Complete Release (PDF)
MARSHALL, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State volleyball team finished the 2009 season 25-8 overall and made its sixth straight and seventh overall NCAA tournament appearance. The Mustangs’ 15-5 mark in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action was good for fourth place in the final conference standings.
Letterwinners: Leah Ashburn, Brigetta Berg, Tory Brouwer, Brooke Burmeister, Cara Carson, Devin Diedrich, Sara Graf, Mary Groth, Ashley King, Kenzie Niesche, Tomomi Sakurai, Crissi Schewe, Kasey Uran, Brittany Wenzel.
Academic All-NSIC: Four Mustangs were honored with Academic All-NSIC accolades for the 2009 fall season. Cara Carson, Sara Graf, Kasey Uran and Brittany Wenzel all picked up honors for their performance in the classroom.
All-NSIC: The NSIC announced last week its all-conference selections for the 2009 season. Among the honorees were three Mustangs, including Devin Diedrich, Mary Groth and Kenzie Niesche. Diedrich and Groth landed on the All-NSIC squad, while Niesche was on the honorable selection team. The honors did not stop there for Groth; the rookie was also named the NSIC Freshman of the Year. It marked the second straight year SMSU has had the freshman of the year as Diedrich picked up the honor in 2008.
AVCA All-Region: The American Volleyball Coaches Association named SMSU middle blocker Devin Diedrich All-Central Region, while Mary Groth picked up All-Central Region honorable mention and Central Region Freshman of the Year honors. Groth’s Central Region Freshman of the Year accolade marked the second straight season SMSU has had a player earn the award as Diedrich captured the same honor in 2008.
AVCA All-America: The American Volleyball Coaches Association named SMSU middle blocker Devin Diedrich to the 2009 Division II All-America third team. The honor was the second All-America nod for Diedrich, who picked up honorable mention accolades last season from the AVCA. She is just the third Mustang volleyball player in school history to collect AVCA All-America first, second or third team honors; Erin Contons received first team honors in 2007 and second team honors in 2005 and 2006, while Kasey Loeslie was a third-team honoree in 2008.
NCAA Tournament history: SMSU made its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and seventh overall this season. Besides the Mustangs’ 2001 bid to the region tournament, all of SMSU’s appearances have been under head coach Terry Culhane. From 2004 to 2009, Culhane has advanced to the region quarterfinals four times and the region semifinals twice. In the NCAA Tournament, SMSU has posted a 3-7 record. Culhane is 3-6 in NCAA Tournament play.
Final standings: The Mustangs finished the regular season fourth in the final NSIC standings, falling in behind Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota State and Wayne State. SMSU has had top-four finishes in every season since 2003, peaking with runner-up honors in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008.
Region rankings: The final Central Region rankings of 2009 determined seedings for the upcoming region tournament. SMSU managed to climb one spot and move ahead of Nebraska-Kearney. Here’s how things went down on Sunday night:
1. Concordia-St. Paul
2. Southwest Minnesota State
3. Nebraska-Kearney
4. Wayne State (Neb.)
5. Minnesota State, Mankato
6. Minnesota Duluth
7. Metro State (Colo.)
8. Colorado School of Mines
National news: SMSU finished 2009 ranked No. 16 in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches’ Top 25 Poll released on Dec. 7. The Mustangs received 313 points in the poll. NSIC neighbor and national champion Concordia University, St. Paul retained the top spot in the poll. Five NSIC teams found their way into the final rankings.
The coach: Terry Culhane finished his sixth season as the head man of Mustang volleyball, and his name might as well be synonymous with success. The SMSU alum has yet to encounter a losing season or one that he hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament. Culhane boasts a 154-49 record at SMSU. He is assisted by Jessica Petersen, Paul Soupir, Mike Dalager, Katie Gangelhoff and Raftyn Rignell.
According to the coaches: The NSIC’s 14 head coaches tabbed SMSU fifth in their annual preseason poll. The Mustangs received 125 points in the poll. Concordia University, St. Paul, national champions for the past two seasons, was selected first for the sixth consecutive season with 169 points and 13 first-place votes. Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State and Wayne State fell in ahead of SMSU. MSU received one first-place vote.
Team (first place votes) Points
1. Concordia-St. Paul (13) 169
2. Minnesota Duluth 145
3. Minnesota State (1) 143
4. Wayne State 128
5. Southwest Minnesota State 125
6. Augustana 122
7. Minnesota State Moorhead 99
8. Winona State 82
9. St. Cloud State 65
10. Northern State 64
11. Bemidji State 44
12. Minnesota, Crookston 43
13. Upper Iowa 26
14. Mary 23
Stay connected: Stay connected with SMSU volleyball all season long at www.smsumustangs.com. The Mustangs are also on Facebook and Twitter; just log onto www.facebook.com/smsumustangs and www.twitter.com/smsumustangs. For the latest video highlights and new episodes of the Mustang Minute check out SMSU’s official YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/smsuathletics.
We’ll do it live!: Live statistics for all of SMSU’s home games can be viewed by logging onto www.smsumustangs.com and following the live stats link on the right side of the volleyball home page.
Let’s see it: All NSIC volleyball matches are video broadcast live and free of charge on the Penn Atlantic Network. Check out www.northernsun.tv to learn more.