and named names. Among the award winners Mattea Elhard was MVP for offense; Sam Fossand MVP for defense.
Katelyn Horihan was named MVP of the Mabel-Canton team. From the Mabel-Harmony News Record.
The Iron Range all conference team is again named, this time in the International Falls Daily Journal.
The Southwest conference named their all conference squad and four Marshall Tigers make the list. From the Marshall Independent.

END OF SEASON WRAPS
Lanesboro finished 21-6.
Mabel-Canton finished 28-4-1, losing in the section finals to state runner up Bethlehem Academy.
Both from the Republican Leader.

RUSSIA WORLD CHAMPION
Russia defeated Brazil in five for the world title. From the Pioneer Press. Here is a box that is different from what I've seen, more details too.

Thanks to all the readers of the blog. With your help volleyball news is no longer hidden.

Next up: tomorrow morning

The View from Afar: Minnesota/Wisconsin

#2 posting 11.15.2006
your daily dose of girls volleyball news & information

MINNESOTA 3, WISCONSIN 1
30-26, 30-22, 18-30, 30-25

The Minnesota Gophers are now alone in second place in the big 10 as they beat #10 Wisconsin on their home court in four. Penn State was swept in three recently in Madison. It is not a friendly environment for away teams to play.

This report is coming from the play by play list that came from the Wisconsin website. I don't have the visual access, but it is available. It felt like I was sitting by the crystal set listening to the Harding/Cox election returns from 1920, only there was no listening.

In game one Wisconsin had the lead at 8-6, but Malama Peniata gave the lead to Minnesota for good after a side out with two service points both on Wisconsin attack errors. The biggest run in the first game came on Christine Tan's five service points, plus the side out to give Minnesota a decent cushion. The Gophers added to it with a four piont run after the side out for a 10-1 run.

Wisconsin switched their outsides in game two with Maria Carlini coming early in the serving order and Brittany Dolgner following. Wisconsin again led early 6-4, but couldn't quite hold the lead. The Gophers took the lead on Rachel Hartmann's serve 12-9. Minnesota had another big run, this time by NCAA record holder Meredith Nelson with five points from the line plus one from the side out for six. That made it 23-15. A block by Nelson and Hartmann finished the second frame.

In the third game Wisconsin made some more adjustments with the outsides remaining where they were in game two, but instead of Simpson holding the first rotation, she now fell to third in the rotation. That seemed to get the Badger mojo working as they led early 9-4. MN did close at 16-15, but Wisconsin took off on a 9-2 run after that to establish their lead.

In the fourth stanza Wisconsin stayed with what worked in game three, but Minnesota made some adjustments of their own. The Gophers led early for the first time 7-2 and 8-4. It didn't last. Wisconsin took the lead at 10-9 with Amanda Berkley's serve in the fifth rotation. Their biggest lead was three, and last lead at 20-19. By this point both teams were grooving their fbso game. Wisconsin had seven straight fbso, Minnesota had their fbso run a bit later, but it was six. Peniata gave the lead to MN with two service points and a 22-21 lead MN picked up two more points on three straight kills by Wisconsin native Meredith Nelson, one on a side out and two on Crumpston dive serves. Wisco closed to 27-25, but finished with three straight attack errors, one of which hit the Minnesota wall.

Of course you can get the recount from the Minnesota or Wisconsin sites too.

Here are the
NUMBER CRUNCHING
team, fbso/serves--fbso%; pts scored, % earned, % allowed
Minnesota 40/62--.645; 108; .722; .330
Wisconsin 36/62---.581; 103; .670; .278

ROTATION POINTS
MINNESOTA
1 Tan 24-13 .649
2 Peniata 22-20 .524
3 Bowman 14-15 .483
4 Crumpston 16-17 .485
5 Nelson 20-17 .541
6 Hartmann 12-21 .364

Now the Gophers prepare at home for another border battle---Iowa. It may not have the punch this one had, but Minnesota has probably learned not to sleep walk through any matches after Michigan.

Next up: Tomorrow morning with more on this game, plus news of the day.