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October 30, 2009

MSU gets on track with win

Mavericks volleyball team sweeps Bemidji State

By Josh Berhow

MANKATO — After coming off what Minnesota State volleyball coach Dennis Amundson called “a sluggish weekend,” Friday night’s three-game sweep over Bemidji State at the Taylor Center couldn’t have come at a better time.

Led by Chelsea Fogarty’s 15 kills and Kimber Kuhl’s 13 kills, the 14th-ranked Mavericks downed the Beavers 30-28, 27-25, 25-20 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match.

The win comes after the Mavericks lost 3-0 to Wayne State and beat Augustana 3-2 last weekend. Entering Friday’s match the Mavericks were 2-2 in their last four matches after winning 18 of their previous 19, including a 13-match winning streak.

“The feeling on the court was a lot different last weekend,” Kuhl said. “It didn’t feel like it was fun to play volleyball, and tonight I think we brought a lot of energy and a lot of excitement and it felt good to be out there again.”

Kuhl was difficult to stop from the start as she had four kills in the first game and finished the match with a .765 attacking percentage and even added three aces.

“It’s toward the end of the year so I kind of expect this out of Kimber,” Amundson said. “She’s a gamer.”

Kuhl’s attacking percentage was even more important with Mavericks’ kill leader Amanda Beekman having a sluggish match herself. Beekman finished with two kills — one in the first game and one in the second — and didn’t play in the third game. Beekman’s two kills, however, gave the junior 1,000 for her career, making her the eighth Minnesota State player to reach the mark. Amundson isn’t worried about the struggles of his newest 1,000-kill representative.

“She’ll be back and she’ll be fine,” he said. “She had a slow start so we just gave her a breather. She’s worked really hard, and sometimes you just need a little space to get yourself in the proper frame of mind.”

The Mavericks were behind all of Game 1 and didn’t take the lead until a Bemidji State serving error gave Minnesota State a 28-27 lead. After the Beavers tied the game at 28 the Mavericks used kills by Amanda Thompson and Fogarty to win the game and complete the comeback. Alli Rice sprawled out for a dig on game point to keep the play alive and allow Fogarty to eventually get the winning kill.

The Mavericks received three of their final seven points on Bemidji State serving errors.

“That’s a part of learning to win,” Amundson said. “Four years ago we made those errors.”

Samantha Dale and Ally Kwikkel each had seven kills for the Mavericks, and Brittany Stamer had a match-high 43 assists. Rice had four aces and Beekman had two, and Rice, Dale and Stamer all had eight digs apiece. Thompson had a match-high four blocks.

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