UND TO HOST GREAT WEST CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT: The University of North Dakota will play host to the 2011 Great West Conference Tournament Nov. 17-19 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center ... Log onto North Dakota's 2011 Great West Conference Volleyball Tournament Central for links to tickets, live stats, a live video webcast of each match, match recaps, and box scores.
TOURNAMENT BRACKET SET: The bracket is set for the 2011 Great West Conference Volleyball Tournament which will be held, Nov. 17-19, at Grand Forks, N.D., and hosted by the University of North Dakota ... Great West champion Utah Valley, which clinched the title Friday, Nov. 11 with a 3-1 win over two-time defending GWC champion North Dakota, will be the top seed for the tournament ... North Dakota, which is also the two-time defending tournament champion, will be the No. 2 seed ... Both the Wolverines and Fighting Sioux will receive first-round byes and will open tournament play in Friday's semifinals ... Chicago State defeated NJIT, 3-2, while Houston Baptist swept Texas-Pan American on Saturday, Nov. 12 in the final regular season contests ... Those two matches will be repeated in the first round of the tournament on Thursday ... The Cougars will be the No. 5 seed and will again face the Highlanders in the tournament's opening match at 5 p.m. (CT) on Thursday ... The second quarterfinal match will feature the No. 3 seed Huskies in a rematch with the sixth-seeded Broncs ... In Friday's first semifinal, the GWC champion Wolverines will face the winner of the CSU-NJIT match, followed by the host Fighting Sioux taking on the HBU-UTPA winner ... The semifinal matches will be played at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. (CT) ... The 2011 Great West Conference Tournament champion will be crowned after Saturday's final match scheduled for 5 p.m.
Quarterfinals - Thursday, Nov. 17
Semifinals - Friday, Nov. 18
Championship - Saturday, Nov. 19
UP NEXT FOR NORTH DAKOTA: As the No. 2 seed, North Dakota will have to await the outcome of Thursday's quarterfinal match between No. 3 Houston Baptist and No. 6 Texas-Pan American to find out just who the Fighting Sioux will battle on Friday night to earn a trip to Saturday's championship match.
HUSFELDT NABS TRIO OF POSTSEASON AWARDS: Announced at Wednesday night's 2011 Great West Conference Volleyball Tournament banquet, University of North Dakota redshirt freshman setter Nikki Husfeldt was named the co-recipient of the GWC Freshman of the Year Award, sharing the honor with Jasmine Casey of Houston Baptist. Husfeldt was also named to the all-conference first team and the All-Newcomer Team.
The only GWC player averaging double-figure assists, Husfeldt leads the league with 10.78 assists per match and is the lone player to register a trio of matches with 50-plus assists this season. Against South Dakota (Nov. 1), she recorded a career-high 58 assists to tie the 2011 Great West single-match record.
Husfeldt was joined on the all-conference first team by senior outside hitter Devin Trefz (Bagley, Minn.). This is the third consecutive first team honor for Trefz, who currently holds the GWC single-match record after registering a .588 (12k-2e-17a) hitting percentage during UND's sweep over Texas-Pan American (Oct. 15).
Sophomore middle blocker Lisa Parlich (Delavan, Wis.), senior middle blocker Tia Russell (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), and senior outside hitter Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) were named to the all-conference second team.
Joining Husfeldt on the All-Newcomer Team was true freshmen Lexi Robinson (OH, Ramsey, Minn.) and Felicia Ulrich (OH, Woodbury, Minn.).
THOMPSON, MOSER INK WITH THE SIOUX: University of North Dakota head volleyball coach Ashley Hardee announced on Wednesday that Chelsea Moser (Willamina, Ore.) and Emily Thompson (Carrington, N.D.) have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Fighting Sioux for the 2012-13 season.
A 6-1 outside hitter/middle blocker from Willamina High School, Moser earned 2011 West Valley League Player of the Year honors and was named to the all-league first team after leading the Bulldogs to a West Valley League title and a runner-up finish at the state tournament. She was the only player to be unanimously named to the all-tournament first team ... As a senior on the court, she tallied 536 digs, 352 kills, 112 blocks, 39 aces, and 16 assists.
A 6-2 outside hitter from Carrington High School, Thompson was named the North Dakota Class B District 7 Senior Athlete of the Year and earned all-tournament team honors after leading the Cardinals to a 3-0 sweep over No. 1 Midkota to win the 2011 District 7 Volleyball Tournament ... A four-year letterwinner, Thompson accumulated 1,346 kills, 210 aces, 640 digs, and 360 blocks throughout her high school career.
UND'S TITLE STREAK BROKEN BY UTAH VALLEY: In a battle for the Great West Conference title, Utah Valley dashed North Dakota's hopes of a three-peat as the Wolverines defeated the Fighting Sioux 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 19-25, 19-25) on Nov. 11 in Orem, Utah ... UVU began the evening with a 25-20 win in the initial set, but UND quickly knotted things at 1-1 with a 25-20 victory in set two ... The Wolverines opened the second frame with the lead, but after breaking an 11-11 tie, the Sioux nabbed control and held on for the win. UND out-hit UVU .290 (14k, 5e, 31a) to .054 (13k, 11e, 37a) ... In the third set, the Wolverines flew out to an early 7-1 lead. UND chipped away at the margin and then managed to pull within three points. The Sioux stayed within arm's length, but couldn't overcome the initial six-point deficit ... In what would be the fourth and final set, Utah Valley started with a 5-1 lead and then extended it to a 10-2 advantage. Short runs brought UND to within five (13-8), but UVU managed to pull away once again. Now trailing 20-10, the Fighting Sioux rattled off six straight points to make it 20-16, but the comeback fell short as the Wolverines came away with the 25-19 win to take the set, the match, and the regular season title ... Senior outside hitter Annika Smed (Albert Lea, Minn.) led the Sioux with a 12-kill, 17-dig double-double, sophomore middle blocker Lisa Parlich (Delavan, Wis.) registered a career-high-tying 14 kills, and redshirt freshman setter Nikki Husfeldt (Andover, Minn.) led all players with 42 assists.
RECORD REWIND: The University of North Dakota volleyball program holds a 576-689-3 (.454) record all-time since the first game was played on Sept. 22, 1976. Under head coach Ashley Hardee, UND is 71-16 (.816).
PROTECT AND SERVE: All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 196-183 (.517) when it comes to defending their own court ... The Sioux are just four wins away from their 200th home victory.
LET'S GET BETTY TO RUMBLE: North Dakota is 60-29 (.674) all-time at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center, which opened prior to the 2004 season. Under head coach Ashley Hardee, UND is 28-2 (.933).
Click on the PDF link above to view the complete match notes release ...
- Go Sioux -
