Northland Sports Online

UMD Volleyball Season Ends!!

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NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The fourth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State University piqued at the right time, knocking off No. 4 the University of Nebraska-Kearney, No. 3 Concordia University, St. Paul, and the No. 2-ranked University of Minnesota Duluth to escape the NCAA II Central Region with a trip to the Elite Eight, knocking off the Bulldogs 3-1 at Romano Gymnasium in the Regional Championship.

UMD (33-2) defeated Southwest Minnesota State (24-9) three times leading into the tournament en route to the greatest single-season record in program history (.943 win percentage with 33 wins in 35 matches), but the Mustangs won the match they needed most by defeating the Bulldogs 25-22, 16-25, 25-21, 25-19 on Saturday night.

HIGHLIGHTS
• Junior setter Ashley Hinsch and middle blockers Monica Turner (Jr.) and Sydnie Mauch (So.) were named to the All-Tournament Team for their efforts for UMD. Hinsch had 40 assists and four service aces on the night, while Turner had 10 kills and hit .348. Mauch had six kills and played a part in three of UMD’s nine blocks.
• Senior libero Julie Rainey had 19 digs in her final match as a Bulldog, joined by outside hitters Aly Kujawa (three service aces, seven digs) and Katie Ledwell (four kills, two service aces, eight digs), right-side hitter Maddy Siroin (11 kills, eight digs) and middle blocker Jessica Zieman in saying goodbye to the program after a four-year career


“All I can say is I love my team. We had a great season. We had a great, great team this year, and I wouldn’t change anything — Well, besides the obvious,” Siroin said, bringing a laugh to an otherwise somber postgame press conference. “I agree, our team is so fun. It was just great to be a part of it,” added Rainey, who made her mark on program history last season, breaking the career digs record (now at 2,465) and single-season record with 799.

“It just felt like they had an extra person out on the court the whole night,” said Boos. “I was proud of our effort. I was proud of their ability to keep fighting. I was disappointed for them, but I wasn’t disappointed in them.” UMD built up early leads of 10-4, and 15-10 before the Mustangs rumbled back to knot the game at 18 apiece before eventually rolling on to a 25-22 opening set win. The Bulldogs responded with a comeback of their own in the second game, turning a 9-3 deficit into an 18-14 lead, scoring 13 of the last 15 points to even the match at a game apiece.

“I’m not sure why, because it’s something that hasn’t been the case much this year, we just could not get started. We were down 4-2, 5-2, 6-2 every set. I can’t remember ever thinking to myself, ‘do I have to take a timeout already?’ that many times in a match,” said Boos, as SMSU took a back-and-forth third game 25-21 after 10 lead changes and eight tie scores and then jumped out ahead 10-2 and held on through a Bulldog rally by hitting .341 in the decisive 25-19 game four.

SMSU had five players named to the Central Region All-Tournament Team, with freshman libero Greta Geist named an honorary member as the team’s spiritual leader, having been diagnosed with Nodular Sclorosis Hodgkins Lymphoma (NSHL) last February as a senior in high school. “I really think and hope that she’s an inspiration for them. I told every one of them, ‘Do it for Greta.’ As much as it’s frustrating not having that chance to move on, we are certainly Mustang fans for the next few weeks,” concluded Boos.

NCAA II Central Region All-Tournament Team
Kenzie Beekman – Southwest Minnesota State Outside Hitter
Whitney Burmeister – Southwest Minnesota State Libero
Riley Hanson – Concordia, St. Paul Middle Blocker
Ashley Hinsch – UMD Setter
Katie Hughes – Wayne State Outside Hitter
Sydnie Mauch – UMD Middle Blocker
Michaela Mestl – Wayne State Outside Hitter
Monica Turner – UMD Middle Blocker
Kasey Williams – Concordia-St. Paul Setter

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