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St. Cloud State University
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Sports
New attitude helping women
By Ben Dunsmoor
Published:
Thursday, October 17, 2002
Megan Hardy
Kari Turkowski
If you talk to any member of the Husky volleyball team, the consensus is that this week's team is a lot different from the team that took the court the first seven weeks of the season.
"It was just huge," junior setter Kari Turkowski said. "I don't know how to explain it, but Saturday (during the match against Mankato) was a huge turnaround for our team. Finally we're playing together, and we just have to make sure our team keeps doing that, because we don't want to start going backwards."
The Huskies are looking to take all of that positive energy that took place in Mankato last Saturday, and turn it into a couple of victories Friday and Saturday nights against the University of Nebraska-Omaha (11-11), and the University of South Dakota (12-10) at Halenbeck Hall.
"We started gelling and playing together as a team," sophomore Megan Hardy said about last weekend's match. "We're coming together and we have to transfer that to this weekend."
The Huskies have already played USD, but were swept in the match 3-0 (30-22, 30-25, 30-17). SCSU knows that they did not play well in Vermillion during their last meeting with USD. However, SCSU now knows how USD plays, and knows that this Husky team has changed and matured since the Sept. 21 match.
"We did not play well against USD," Hardy said. "They're looking for us not to play the way we did this weekend. We're the underdog, and no one expects us to do anything."
The confidence level of this team is soaring, and the key is that they're relaxed and having a good time playing.
"We're just going out and having fun, and playing for ourselves," Turkowski said. "We just have to go out and play volleyball like we used to, and have fun. Don't stress on it as much."
Another advantage for the Huskies is that the University of Nebraska-Omaha, who the Huskies play on Friday at Halenbeck, is almost a carbon copy of this season's Husky team.
"UNO is a young team too," Turkowski said, "but they basically run a lot of the same stuff we do."
Playing both matches at home will also help out SCSU. In previous road trips the Huskies have traveled from Colorado to South Dakota, and South Dakota to Mankato, with both trips spanning Friday and Saturday nights. That agenda would take a toll on any team.
SCSU is ready to play USD and UNO this weekend, and are looking for their first NCC victory against one, if not both of these conference rivals.
"The girls are really excited," Turkowski said. "They're very excited to get in and play again, because Saturday's match was a big turnaround for this team. If we play like we did against Mankato, we should win these games. There's no doubt about it."
