Huskies lose sixth straight

Injuries have been a big part of the SCSU volleyball team this season.

The Huskies lost both their matches this weekend. Friday they dropped three straight to the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State; Saturday, losing to Minnesota State in threes sets as well.

“Friday night we didn’t have enough offense, we passed well and played good defense but our hitters couldn’t put the ball down, both nights we were playing the number 15 team in the nation.” said SCSU head coach Patricia Gerchy.

Against the fifteenth ranked Mustangs on Friday the Huskies were unable to get anything going offensively. They dropped the first set 25-14; the second and third sets didn’t go much better for the Huskies.

They lost 25-18 in the second and 25-16 in the third to fall in their fifth straight match.

Leading the way for the Mustangs in the match was Kenzie Niesche, who had 25 digs. They also had a lot offense from Devin Diedrich who had 18 kills and a .415 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Erica Beaco’s nine kills, led the Huskies. First year libero Sarah Madden led the Huskies with 19 digs.

Having starters injured certainly is not helping the Huskies case this season.

“We have five starters on the bench, lots of inexperience on the floor,” Gerchy said.

Saturday the Huskies did not fair any better against the tenth ranked Mavericks of Minnesota State-Mankato.

They once again dropped all three sets. The first was 25-18 and the second was 25-15.

In the third set fueled by the play of junior Alecia Lunde, the Huskies were able to battle back from an 11-0 start to trail only 23-22.

However, the Huskies could not pull it out as the Mavericks were just too much and handed the Huskies their sixth consecutive loss.

The Huskies have now lost 18 consecutive sets and appear to be going through quite a dry spell. The last time they won was Sept. 26 against Minnesota Crookston.

“Well we will keep working hard in practice, hopefully some of those who are injured will get health and get back out on the floor,” Gerchy said.

Five Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference teams are ranked in the top 20 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll. So, they Huskies, who are in the NSIC, are playing against top teams in Division II.

“I wouldn’t want to be in any other conference, its great competition every night,” Gerchy said. “I think that says a lot about volleyball in the Midwest and division II I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The Huskies next match is 7 p.m. on Friday at the University of Mary.

At 3 p.m. they travel to Aberdeen to take on Northern State.