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SCSU Volleyball Falls in Five to Mankato

10/20/2018 - 4:45 PM

 Despite jumping out to a 2-0 match advantage, St. Cloud State Volleyball (12-10, 8-8) fell in an exhilarating five sets to Minnesota State-Mankato (16-9, 9-7) on Saturday, 25-22, 25-18, 21-25, 25-27, and 9-15.

Five straight errors by the Huskies late in the third set turned the match on its head, putting Mankato in the driver's seat and killing all of SCSU's momentum. The Huskies committed 31 attacking errors to Kato's 23, helping the Mavs to outhit St. Cloud State .195 to .136.

Micah Nier had a career day for the Huskies, notching career marks with 15 kills on .394 hitting and 7 digs, while adding 3 blocks and an ace. Linsey Rachel double-doubled with 19 kills and 24 digs, Abby Templin put up 11 kills and Mara Mulso hit .241 on her way to 9 terminations. Rachel Houle dug out a career-high 18, and Clara Krenz chipped in 24 digs.

Morgan Olson led Kato with 21 kills and 6 blocks on .314 hitting, while Alivia Garbe finished with 15 kills and 25 digs for a double-double. Anissa Janzig and Ashton Lee each hit better than .300 with 9 kills a piece. Libero Mara Quam recorded 31 digs.

St. Cloud State continues their road trip on Friday with a match in the Nemzek Fieldhouse at Minnesota State University-Moorhead at 6:00 p.m. on the KVSC Sports Stream.

Box Score

Huskies Volleyball Battles, Falls to #3 CSP in Four

10/19/2018 - 9:00 PM

Despite being outkilled 66-43 and outhit .259-.165, St. Cloud State Volleyball (12-9, 8-7) pushed two-time defending National Champion #3 Concordia-St. Paul (20-4, 14-1) to a hotly competitive 4 sets, ultimately falling 15-25, 25-21, 17-25, and 23-25.

The Huskies struggled in putting up one of their worst sets of the season to open the road match, allowing CSP to go 17-1-29 (.571) while terminating just 9 kills of their own. SCSU settled in and gutted out many tough rally wins, but simply could not match the Golden Bear's offensive firepower.

Rachel Houle led the Huskies with a double-double, killing 10 balls while racking up 13 digs and a career-high 5 blocks to go with 2 aces. Abby Templin added 10 kills, while Micah Nier put up 8 kills and 4 blocks on .259 hitting.

Sara Macek was utterly unstoppable in the middle for the Golden Bears, finishing with a match-high 20 kills on .400 hitting. Hope Schiller terminated 16 swings and dominated defensively, recording a double-double with 22 digs. Sydney Book (13) and Brooklyn Lewis (10) each finished with double-digit kills. Elizabeth Mohr had a monster night leading Concordia's offense, finishing with 62 assists.

The Huskies continue their road stretch with a pivotal 2:00 p.m. Saturday match at Minnesota State-Mankato, as SCSU is deadlocked at 8-7 with the Mavericks and Upper Iowa. Husky Den Pregame on the KVSC Sports Stream begins at 1:45 p.m.

Shoulders, Elbows, Mavericks and Larks: The NSIC’s Unheralded Elite Reliever

10/15/2018 - 10:00 AM

It hasn’t been an easy path to success for St. Cloud State’s Matt Butler.

In the summer of 2017, the idea of success was practically unimaginable.

Butler had just completed his redshirt sophomore season, one that saw him make just three appearances out of a loaded Huskies bullpen. After debuting with a scoreless outing in the Tucson Invitational against #7 Azusa Pacific, allowing one hit and a walk while retiring one, Butler gave up one run on 2 hits and a walk against Oklahoma Panhandle State. Fourteen days later, he had the worst outing of his career at Wayne State College. Five runs, all earned, on 3 hits and 2 walks. Butler retired just one man before being pulled. He didn’t make another appearance for the rest of the spring.

Now, the 2017 St. Cloud State bullpen certainly wasn’t an easy one for a sophomore to find a role in. Not since 2011 had Head Coach Pat Dolan wielded such a deep stable of arms. Much like that year’s foursome of closer Ryne Schwenke and setup men Austen Bosch, Chris Kubitz, and David Koenig; 2017’s pen’ boasted the dominance of Miles Nablo’s 2.37 ERA and 7 saves, Kevin Bolder’s 3.38 ERA, David Kroger’s 4.42 FIP, and Kyle Boser’s 3.57 ERA and .516 OPS against. Mixing in plenty of relief outings for Aaron Hammann, Shannon Ahern, and Zach Siggelkow, innings were very difficult to come by for a righthander that had struggled with injuries and consistency.

When Matt Butler committed to SCSU during his senior year of high school in Naperville, Illinois, he was certainly anything but “unheralded.” An All-Conference outfielder and pitcher, Butler threw for a 9-2 record with a 1.75 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 80.0 innings during his national summer schedule with the Naperville Renegades. Then, in his high school playoffs during his senior year, disaster struck. Although he isn’t exactly certain when the injury occurred, Butler remembers throwing a warmup pitch halfway up the backstop during one of his postseason outings. He went in to get his arm checked out over the summer, and was diagnosed with a SLAP tear of the labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder.

A SLAP tear, or a Superior Labrum Anterior to Posterior, is a front-to-back tear of the upper labrum.

Labrum injuries are known as one of the most career-threatening injuries for Major League pitchers. Imagine a just-graduated high school senior receiving the diagnosis. Jay Jaffe of Baseball Prospectus did an in-depth study of labrum injuries to professional pitchers in 2012 and discovered some jarring realities. Of the 67 pitchers he identified, 20 didn’t return to the Major Leagues, and 58% pitched in 50.0 or fewer innings following the surgery.

Butler underwent surgery seven days before stepping on campus.

“It was very disappointing. I wasn’t…in a very good place mentally. I was very upset because of how everything happened, but it worked out for the best.” said Butler.

So, instead of coming on campus as a true freshman, ready to get to work in fall ball with one of the top teams in the country, Butler came to St. Cloud in a sling. He ended up being far from the only redshirt in that 2015 class. Mat Meyer, Mitch Mallek, Judd Davis, Ryan Wesley, Cal Giese, Boser, and Sigglekow joined Butler as redshirts, although none joining him as a med-red. Sheldon Miks and Bolder were the only members of the class to play as true freshmen. Butler became extremely close with his teammates, finding positivity throughout his rehab in his bond with them.

He finally was cleared to throw off a mound near the end of the 2015 season, firing a few bullpens before heading back to Naperville after the Huskies’ loss in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Butler’s brother is a catcher, which provided an easy opportunity for him to continue throwing throughout the summer.

Healthy and hungry for an opportunity to show what he could do, Butler entered fall ball in 2015-16 as a redshirt-freshman just off a labrum injury. Although he felt he threw well that fall, he struggled to find innings on a staff that included two All-Americans in Reese Gregory and Miks, along with a deep bullpen anchored by Logan Spitzak, Nablo, and Kroger. Butler made just five appearances in his 2016 season, striking out 4 and walking 1 over 4.1 frames.

Despite an unsightly 8.31 ERA, his stellar 2.64 FIP, 1.15 WHIP, .235 opponent batting average and .594 opponent OPS gave the first hints of Butler’s potential.
Butler began his summer of 2016 with the Joliet Admirals, a summer collegiate baseball club. Two years after his shoulder failed him, this time his elbow began to bark. Lingering soreness kept him from consistency and effectiveness, as he walked 17.6% of the batters he faced in 4 appearances and a start with Joliet, posting a 6.75 ERA. He made the decision to shut himself down in hopes that the elbow would heal and to prepare for his redshirt-sophomore season.

Butler wasn’t quite 100% healthy for the start of fall ball in 2016-17, his elbow still nagging with pain. He entered the 2017 season without a defined role, and after posting a 32.40 ERA in his three outings, the elbow wasn’t the only thing bothering him as he returned to Naperville after the Huskies’ exit in the Regional.

In the summer of 2017, Matt Butler weighed a major life decision: did he want to continue playing college baseball?

“I was sitting at home, I didn’t know if I was going to come back. I was going to come back for school, but I didn’t know if I was going to play baseball. I was still pretty upset from that season…I would say I was pretty close (to retiring), I had talked to my parents about it and they were supportive about it…I was pretty close to it, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger. I didn’t want to give up on it. Everything I’ve said before about how close my class is, I wanted to finish it out with them.”

Butler returned to campus in the fall of 2017. Finally, everything seemed to come together for the redshirt-junior. One afternoon at practice that fall, then-SCSU Pitching Coach Brett DeGagne had a man-to-man conversation with his righthander. The message was simple: If you want it, go get it. Butler found himself with a revitalized focus on baseball. A full three years removed from his labrum surgery, and his elbow as quiet as could be, Butler raised eyebrows in the fall. His velocity was up. DeGagne moved Butler across the rubber, and worked on repeating his delivery in hopes of unlocking the talent hidden in his pitcher’s right arm.

Finally, in his fourth year on campus, Butler had a role in the St. Cloud State bullpen. He made his debut with a scoreless frame on Opening Day at Missouri Western State, working around a pair of walks. Then, on March 2nd in the Tucson Invitational, he had an outing that could have derailed him in the past.

3.0 innings, 8 hits, 6 runs, 5 earned, one walk, and just 2 strikeouts against Ottawa University.

However, despite the ugly numbers, there were immensely promising signs for Butler.

Facing a team in its first season as a program, scouting reports were scarce. Ottawa’s lineup was tooled to utilize their speed to beat out infield hits and force errors, and the Huskies infield defense was far from mid-season form. Butler worked at a mind-blowing 85.7% ground ball rate and a 64.3% soft contact rate in the outing, surrendering a miniscule 7.1% hard hit rate. Bleeders, rollers, and would-be outs did Butler in, not hard hit balls and nonexistent command.

DeGagne’s confidence didn’t waver in his righthander, but high-leverage outings were still out of reach for the middle reliever. He threw three consecutive scoreless outings to open NSIC play, punching out 2 and allowing just one hit over 2.0 frames. A low-leverage outing in an 8 run game at Minnesota-Crookston capped off that stretch.

Then, on a cold night in Bemidji, Butler got his chance to enter the ring with the Mavericks.

After the Huskies’ starter exited early and their first relief option struggled to record the third out in the fourth inning, St. Cloud State trailed archrival Minnesota State-Mankato 6-2. The Huskies were nearly out of relievers in the finale of the four-game series. They needed someone to step up and save the pen, and after a walk loaded the bases, Pat Dolan handed the ball to Butler. After walking Kato shortstop Luke Waldek on a 3-2 count, Butler bore down and struck out All-NSIC senior Dylan Dresel to leave the bases loaded. He went on to have the best outing of his career, going the final 5.1 innings and allowing one unearned run on 5 hits and a walk while striking out a career-high 6 Mavericks. Butler worked at a 53.3% ground ball rate, a 40% soft contact rate, and a 13.6% swinging strike rate. His sinker sawed off batters, and his curveball was sharper than ever.

St. Cloud State went on to lose the game, still earning a crucial series split with Mankato.

In Pat Dolan’s postgame message to the team on the bus ride to St. Cloud, he spoke about opportunities and making the most of them, then praised Butler’s patience in awaiting his, then running with it. Butler quickly ascended the bullpen, joining Zach Iten and the soon-to-be returning Miks as SCSU’s top high-leverage firemen.

Butler’s 2018 showed the promise of an elite reliever in the Northern Sun. Many casual baseball fans will see his 5.17 ERA and allow that to write the story of his season, but a deeper look into his numbers give Huskies fans a whirlwind of excitement for his senior season. An elite 3.04 FIP, a 25.7% strikeout rate, a 53.2% groundball rate, a 10.6% pop-up rate, and a team-leading 51.1% soft contact rate scream late-inning leverage man. He was a bit plagued by walks, with a 10.8% walk rate, but relievers are allowed to have higher base on ball totals, as long as they produce punchouts and ground balls. Butler also posted the second-lowest hard-hit rate on the staff at 19.1%, just behind closer Nathan Strobel.

So, what attributed to the high ERA? If all the above performance-indicating numbers were so elite, why the 5.17 ERA? It’s actually very easy to find the answer: BABiP, or Batting Average on Balls in Play. In the NSIC, which is statistically a very offensive-friendly environment, league average BABiP is roughly in the .330 range, or approximately 20 points higher than the MLB average. What does that tell us? Take a player’s BABiP, then look at their spray rates. Butler excels at using his plus sinker-curve combination at generating a great deal of weak ground balls and pop ups, which are far and away the most reliable out in baseball, and he avoids hard hit line drives and fly balls, which statistically go for the most hits. However, with a look at Butler’s stats, you can very quickly see that he was debatably the unluckiest pitcher in the NSIC a season ago, as his BABiP stood at a whopping .488, attributing to his .355 batting average against. As the “luck pendulum” swings back his way in 2019 (just as it did in Bismarck, which we’ll get to shortly), Butler’s BAA and ERA should both easily fall into much more dominant numbers.

After his 2018 Huskies season, Butler spent a short while back in Naperville with his family, then came back to St. Cloud to play amateur ball with Sauk Rapids. During the Huskies season, Brett DeGagne had been hired as the Pitching Coach for the Northwoods League’s Bismarck Larks, beginning in the 2018 summer season. DeGagne had discussed the possibility of bringing Butler with him to the Larks, and that came to fruition just a few weeks into June. The Larks needed a long reliever, and were headed through St. Cloud on their way to Rochester. Butler signed his contract and met the team at a gas station.

The Northwoods League is a 72-game summer collegiate league, widely recognized among baseball circles as best in the Midwest and second only to the Cape Cod League in terms of talent. With its excellent simulation of a Minor League season, the Northwoods is often a hitters’ haven. Right on que, Butler made his Northwoods debut in one of the friendlier hitting environments in the league, Copeland Park in La Crosse. Brought on in relief against a fearsome Loggers lineup that featured two 40-RBI men in San Diego’s Shane McGuire and Butler University’s Harrison Freed, Butler managed to go 3.0 innings while allowing just one earned on 5 hits, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Butler quickly ascended yet another pitching staff, ending his Northwoods season with a sparkling 2.63 ERA in 12 appearances and 5 starts. He was named Northwoods League Pitcher of the Night after throwing a “no-hitter” on July 29th against Eau Claire, firing 6.0 official innings of no-hit ball while striking out 7 and walking 4 in a 0-0 tie. Butler did allow a hit in the seventh, but the game was called due to rain at the seventh inning stretch, giving him the official no-hitter. Butler’s finest start came against the Mankato MoonDogs on August 4th, receiving a no-decision despite throwing 6.0 innings of 1-run ball on 3 hits and 3 walks while recording 8 punchouts versus one of the league’s most powerful lineups.

Across 37.2 innings with the Larks, Butler posted a 21.5% strikeout rate, a 12.7% walk rate, a 3.31 FIP, a 1.35 WHIP, and an elite .226/.329/.299 opponent slash line for a .628 opponent OPS. Finally, Butler’s luck factors went in his favor, as his BABiP cratered to a .294 mark.

Injuries and past struggles behind him, Matt Butler is prepared to enter the 2019 season as one of the NSIC’s most unheralded elite relievers. He’ll be one of the anchors for a bullpen that has the potential to be the best in Pat Dolan’s time at SCSU, and for Butler, only one thing is on his mind in terms of goals he hopes to accomplish.

“Most importantly, I want this team to go to the World Series. We’ve been close, made a regional every year I was here, we got a huge senior class, lots of senior leadership, I want to make that step and make it to the World Series this year…I’m ready to do whatever they ask of me, whether it’s a spot start, close, long relief, whatever they need, I’m ready to go, I just want to help this team win. And we’re going to win. So, I just want to contribute to it.”

Matt Butler’s path to success hasn’t been an easy one.

Some just might say it’s been the best one.

Podcast

Women's Hockey Swept by #3 Gophers

10/13/2018 - 9:00 PM

In the opening WCHA game of the season at Ridder Arena, St. Cloud State looked to respond after a tough loss on Friday night to the #3 ranked Gophers.

 

Just as the night before, the Gophers jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead. Amy Potomak fired it right over the right shoulder over Janine Alder giving Minnesota the early momentum.

 

 

Again on night #2 vs. Minnesota, the Huskies struggled turning over the puck early in the game. In the opening 7 minutes, the play saw Minnesota dominate in shots with a 7-0 advantage. SCSU struggled to create any type of high grade scoring chances.

 

 

The Gophers made them pay as Emily Oden slid the puck past Janine Alder to make it 2-0. Their dominance quickly showed in this game, while the Huskies struggled again against the highly talented Gophers.

 

 

Just under two minutes later, Minnesota would continue to run away from the Huskies in the first period, as Grace Zumwinkle added another loose puck goal to give the Gophers a 3-0 lead.

 

 

With the Huskies desperate for a response, they earned their first chance at a power play with just 4:31 left in the first period, but Julia Tylke earned a penalty during the skater advantage killing all momentum for SCSU.

 

 

The shots numbers would not improve for the Huskies as the first period finished, as SCSU trailed the Gophers not only in goals, but also heavily in the shots category 15-2.

 

 

The first period ends 3-0 with Minnesota in front, and the second period did not open in the Huskies favor.
 

SCSU got called for their second penalty of the game, but were able to kill the penalty not allowing the Gophers an early burst in the second. Penalty minutes continued to pile up as in the middle of second period, Nylund was called for a high stick giving the Gophers another opportunity to build on the lead.

 

 

Back forth play in the 2nd period continued to see the Gophers dominate the Huskies in shots, who seemingly could not find a response in the frame.

 

 

St. Cloud State found a spark, scoring on the power play with freshman Jenniina Nylund finding the back of the net off a rebound. The Huskies would cut the Gophers lead to 3-1 after some sleepy minutes in the 2nd period for both teams.

 

 

With a 3-1 lead headed into the third, the Gophers looked to continue dominating ways and put the game away against the Huskies. An early power play chance for Minnesota was shut down by St. Cloud State, but it was Emily Oden with her second goal of the game to push the Gophers lead to 4-1.

 

 

St Cloud State late in the third earned a power play chance, but it was not enough as the Huskies fell to the #3 ranked Gophers by a final score of 4-1.

 

 

St. Cloud State Women's hockey travels to Minnesota State-Mankato this coming weekend in a pair of WCHA matchups.

 

Huskies fall to #3 Gophers in WCHA Opener

10/12/2018 - 11:30 PM

The St. Cloud State University Women’s Hockey program was celebrating its twentieth year of existence.  The Huskies welcomed in the University of Minnesota.  Coming into this weekend, the Golden Gophers were ranked third in the nation. Pregame festivities included a ceremonial puck drop from the original coach of the program twenty years ago, Kerry Brodt Wethington.  Members of the original team also joined the coach to celebrate the anniversary. 

 

 

Early in the first period, the Gophers struck first with a goal from Nicole Schammel who increased her point streak to five games.  Schammel has picked up a point in every regular season game thus far for the Gophers.  Picking up the assist on the play was Olivia Knowles.  This assist was Knowles’ first point of the season.  Minnesota would strike again just over halfway through the first period to increase their lead to two.  This time, it was the Lake City, MN native Taylor Heise.  On this goal, the Huskies had broken up Heise’s backdoor pass. Polusny had already started to try and cover the backdoor pass, but when it was just sitting in the slot, Heise was able to backhand it into the wide-open net. The Gophers were not done for the period.  A late minor penalty assessed to Taytum Geier for tripping put Minnesota on the power play for the first time, and they converted just fifteen seconds in.  Again, it was Taylor Heise scoring her second goal of the evening.  This last goal made it 3-0 Gophers headed into the first intermission.

 

 

The start to the second period was much better for the Huskies. Two and a half minutes into the period, a broken-up play occurred in the slot and the puck bounced to the point for St. Cloud.  At the point for Huskies, Taylor Wemple.  She ripped in into the back of the net, decreasing the Gophers’ lead to two.  The Huskies would have a two on two rush half way into the period.  The two women for the Huskies were Nylund and Theodosopoulos.  Nylund carried the puck in and took a shot.  Gulstene, the goaltender for Minnesota, left a juicy rebound sitting in front.  Tylke was the first to take a tap at it.  Gulstene stopped that shot, but let the rebound sit in the slot, where Jenniina Nylund put the puck in the net for her first collegiate goal.  The Gophers now only led by one.  The Gophers would answer as Heise fed a pass to British Columbia native Sarah Potomak who would make it a two-goal lead once again.   Minnesota wasn’t done for the period as Olympic gold medalist, Kelly Pannek would find the back of the net with an assist from Sophie Skarzynski.  The Gophers would enter the second intermission with a three-goal lead again.

 

 

For the majority of the first half of the third period, the play was back and forth.  Again, the Gophers would go on the power play for the third time of the evening.  The penalty on the Huskies was hooking on Kenzie Wylie.  The Gophers were one for two on the power play up to that point, but they would soon make it two for three as Sarah Potomak would score her second goal of the night, her third of the season.  This would be the final score of the night as the Huskies drop the first one of the series to the Gophers by a score of 6-2.

 

 

The Gophers did not take a single penalty in this game, and the Huskies took four.  If the Huskies want to have any chance to win tomorrow at Ridder Arena, they have to have more even penalty numbers.  Overall though, the Gophers were just that much better than the Huskies.  All night, Minnesota was skating circles around St. Cloud State in a figurative manner.  The offense of the Gophers was just that much better than the Huskies were defensively.

 

 

Tomorrow, St. Cloud State travels to Ridder Arena to attempt to split the series with the Gophers at 4:07 pm.  You can listen online on the KVSC Sports Stream for coverage of tomorrow’s game.  

 

2018-19 Men's Hockey Season Preview

10/12/2018 - 10:50 AM

The St. Cloud State University men’s hockey team is getting ready to drop the puck on their 2018-19 season this weekend.

 

The Huskies had a successful 2017-18 season which saw them finish 25-9-6, spend most of the season ranked inside the top 5, and win the NCHC regular season championship. But, the Huskies season ended earlier they had hoped when they fell to The Air Force Academy in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Then, less than a week after their season ended, they were tasked with replacing former head coach Bob Motzko after he left for the University of Minnesota.

 

Enter Brett Larson.

 

Larson has spent the last three seasons as an assistant at NCHC rival Minnesota Duluth where the team just won a national title a year ago. Now, Larson is tasked with getting the Huskies over the hump and bringing them their first national title.

 

Finding offense should be of little concern as the Huskies will return eight of their top ten scorers from a team that was the 4^th highest scoring in the nation a year ago. Leading the way from that group are Jimmy Schuldt and Robby Jackson who elected to return for their senior seasons. Jackson led the Huskies in scoring a year ago posting a line of 15-27-42 in 40 games played. Meanwhile Schuldt notched 10 goals and finished as the 3^rd highest scoring defenseman in the NCAA.

 

The biggest question mark for the Huskies entering the 2018-19 season is who the team will go with in goal. There’s an old saying in football: if you’ve got two quarterbacks, you don’t have one. But, that saying may not apply here. Jeff Smith and David Hrenak both return after successful seasons last year. Smith is entering his senior season with St. Cloud State, while Hrenak is in his second year on campus. Both goaltenders played in over 19 games a year ago and each posted double digit wins, but Hrenak had a better goals against average and save percentage (2.11, .919) than Smith (2.58, .910).

 

Coach Larson will have to decide if he wants to go with two goaltenders throughout the year or decide on a number one to ride throughout the year. Last year, Larson and Minnesota Duluth road Hunter Shepard all the way to a national title, and it will be interesting to see how the goalie situation plays out throughout the year.

 

The Huskies enter this season with high hopes, high expectations, and a no. 5 ranking. But they still have a lot to prove. The NCHC is loaded. Duluth, Denver, North Dakota, and Western Michigan all hold spots in the top 20 to open the season. It certainly won’t be a cake walk for the reigning Penrose Cup champions, but it should be an entertaining season.

 

The Huskies open up their season this weekend at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and return home for their home opener next weekend against Northern Michigan.

 

Women's Hockey Weekend Preview Against The Gophers

10/11/2018 - 7:30 PM

This weekend the St. Cloud State Huskies (2-2-0) take on the powerhouse that is the Minnesota Golden Gophers (3-0-1) who are currently ranked number 3 in the nation behind fellow WCHA member Wisconsin and the current defending national champion Clarkson.

The head to head record for these teams is 82-3-3 in favor of Minnesota. Last season the Huskies broke a 38 game losing streak when they took the Gophers into a shootout at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

The Huskies come into the weekend in a red hot fit of scoring we haven’t seen in a long time. They are just behind the Gophers in goals per game 3.50 to 4.00 good for ties at 4 and 7 in the nation.

A spin from last season where the Huskies were a juggernaut in net with the duo of sophomore Emma Polusny and junior Janine Alder who broke just about every school record for goalies. The team save percentage this year is .914 and their Goals Against Average is at 2.70.

Both teams are rotating goalies and have yet to decide. The expectation is that both teams will use different goalies both nights. The main stay junior Sydney Scobee has been the better of the two but hasn’t been able to shake sophomore Alex Gulenstene. Minnesota come's into the weekend at 9.32 and 1.47.

The Huskies come into the weekend being led by senior Julia Tylke and junior Hallie Theodosopoulos. Tylke leads the conference in assists with 7 and Theodosopoulos lead the conference with 5 goals, 4 of which came against RIT this past weekend.

The Gophers are truly an all-around team and the weaknesses are rare. The leaders for scoring are sophomore Grace Zumwinkle and Senior Nicole Schammel. Zumwinkle leads the team with 3 goals and Schammel leads the teams with 5 assists. This is a team with took both games away from the women’s goalie in the world, Maddie Rooney at UMD, last weekend.

The Huskies will be pressed to shut down the deep lineup of the Gophers. The top 6 for the Huskies have the skill to stay with the top two lines of the Gophers but their bottom 6’s don’t match up as well. That is where this game will be won. If the Huskies can get some scoring for the lower lines, they have a good chance. I predict the team with the most scoring from their bottom 6 will win this game.

PREDICTION: The Huskies will battle and the games will be physically close but I don’t think the Huskies are quiet to Minnesota’s level yet. The games will remain close on the scoreboard before the pure skills of the Gophers allow them to pull away in the third. The Gophers should claim the sweep this weekend over a promising and on the rise Huskies squad.

St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey Sweeps RIT

10/09/2018 - 10:30 AM

 

This past weekend, the St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey team welcomed the Rochester Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as RIT, to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in search of the Huskies first win of the season.  On Friday night, St. Cloud State struck early and often.  SCSU put up a school record of six goals in the first period. 

 

The Tigers of RIT put up two goals of their own in the first period.  This made it 6-2 after the first period.  In the second period, RIT converted on their second power play opportunity of the night, with Brittney Gout putting the puck in the net cutting the Huskies lead down to three.  Just under five minutes later, the dangerous line trio of Friesen-Portrykus-Kluge produced their fourth goal of the night.  Emma Polusny got the start for SCSU as she faced 33 shots, only allowing three to get behind her.  The score would remain the same, as the Huskies would take game one by a score of 7-3.

 

Night two had a completely different path as RIT’s star player, senior Kendall Cornine, gave RIT a one goal lead half way through the second period.  Cornine was very impressive all weekend as when she left the Herb on Saturday evening, she was in the top 5 players in the country in points.  The Huskies were not about to let RIT get away without a fight as the nation’s leading goal scorer, Hallie Theodosopoulos, scored a goal sixteen minutes into the second period to even the score. 

 

Late in the period, Kenzie Wylie, a blue line sophomore, took a roughing minor that put RIT on the power play.  Cornine struck again for RIT as she scored only eleven seconds into the power play.  RIT took the one goal lead into the break and continued to hold the lead for the majority of the third.  Hallie Theodosopoulos found the back of the net for her fifth of the season to even the score with just under seven minutes remaining in regulation.  This game would go to overtime. A minute and a half into overtime, Hutchinson, MN native, Ellie Larson of the Tigers received a minor penalty for holding putting the Huskies on the power play.  The dangerous first power play unit for the Huskies scored a minute and twelve seconds into the one woman advantage, as alternate captain Abby Thiessen buried the puck for the Huskies. 

 

Janine Alder got the start in net for the Huskies as she was faced with 25 shots from the Tigers as only two got by.  This completed a two game sweep over the RIT Tigers.

 

Next weekend, the SCSU Huskies have a series against the #3 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.  Each team will get a home game in the series. The game on Friday will be played at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center with a 6:07 pm puck drop, and the game on Saturday will be held at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis with a 4:07 pm puck drop.  Both games can be listened to on the KVSC Sports Stream.

 

Huskies Soccer in Full Force Push for Postseason

10/09/2018 - 1:30 AM

After a weekend home sweep over Minnesota State Moorhead and Northern State, the St. Cloud State Soccer team is no longer a sleeper team looking to make it to this year’s NSIC women’s soccer tournament, they are in a position to be one of the top seeds.

 

Junior forward Hannah Marion’s consistent scoring and three shutouts from freshman goalkeeper Zoe Welsh have been just two of the critical impacts SCSU has needed to be in the position they are today. That is, sitting a top one of the best four teams in the NSIC with 17 conference points. Not to mention the back line combination that St. Cloud State has to offer has shut down opposing attacks all season long.

 

With three weeks remaining in the regular season, consistent play for the Huskies will keep them in contention of a heavily coveted playoff spot. Three of the last six games of the season are at home, where SCSU has not lost all season. Points on the road will be critical, where the Huskies only have two wins and one draw.

 

Under Gretta Arvesen in her fifth year as head coach of the Huskies, SCSU has made it to the playoffs three times, but have never earned a postseason win.

 

St. Cloud State travels on the road this weekend, facing the bottom of the table Upper Iowa, and then traveling for a tough road game against Winona State. The Warriors certainly are a hungry team also in desperation pushing for a playoff spot.

 

Stay locked to KVSC Sports at kvsc.org/sports for the latest on all things SCSU Huskies Athletics.

 

Huskies Football Defeats Wayne State in Thriller

10/08/2018 - 7:00 AM

The Huskies were in need and in search for a response the week after a 35-point loss on the road. It was not perfect from start to finish, but when freshman Payton Conrad intercepted the Wayne State quarterback late in the game Saturday, a new and fresh jolt of excitement surged through the St. Cloud State football team.

 

St. Cloud State earned their fourth victory of the 2018 season, defeating Wayne State College 23-17 Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium.

 

While it was Wayne State quarterback Alex Thramer to run in the first score of the contest, this would not shy away or take away what was a critical game for the St. Cloud State defense.

 

Not only did the Huskies defense hold WSC to any scoring until with 11 minutes to go in the 3^rd quarter, but making the game winning play to hault a Wayne State drive at the end of the game featured as the game highlight for St. Cloud State in the game and arguably the season.

 

The offense did their role in the 23-17 win, going into the game with questions swirling about who would be in charge of the offense with junior quarterback Dwayne Lawhorn’s health in question.

Despite the question marks around the offense, the experienced looking offense line, receiving leaders John Pass and John Solberg, and the Greg Lewis show in the backfield teamed up to put impressive numbers for the offense.

 

A pair of receiving touchdowns in the first half was all the scoring the offense would produce but winning the field position battle was also crucial for star kicker Adam Stage to knock in three field goals in the win. Two of those field goals coming in crucial moments in the fourth quarter also propelled the Huskies to victory.

 

The healing win over the Wildcats boosts this Huskies team’s confidence, but the road is far from over for this group. SCSU travels to Sioux Falls to take on a team that, despite getting upset two weeks ago, will face a massive challenge against USF.

 

St. Cloud State’s win over Wayne State boosts them to a 4-2 record on the 2018 season, 3-1 versus NSIC north opponents.

 

After the trip to Sioux Falls, the week following  will be a historic day for St. Cloud State University, with Homecoming 2018 coming back to campus.

                                               

KVSC Sports is your home for St. Cloud State sports all season long. Log onto kvsc.org/sports for the latest SCSU sports notes, broadcast schedule, interviews and more!

 

SCSU Volleyball Upsets #10 SMSU in Four

10/06/2018 - 7:45 PM

The St. Cloud State Volleyball program hadn't defeated a ranked program on the road in nearly 20 years.

That streak came to an end on Saturday afternoon, as the Huskies (11-6, 7-4) took down #10 Southwest Minnesota State (13-6, 8-3) in four sets, 25-19, 25-20, 19-25, and 25-22.

The Huskies started off strong in the first set, holding the potent SMSU offense to hit a meager .184 on a 12-5-38 line. SCSU opened and closed the set on 4-0 runs, and never trailed by more than 2 points as they took the set 25-19. In the second set, the Mustangs found their offensive rhythm after moving to a 6-2, hitting .317, but St. Cloud State's passers continued their excellent play in keeping the Huskies in system throughout the set. Scoring runs again defined SCSU's dominance, as they picked up two 4-0 runs and one 3-0 stretch to give them a 25-20 victory. Southwest's defense tightened up and the Huskies struggled to get into system in the third set, as SMSU earned their only set win, 25-19.

The fourth set couldn't have opened any worse for SCSU, as they watched the Mustangs jump out to a 5-0 lead. The Huskies clawed back, again relying on their outstanding serve receive to side out on all but two SMSU serves after the 5-0 start. Micah Nier helped drive the Huskies' match-closing 4-1 run, racking up three consecutive kills before a ball handling error gave SCSU the 25-22 victory.

St. Cloud State's offense fired on all cylinders against an elite SMSU defense, beginning with Linsey Rachel's career-high 21 kills on .327 hitting to go with 11 digs. Sophomore setter Maddy Torve recorded a career-high 55 assists, 9 digs, an ace and a block. She did a tremendous job of involving multiple attackers and avoiding double blocks, and it really shined with the Huskies' middle hitter success. Nier terminated a season-high 11 kills on .435 hitting to go with 5 digs, 3 blocks, and an ace; while Marshall native Marah Mulso hit .368 with 8 kills, 3 digs, and 2 blocks. The two posted a combined attacking line of 19-2-42. Abby Templin added 9 kills and 4 blocks, serving as one of the key players on the Huskies' defense.

Junior libero Clara Krenz became third all-time in career digs at St. Cloud State while racking up 24 digs, 5 assists, 2 aces and a kill. Taylor Olstad added 14 digs, and Rachel Houle picked up a career-high 11 digs.

On the SMSU side, reigning National Player of the Year Taylor Reiss went 20-3-53 for a .321 hitting percentage along with 17 digs and 2 blocks. Meg Schmidt added 16 kills on .303 hitting, and Angela Young had 10 kills while hitting .345. Libero Kaylee Burmeister led the Mustangs defense with 22 digs.

St. Cloud State returns to action on Tuesday to wrap up their three match road swing at the University of Minnesota-Duluth at 6:00 p.m. As always, the match can be heard on the KVSC Sports Stream with Thomas Breach on the call, with Husky Den Pregame kicking off at 5:45 p.m.

Box Score

KVSC Sports Talks with Morgan Emmans, Bradi Yost, and Kate Kopeck

10/05/2018 - 11:30 AM

It was announced two weeks ago that Morgan Emmans, Bradi Yost, and Kate Kopeck would be the captaincy trio for SCSU Softball during the 2018-19 season. KVSC Sports had the pleasure of sitting down with all three to discuss about being named the captains, the team, as well as preview the season ahead.

 

LISTEN HERE

 

Huskies Soccer Splits Road Trip Weekend

10/01/2018 - 2:15 PM

In a competitive women’s NSIC soccer conference, any positive result on the road is huge for teams early in the season. The St. Cloud State Huskies earned one of those crucial wins Friday, knocking off  Wayne State 2-1.

 

Wayne State would score early in the ‘12^th minute, putting the Wildcats ahead 1-0 looking to protect home field. In the 2^nd half, Maria Witte would be awarded a penalty kick. Witte laced it home and knotted up the score at 1-1.

 

St. Cloud State would prevail in overtime, with a goal from Nicole Friis that boosted the Huskies to a 2-1 victory and add on to their conference points total at 11 in NSIC play.

 

Sunday would prevail a difficult result with the Huskies falling 1-0 to one of the best in the NSIC Augustana. The Huskies finished the record with a 3-4-3 record overall and 3-2-2 in conference play. 11 points in the NSIC has them sitting in a playoff spot in 6^th.

 

SCSU is back home for a slate of home matches this weekend, hosting Minnesota State – Moorhead on Friday at 1pm, and Sunday at 1pm hosting Northern State.

 

Listen to both matches LIVE on the KVSC Sports Stream with Hans Bristol on the call. 

 

Huskies Football Falls to #1 MSU

10/01/2018 - 12:30 PM

The St. Cloud State football team lost their 2^nd NSIC contest of the 2018 season, falling to #1 ranked Minnesota State Mankato Saturday afternoon in Mankato.

 

After the first quarter, it was the upset hungry St. Cloud State Huskies in front 3-0 behind a Adam Stage FG.  The 2^nd quarter got away from St Cloud State, as the Mavericks collected three touchdowns in the frame including one fumble recovery for a touchdown. The lead was 21-3 for MSU headed into halftime.

 

The scoring would not stop at the break for the Mavericks, as early in the 3^rd quarter MSU would tack on two more scores to push their lead to 35-3 behind a short touchdown run and a second fumble recovery for a score. St Cloud State running back Greg Lewis would find the end zone in the quarter with a 19 yard touchdown run to make the score 35-10 favoring the Mavericks.

 

Minnesota State would close the game out on the Huskies with a pair of scores in the 4^th quarter, an 8 yard touchdown pass and a 26 yard field goal. The #1 ranked Mavericks would move to a record of 5-0 with a 45-10 win over St. Cloud State.

 

Greg Lewis was the lone bright spot on the offensive side of the ball for the Huskies, with 100 yards on the ground and rushing for a touchdown. Ben Gutschow collected 8 tackles leading the Huskies defense that had a rough day in Mankato.

 

St. Cloud State will take a 3-2 record into this weekend, hosting Wayne State at 1pm Saturday at Husky Stadium.

 

You can hear all of the action LIVE on KVSC 88.1fm with pre-game Saturday beginning at 12:45 with Drew Steele, Sam Goetzinger and Hans Bristol on the call.

 

KVSC Sports is your home for Huskies football coverage all season long!

 

St. Cloud State Women's Hockey Season Preview

09/27/2018 - 6:00 PM

The Women’s hockey team comes into the 2018-2019 season after finishing 8-20-5 overall with a 6-14-4 conference record last season. Eric Rud’s Club graduated four players last season, Forward Alyssa Erickson, Defensemen Brittney Anderson and Emma Turbyville and Goaltender Taylor Crosby.

The three senior skaters were the three captains for the Huskies last season and were all in the top 8 in scoring. Last season’s team broke a 37 game losing streak against the Minnesota Golden Gopher at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, took the number one team in the country to the wire and played in Hockey Day Minnesota. All of this occurred with the Huskies being .500 after Christmas break, which leads to positive traction coming into this season.

The Women’s team is bringing back a load of talent, from their tantalizing tandem in net to their trio of top scorers from last year. These ladies are looking for only their second winning season in program history, the only other time it has happened was in ’07-08 where they went 18-15-5. This won’t come easy as four teams in the Western Collegiate Hockey Conference are ranked in the USCHO Division 1 Top 10.

The talent that is still in St. Cloud is up and down the lineup. Tops on the team in goals, assist and points are all still in town. Senior Julia Tylke led the team in goals the past two seasons and was second her freshman year. Tylke has been featured on Sportscenter Top 10 for her scoring prowess and it should be on full display in her last season. Sophomore Laura Kluge led the team in assists (17) and points (24) last year. Kluge’s play will go a long way for this team as she is a focal point for the offense both with the man advantage and at equal strength.

These two should pace the Huskies this season, who need to score more than they did last season’s 52 goals. My breakout forward candidate for this season is sophomore Megan Roe who should see time on the third line this season. Roe only saw the ice in 10 games last year and was unable to put up any points but in high school she scored at just under a point-per-game pace her final two years.

The back end is where the Huskies were hurt the most by graduation where they lost their top two defensemen. This season they will be led by junior assistant captain Abby Thiessen. Thiessen transferred from the University Of North Dakota after their women’s hockey team was cut. She had 10 points from the back end last season playing on the top defensive pairing with Britany Anderson.

My breakout defenseman candidate for this season is sophomore Taylor Wemple. Wemple is a force at 6’0 ft. tall and right handed from the point but she was undisciplined last season earning a penalty about every three games, which was the worst percentage on the team. She should lock down a solid role on the second and third pairings as long as she cleans up the penalties.

The Huskies are stacked in net with two clear starting college goalies. Junior Janine Alder and Sophomore Emma Polusny were unbelievable last year, leading to a handful of Huskies team records going down in flames. They claimed the number one save percentage for a season in team history at .929; while the second was all the way back at .919. Alder was at 9.35 and number one in team history with 33 GA and 473 saves. She also set the team record for saves in a game stone walling 59 shots against Wisconsin. Polusny was right behind at number two in save percentage with .934, 43 GA and 605 Saves.

The tandem is also number one in team history for goals against average in a season at .2.27; while the second is at 2.55. This time Polusny is number one on the record board at 2.20 GAA, second is at 2.32 GAA and Alder was right there with a 2.42 GAA. Polusny got significant run in the second half of last season but I expect them to split time in net for most of the season if they are both still playing at such a high level like last season.

The fresh talent on the team should find the ice from day one, especially on the back end. Freshman Olivia Hanson is expected be the left handed shot that fills Anderson’s old spot on the top pairing. Hanson is from Minot, North Dakota but she played in Canada for the Notre Dame Hounds the past four years. Hanson had four goals and 18 assists for 22 points in 25 games last season. She added three assists to that total during eight playoff games. Hanson did have 30 penalty minutes last season, which could work against her this year. Hanson will wear the 44 jersey this season.

Freshman Taytum Geier is the second defenseman brought in this year. She is from Verona, Wisconsin. She played for the Madison Capitals the past three years. She is more of a defensive defenseman who isn’t afraid to throw her body around to block shots. Geier shouldn’t wear down this year as she is used to a brutal schedule that includes 67 games a year on average. Geier will wear the 16 jersey this year.

In net, freshman Karlie Ries comes in from New Ulm High School. She brings in the pedigree being the daughter of former Husky Bill Ries, who played and coached here in the 1980’s. Ries probably won’t see the ice this season barring injury but the future in net looks bright. Ries will wear the 30 jersey this year.

On the offensive side the Huskies brought in freshman Jenniina Nylund, Allie Cornelius and Sophomore McKenna Wesloh, who will redshirt this season as a transfer from Ohio State. Nylund appears to be the one who will have the biggest impact on the Huskies this season having found a possible spot in the top 6. Nylund can flat out put the puck in the back of the net. Last season for Team Kuortane she scored 23 goals in 30 games, adding in 16 assists in there. In international competition playing for the Finland U18 team the year before she scored eight goals in 16 games. Nylund will wear the 81 jersey this year.

Cornelius is the home town girl having played high school hockey for the St. Cloud Icebreakers. She had an amazing four years with the Icebreakers amassing a program record for points (162) and goals (102) while being a mere second in assists (60). She will most likely not see much ice time this season with her skill set leaning toward offense the top 6 being pretty crowded but look for her to use that elite offensive skill in the near future for Rud’s squad. Cornelius will wear the 6 jersey this year.

The top games you won’t want to miss at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center are as follows:

Oct. 12 vs. Minnesota Gophers

Oct 26 and 27th vs. UMD Bulldogs

Nov. 17 vs. Minnesota Gophers

Dec. 7 and 8 vs. Wisconsin Badgers

Feb. 1 and 2 vs Ohio State Buckeyes

The Huskies begin regular season play this weekend Sept. 28 and 29 when they fly out to Storrs, Connecticut to take on the University of Connecticut. The games will be at 6 p.m. on Friday and at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Neither of the games will be broadcast.

NOTES:

• This will be a good gage on where the Huskies are at with Connecticut earning two votes for the USCHO rankings.

• These teams tied 0-0 with Connecticut wining in OT on Friday and St. Cloud won 3-2 in comeback fashion on Saturday to start last season.

• Local connection: Connecticut has one Minnesota native on their team in sophomore Natalie Snodgrass, who is from Eagan.

• Connecticut lost their exhibition game 4-2, while SCSU won theirs 9-0.

Huskies Soccer Earn A Pair of Conference Points

09/25/2018 - 10:20 AM

With a pair of home matches over the weekend, the St. Cloud State women’s soccer team earned two conference points with a pair of draws vs. Concordia St. Paul and #16 Minnesota-State Mankato.

 

On Friday, September 21^st, the Huskies hosted the 5-0 Concordia St.-Paul Golden Bears. It took more than 90 minutes to decide the contest, as Hannah Marion found her third goal of the year in the 52^nd minute. Nicole Friis was awarded the assist.

 

Concordia – St. Paul’s Jena Berland would find an equalizing goal for the Golden Bears in the 70^th minute to tie the game at 1-1. Neither team would find the back of the net for the remainder of the match. After 20 minutes of overtime, the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

 

Freshman goalkeeper Zoe Welsh made six saves in net for St. Cloud State. Hannah Marion led the Huskies with two shots.

 

Sunday, September 23^rd, #16 ranked Minnesota State-Mankato came into Husky Stadium as one of the toughest opponents in the NSIC.

 

It took double overtime to split a 1-1 draw between these two teams in a game that was hard fought and had many chances for both sides to find the back of the net.

 

The Mavericks scored first in the contest, as Julia Zach found the back of the net in the 18^th minute of the first half to put MSU up 1-0. St. Cloud State would respond shortly after, as Hannah Marion would continue her hot scoring streak putting one in the back of the net after a assist from Sally Nelson.

 

After another strong performance in goal from freshman goalkeeper Zoe Welsh with six saves, a multitude of chances for both sides was not enough. After a double overtime result, the match ended 1-1 between the Huskies and Mavericks.

 

After the weekend, St. Cloud State sits in 5^th place in the NSIC with a conference record of 2-1-2 with 8 conference points. Overall, the Huskies are 2-3-3 on the 2018 season.

 

St. Cloud State heads back on the road this week, with matchups with Wayne State on Friday September 28th at 3 p.m., and then at Augustana on Sunday September 30^th at 1pm.

SCSU Football Knock Off Northern State On The Road

09/25/2018 - 9:50 AM

Softball Fall Preview with Paula U'Ren

09/20/2018 - 1:20 AM

The SCSU Softball team announced today their captains for the upcoming 2018-2019 season. Seniors Kate Kopeck, Bradi Yost, and Morgan Emmans were informed by Head Coach Paula U’Ren on Wednesday of the voting results and will be the trio of captains that will lead the Huskies into their promising season ahead.

 

The captaincies were voted upon by the team and coaching staff and it seemed that after counting the votes that everyone agreed that the veteran experience on the team translated over to the be the best options for team leadership.

 

“It was great to see that the team had the same idea that our seniors are the leaders on our team…they take a lot of ownership in the program and they know how to play the Husky softball way” U’Ren told KVSC.

 

SCSU has already gotten their exhibition season in the fall under way and will continue to do so with a game against the University of Minnesota later this month on Sep. 28^th, followed up with their Alumni game on Sep. 29^th and then concluded by a game facing the Minnesota Moose on Sep. 30^th.

 

KVSC Sports Director AJ Fredrickson had a chance to sit down with Head Coach Paula U’Ren to discuss her thoughts on what she’s seen so far and to preview the rest of the fall for the Huskies.

 

LISTEN HERE

 

 

SCSU Soccer Earn First Road Victory of Season

09/17/2018 - 9:00 PM

The St. Cloud State University, Women's soccer team, went on the road for their first road trip in the 2018 season, falling on Friday, September 14th in Bemidji 3-2 but bouncing back Sunday, September 16th with a 1-0 win over Crookston.

Friday, the Huskies traveled to battle #14 Bemidji State, who is a firm favorite in NSIC play this year.

 

Rachel Norton for Bemidji State opened the scoring with a brace of goals, scoring in the 12th and 49th minute of action giving the Beavers a 2-0 lead. Early in the 2nd half, BSU would extend their lead to 3 with a goal from Dani Nelson.

 

The Huskies would response, finding two more goals before the game would end. Maria Witte would knock in a pair of penalty kicks to pull the Huskies within one, but that would not be enough for St. Cloud State. The Beavers would win the match 3-2. St. Cloud State would fall to 1-1 in NSIC on the 2018 season.

 

It only took one goal for the Huskies on Sunday to knock off NSIC foe Minnesota Crookston. In the 52nd minute, freshman forward Claire Shea found the back of the net on a pass from Sara Magno, and the Huskies would hold onto that lead for a 1-0 win and three points on the road. Freshman Goalkeeper Zoe Welsh earned her first shutout of the season.

 

The Huskies are back home in St. Cloud this week for a pair of NSIC matches, hosting Concordia-St. Paul on Friday at 1pm, then #17 Minnesota-State Mankato on Sunday.

 

Follow KVSC Sports on twitter @KVSCSports and tune in to this weekend's matches on the KVSC Sports Stream.

 

KVSC Sports is your home for complete SCSU athletics coverage all season long!

 

Huskies Volleyball Upsets No. 6 UMD in Straight Sets

09/11/2018 - 9:15 PM

 Since 1995, St. Cloud State had failed to notch a match victory over the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

That streak was snapped on Tuesday as the Huskies (7-2, 3-0) upset the #6 Bulldogs (8-3, 2-1) in straight sets, 25-22, 25-17, and 25-19. The ranked victory marked the second time the Huskies have defeated a Top-25 team in the Chad Braegelmann era.

True freshman Linsey Rachel recorded her fifth double-double of the season in the match, piling up 17 kills and 10 digs on a .455 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Maddy Torve recorded a double-double of her own with 37 assists and 10 digs. Senior Krista Kuglin thumped down 10 kills, while sophomore Erin Navratil added 9. Micah Nier, Marah Mulso, and Navratil each posted 2 blocks on the defensive end, while Clara Krenz racked up 15 digs.

The Huskies first set victory over UMD broke a 32-game set losing streak to the Bulldogs, with the last win coming in 2012.

SCSU outhit the Bulldogs .270 to .123. The passing was stupendous all night long on the St. Cloud State side, allowing Torve to record better than 12 assists per set.

Makenzie Morgen led UMD with 13 kills on .294, while Hanna Meyer added 9 kills on .269 hitting.

The Huskies continue their NSIC season with a Friday night match on September 14 at the University of Mary at 6:00 p.m. The match can be heard on the KVSC Sports Stream, with Husky Den Pregame at 5:45 p.m.

Box Score