College Volleyball: Huskies win two matches in Spring Tournament

Under the helm of new head coach Michelle Blaeser, the St. Cloud State volleyball squad hosted an eight-team SCSU Spring Tournament on Saturday, April 10, in SCSU’s Halenbeck Hall.

“This was a great tournament to play in and to watch,” said St. Cloud State’s new head coach Michelle Blaeser. “The Huskies have taken great strides this spring. The players continue to improve every day in practice and it showed on the court. Our strengths this Saturday were definitely net play. We were solid hitting with a .258 hitting percentage for the entire tournament,” added Coach Blaeser.

Schools that participated in the spring ball event were; St. Cloud State, Southwest Minnesota State, three-time national defending champion Concordia-St. Paul, Northern Michigan, SCSU Alumni, Winona State, Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth.

The Huskies opened the tournament against league rival Southwest Minnesota State at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. SCSU dropped the first set 23-25 and fought back to win the next two sets by scores of 25-15 and 15-10 against SMSU, who was ranked 16th in the final AVCA Division II Coaches Top-25 Poll on December 7, 2009.

St. Cloud State also faced Northern Michigan (12 p.m.), Bemidji State (1 p.m.) and Winona State (4 p.m.) throughout the day.

The Huskies dropped a tough match to Northern Michigan (14-25, 22-25, 12-15) in the second match of the day. In SCSU’s third match of the tourney, St. Cloud State upended the Bemidji State Beavers 25-11, 23-25 and 15-9.

“Last year this team hit a .160 % during the 2009 season and our goal this weekend was to hit .220%, so hitting .258 was a great accomplishment to see,” said Coach Blaeser. “We also did an exceptional job reading our opponents approaches and setting good blocks. At times we passed nails on serve receive and other times we struggled. Passing is an area of focus and we will continue to get stronger,” added Coach Blaeser.

St. Cloud State’s final match was against league rival Winona State. SCSU was victories in the first set 25-21, however dropped the final two sets by scores of 13-25 and 9-15 to the Warriors.

“Defensively we went after the ball but will continue to work on consistency and discipline,” said Coach Blaeser. “This tournament allowed our staff to see what other teams in our division look like and the level of play. The Huskies will continue to strengthen their skills and compete with heart every time we step on the court. We have five practices left with this Saturday (April 17) being our last tournament at Minnesota Duluth. I’m proud to be a Husky,” added Coach Blaeser.

St. Cloud State will head to Duluth to compete in the Minnesota Duluth Spring Tourney on Saturday, April 17.

Courtesy: St. Cloud State University