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SCSU plays hard, but loses another pair
By Ben Dunsmoor
The Huskies second meeting with the No. 24 Minnesota State, Mankato Mavericks on Thursday night at Halenbeck Hall didn't pan out as they had hoped.
The Huskies were optimistic and pumped going into the match because there were many good things that came out of the previous meeting with the Mavs. Not many good things came out of Thursday's match as the Huskies were swept in three games (30-18, 30-19, 30-25).
The Mavericks stormed out to a 5-0 lead in game one. The closest the Huskies ever came in game one was a 5-6 deficit off a Jamie Schlagel ace. It was all Mavs from that point on.
In game two, it appeared that the Mavs were a little too quick for the Huskies as they took that game 30-19.
"They are a really quick team," first-year hitter Amy Burke said. "Their middles are quick. They mix it up a lot so it's hard to know where the blockers should go."
A milestone was reached in game three by Mankato setter Jennifer Blendermann. She racked up her 1,000 set assist for the third season in a row. Blendermann currently holds the single season assist record for MSU with 1,327 last season.
First-year hitter Amy Burke entered the lineup in game three, and contributed nicely with two kills, four digs, and some key blocks. The stat line for the rest of the Huskies in the match had Jane Backes and Leah Herrboldt combining for 13 kills, and Megan Hardy had nine spectacular digs. Kari Turkowski added four digs, and did her best Jennifer Blendermann impression with 17 sets.
"Against Mankato we weren't playing as well," Burke said. "We were playing more as individuals, and not as all six players on the court."
The Huskies schedule brought them to Sioux Falls, S.D. on Saturday night to play Augustana. The Huskies showed much improvement in this match as they took No.16 Augustana to five games (30-23, 30-19, 27-30, 31-33, 15-13). The last time the Huskies took a team to five games was way back on Aug. 31 when they defeated Montana State-Billings.
The Huskies came out roaring, winning the first two games of the match. They were three points away from getting their first NCC victory in game three, but were swept in the final three games.
Kari Turkowski had another monumental night with 16 kills, 38 set assists and 13 digs. Leah Herrboldt added 13 kills and 15 digs. Amy Burke continued to shine for the Huskies with seven kills and 10 digs.
"Against Augustana we played awesome," Burke said. "We were having a lot of fun and got excited when we did something well, which carried from game-to-game. We kept our heads up and knew we could do it. We thought we were going to win. We walked out with our heads high because we had a good game."
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