The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 15, 2009

Mavs selected to national volleyball tourney

Minnesota State lands fifth seed in Central Region

By Chad Courrier

MANKATO — Minnesota State volleyball coach Dennis Amundson said a regular-season loss at Wayne State was probably the low point of the season. He hopes the next game against Wayne State, in the opening round of the national tournament, starts something special.

“It’s been a long, slow climb (since the loss to Wayne State),” he said.

The Mavericks (25-6) were seeded fifth in the Central Region and will take on Wayne State (28-7) in an opening round game Thursday at St. Paul. Game times will be announced today.

In other games, No. 1-seeded Concordia-St. Paul (31-0), which will host the tournament, plays Colorado School of Mines (21-9), second-seeded Southwest Minnesota State (25-7) faces Metropolitan State (24-6), and third-seeded Nebraska-Kearney (31-2) takes on Minnesota Duluth (22-8).

The Mavericks lost four of their last 10 matches and two of the last four, causing concern among the team that they may be left out of the 64-team field. Last season, the Mavericks thought they’d be invited to the tournament after finishing strong, only to get spurned.

“If you’d have seen the kids’ faces last year, and to see the joy this year, is amazing,” Amundson said. “This has been on their minds, probably too much, for a long time.”

Amundson said Friday’s 3-1 loss at Northern State might be what propels the Mavericks on a playoff run. He already saw a change Saturday in a victory over the University of Mary.

“I think we cleared the air Friday, and we’re going in the right direction,” he said. Every season has its ups and downs, and I think we turned things around Saturday.”

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