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Youthful Huskies need to hold serve in NCC
Seniorless squad looking to make coach Dianne Glowatzke’s final season at SCSU a memorable one
By Adam Czech
 Media Credit: charles martin Jane Backes goes down for a dig while teammate Cara Bartolic stands by in the Husky volleyball team’s game Tuesday against Southwest State University. SCSU went on to lose in four games to the Mustangs. The Huskies are currently 1-5 on the season as they go into Friday and Saturday’s NCC-NSIC Crossover Tournament at Omaha, Neb.
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With a disappointing 4-24 record from one year ago staring them in the face, the youthful SCSU volleyball team entered the 2002 season with a choice to make.
The Husky spikers can either (a) use their youth, low expectations (they were picked to finish ninth in the NCC this season) and less than stellar record from one year ago as an excuse to slag through the 2002 season, knowing that another losing record will not necessarily be a shock to anybody.
Or (b), tell the naysayers where to stick their NCC predictions and create some havoc in the conference by winning more games than they’re supposed to.
Spend a few minutes with third-year setter and co-captain Kari Turkowski and it’s obvious which option she’s going to choose.
“The past is the past,” she said. “We’re a different team now. We’re going to make this new season a good one.”
Third-year outside hitter Jane Backes, a roommate of Turkowski, noted the team has talked a bit about last year but is anxious to put it behind them.
“We’ve talked about last year at times,” she said. “Our focus right now is building up our program.”
There is also another factor driving the Huskies this season. Head coach Dianne Glowatzke will be retire from coaching following this season and her team wants to send her out with a bang.
Glowatzke has guided SCSU for the past 26 years and is the winningest coach of any sport at SCSU. Throughout her storied career, the Chaska native has amassed a 524-401 record and led the Huskies to four NCAA Division II post season appearances, 16 20-win seasons and ranks in the top 10 among active winningest coaches at the NCAA Division II level.
Glowatzke announced her decision to leave soon after last season ended. So far things have been normal in her final season.
“You know nothing has changed,” she said. “I think in the present. This is just another year so far.”
Glowatzke has managed to stay active off the court as well, conducting community clinics, and (being involved in) officiating and teaching as an associate professor in the PERSS department at SCSU.
“I’ll probably think about it more off the court,” Turkowski said of her coaches’ impending departure. “It is weird not knowing who my coach is going to be next year but I don’t really think about while I’m playing.”
And play she does. Turkowski racked up 915 set assists last season, good enough for ninth all time in the Husky record books. She finished ninth in NCC with 9.02 set assists per game.
Turkowski will take on more of an expanded role this season. So far all seems to be going well as she racked up a triple-double (16 kills, 39 set assists, 18 digs) in a Husky victory over Montana State Aug. 31.
“That’s going to happen a lot this year,” Glowatzke said of Turkowski’s performance. “She’s one of the best players in Division II.”
Helping out Turkowski will be second-year hitter Leah Herrboldt who was voted best offensive player on the squad last season. Backes will be back following an impressive second-year campaign where she had 193 kills and 126 digs.
Angie Mayers and Jamie Schlagel, a couple of freshman, will also be asked to contribute this season. The Huskies have no seniors on the 2002 roster.
Backes hopes to gain the attention quickly of NCC foes and rattle off a few victories.
“Right now teams aren’t really looking at us,” she said. “Any win is a surprise to them.”
“The main this is that we got a group of young players that give their all and work hard,” Glowatzke said of her team.
More evidence that the 2002 SCSU volleyball squad will choose option B.
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