UMM Volleyball on Facebook!

Hello all-
Well, finally did it... University of Minnesota, Morris Volleyball is officially on Facebook! Check us out and "Like" us to stay up to date with the latest UMM VB news and happenings!

We plan on using Facebook exclusively (replacing our blog) once the fall season starts, so get your Facebook page set up now if you haven't done so already. If this is a problem, please contact me (braegelc@morris.umn.edu).

Only 2.5 months until pre-season starts! Enjoy your summer and congratulations to our 2011 Cougar Volleyball recruits (more information on them coming by the end of June!) on their high school graduation!

Have a great week-

Coach B

Quiet Campus...

Hello-
We have had 2+ weeks of beautiful weather! It had been 60+ degrees and sunny out and we were getting spoiled- and now we're getting the rain we need- perfect!

Just a quick update- All the students are done with classes, summer session has started and the campus is in wrap-up/end of the year mode. I want to say congratulations to our volleyball team as we had a GPA over 3.0 for the spring semester and our cumulative GPA is over 3.0 as well- nice job Cougars! (That being said, there is still room for improvement as a team!)

Have a great week and Go Cougars!

Coach B

Heather's Car...

Here's a photo of Heather's DEAD car-- (note the anti-freeze leaking from under the car! And it was smoking as well-- not visible in the photo though!). She was recruiting (for softball) in the cities last week when it died-- Luckily the Humphreys, John and Pam, were near by and able to help her out- (Thank you!). Heather did make it safely back to Morris... the car however... did not.

Coach B

PS~ Sure is quiet on campus without the students!

Graduation Day Today and All-Conference Performers!

Hello-
Graduation Day today! Special congratulations to Megan Theis who is graduating-- and kudos to Megan, as she graduates in 4 years as a transfer student and a 4-year student-athlete, NOT an easy thing to do! Best of luck in your future endeavors Megan!

We also want to congratulate our All-Conference Track and Field performers- Kaylie Clark and Anna Peterson! Kaylie won the javelin throw for the Cougars and Anna earned All-UMAC honors for her runner-up finishes in the 4x100 and 4x400 relay. Read about it here-

Have a great week and Go Cougars!

Coach B

Heather Pennie named UMAC Softball Coach of the Year! And track results...

Hello-
Just wanted to let you know that Heather was named UMAC Softball Coach of the Year!! She led the Cougars to a school record 18 wins and the 2nd seed in the UMAC Tourney! Make sure to congratulate Heather when you get a chance!

Also, Kaylie Clark won the women's javelin throw and is the UMAC Champion as she threw the javelin over 123'! Emily Irey helped her relay team to a 2nd place finish in the 4x800m relay and Anna Peterson helped her relay teams to 2nd place finishes in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays! Congratulations Cougars!!

Day 1 of our 2011 spring finals is in the book-- best of luck to all our student-athletes on their finals.

Coach B

Clark is UMAC T & F Athlete of the Week... UMM Named Consumer's Digest Top Value

Hello-
A beautiful day in Morris today!! Sunny and warm! (And not joking at all on that one-- it's very nice today!).

Just wanted to give you a quick update... Kaylie Clark was named Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Female Track and Field Athlete of the Week!

Good luck to our track and field athletes (Clark, Anna Peterson and Emily Irey) as they compete in the UMAC Championships this weekend at home.

Also, good luck to our softball team (and Coach Pennie and Mandy Allman) as they head up to Duluth, MN to try and win their first ever UMAC Softball Championship!

Not to be outdone... the University of Minnesota, Morris was named a "top value" by Consumer's Digest (actually ranked 2nd!)- Read about it here.

Enjoy and only one more day of classes!

Coach B

Pomme de Terre Elementary Clinic...

Brita Humphrey (back left), Michele Hanson (blending in with campers, 2nd from back right), Allie Humphrey (laying down left), Alyssa Haugen (laying down right).

Hello,
Some of our current Cougars helped out with a volleyball clinic for 3rd-6th graders in our local Pomme de Terre volleyball club last weekend-- Here's the photo!

The groups came in two 1.5 hour sessions where we worked on basic skills, did some fun games and then "played" a bit at the end- It makes me very appreciative of my team's skills when I have the opportunity to work with younger players!!

Enjoy your day!

Coach B

UMM Cougars this spring...

Hello all-
Just wanted to update you-- Some of our Cougar Volleyball Players are doing a fantastic job competing... in other sports!! Freshman Kaylie Clark just broke the UMM record for the Javelin throw (131'+!) last weekend- read about it here. Fellow freshmen Anna Peterson (Indoor T & F All-Conference) and Emily Irey are also competing and doing well for the Cougars. And, not to be outdone, freshman teammate Mandy Allman started 3 games as catcher for the Cougars on Sunday!

Go Cougars!!

Coach B

Spring Tourney- Success!

Hello all-
We had an excellent turnout at our spring tourney yesterday and here's a shot of some of our alums/competitors enjoying the day! There were 2 alumni teams there (young and "experienced") and we split up into 2 teams for a part of the day as well. North Dakota State College of Science came down and Martin Luther came up to fill out the tourney.

The Cougars played well, earning a split or sweep in all pool play matches on the day. At the end of the day we also won a single game for the "tourney championship!" It was a great opportunity to work on some of the things we've been focusing on in practice, running a faster offense, communicating between front and backrow, being balanced when we pass, etc.

Now, only 4 months until our team comes in for the 2o11 season!!

Have a great week and Go Cougars!

Coach B

PS~ Enjoy the team pics-- and the alums are here-

Backrow- l to r: Kathleen Head-Joos, Megan Mahoney, Amanda Johnson, Natalie (Zierden) Braegelmann, Eleanora Hilton, Katie Hyndman, Emily Sauferer; Front row: Jordan Olerud , Nancy (Zierden) VanErp, Jackie Dripps, Kelly Whipple, Liz Vang

UMAC Women's Symposium...

Emily Irey, Kathy DeBoer, Stephanie Schmiesing, Kaylie Clark

Hello-
Just in between some small group work, only 1 more day of practice and then our spring tourney and that's it already!!!

Here's a photo of our volleyball players that went to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Women's Symposium last week-- They are standing with the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Executive Director (and former U of Kentucky women's volleyball coach!), Kathy DeBoer. Here's a link to read more about their day and Coach Pennie's thoughts- Enjoy!

Coach B

Alumni Match--

Backrow (l to r): Chad Braegelmann '00, Nancy (Zierden) Van Erp '95, Mary (Stark) Asche '95, Jordan Olerud '12, Megan Theis '11, Natalie (Zierden) Braegelmann '00, Erika Bailey-Johnson '99, Matt Johnson '97, Jackie Dripps '89; Middle: Allie Humphrey, Stephanie Schmiesing, Tanya Marthaler, Emily Irey, Hannah Knott, Brita Humphrey; Front: Anna Peterson, Nichelle Grage, Michele Hanson, Natalie Thomas, Alyssa Haugen (Not pictured: Malinda (Ridler) Prisinger '10, Kaylie Clark)

Hello-
We had a nice turnout for our alumni match on Saturday! The younger Cougars prevailed- 25-23, 25-23, 25-18 and then lost 9-25 to the more "experienced" team. After the match a bunch of the Alums went to the Ranch House in Morris for the Cattlemen's Steak Dinner- DELICIOUS!

Have a great week!

Go Cougars!

Coach B

PS~ I'm working on a Facebook Page-- keep an eye out for that in the future!

Spring update-

Hello all-
Sorry it has been a while since we have posted here. We have been busy with spring practices and we are over half done already!! We've been working a lot on serve receive, some defensive work and digging the ball off the net on our side, running some faster sets on offense and doing lots of playing, doubles, triples, 6's, etc.
We have our alumni match coming up this Saturday. Play will start at 5:30 pm- Then next Sunday we have our spring tourney. As of now four other schools are coming, we are planning on having two teams and two alumni teams are going to be here.

Have a great week and see you soon!

Coach B

PS~ It has been beautiful up here- only a little bit of snow left on the ground!!

Interviews... Thomas and Humphreys

Hello-
One of the great things about being at a small college is the ability to have students/student-employees gain work experiences... I asked our Sports Information Student Assistant to come and film some of our first practice and interview some of our student-athletes (more great experience for the future!).

Here it is-- have a great spring break week (one of the perks of working at a college!)!

Coach B

One day to spring break...

Hello-
Only one more day of classes and spring semester is half over! Couple of updates from campus-- I'm proud to say that our Cougar Volleyball team won the intramural women's basketball championship this past week!! Go Cougars!

Also, wanted to congratulate Anna Peterson, Emily Irey and Kaylie Clark on their indoor track season (and Anna was All-Conference!)- click here to read their releases- Mandy Allman has also just begun her softball season for Coach Pennie and they will be heading South this weekend to play games-- read about their season here-

Have a great week and Go Cougars!!

Coach B

Spring Practice 2011- Day 1

Hello-
We had our first day of spring practice today-- lots of fun with 12 athletes back in the gym! We spent the bulk of our time working on passing, serving... and playing, short court, 6's, queens, etc.

Heather was there today helping and it was fun practicing again! More to follow coming up but I'll leave you with some pics of my son (Tyler) and I sledding this past weekend at Cub Scout Camp-- you tell me who got more air!!

Enjoy!

Coach B

Five days to the start of our spring season and Leading the Kruse Cup!

Hello all-
Gearing up for the start of our spring season next week! We'll start practicing a couple of times a week, for the next month and a half with our alumni match the evening of Saturday, April 9 (let us know if you are an alum and you plan on coming but have not told us yet!) and our spring tourney on Sunday, April 17.

Also, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference just released their second Kruse Cup Standings- the Kruse Cup is the award given to the top UMAC athletic department at the end of the year... and UMM is currently sitting at #1! Read about it here-

Have a great week and Go Cougars!

Coach B

PS~ Coach Pennie and the Cougar Softball team were picked 3rd in the pre-season poll and open up their season this Saturday...

PPS~ The Cougar Women's Basketball team is heading to Iowa as I type this to compete in the NCAA DIII National Championship Tourney after winning the UMAC tourney- Go Cougars!

UMM VB Update...

Hello everyone-
Another beautiful Minnesota day! Just wanted to send a quick update with what we've been up to on campus...
I had a chance to enjoy lunch Friday with one of my former players... from Colby-Sawyer College- in New Hampshire! Sarah Blume, a native of Wheaton, MN, was home visiting her parents and came down for lunch at our place with her Dad. It was fun reminiscing about old times and getting updates on other former players. (We also worked out on the treadmills- I have a heck of a time keeping up with these young whipper snappers!).
Saturday was fun- my sons and I went to watch our first ever gymnastics meet (one of our recruits was there competing). Tyler was impressed with some of their floor exercises. Then my brother, parents and mother-in-law came up and we went to Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" in the PE Center- very entertaining! Then the night was capped off with the St. Mary's School dinner and auction fundraiser at the Old #1 in Morris. We walked away with a new painting for the wall and tickets to the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre!

Sunday was filled with volleyball! I was down at the President's Day Festival in the Cities- I saw over 70 teams in three different divisions and numerous potential recruits.

And today- more shoveling.

Have a great week and Go Cougars!

Coach B

2010 UMMVB Picture Slide Show

Hello-
Here is one more treat for you from our banquet- courtesy of the Stinchfield Family! If you weren't there take a minute to watch our 2010 Picture Slide Show now-

Enjoy!

Coach B

Cougar Recap/Recruiting Video is online!

Enjoying our meal at Bello Cucina!

Hello everyone-
February has arrived, the Super Bowl is over... it's almost time for spring training for Major League Baseball... and Spring Volleyball!!

Click here to read about our Volleyball Team Award Winners-

And click here to watch our 2010 Recap/Recruiting Video!!

Have a great week!!

Coach B

Cougar Volleyball Banquet-

Hello-
What a fun afternoon! We had our 2010 Cougar Volleyball Banquet Sunday at Bello Cucina here in Morris. The entire team and coaching staff was back for the event, as well as most parents and it was great getting everyone from the 2010 team together one last time!

Here's a link to the pictures with all of our award winners-

And below is a list of our award winners-

Click here for the link to the UMAC Academic All-Conference List.

Have a great week and Go Cougars!

Coach B

PS~ We also watched a picture slide show courtesy of the Stinchfields and our 2010 Recruiting/Recap Video- We will be working on getting both of them on the blog for you to view!

Back at it!

Hello-
Well, it's nice and chilly over here in Morris and classes for the spring of 2011 have begun!! I've seen a couple of the team members already as they've stopped by or I've passed them on their way to classes- Good to be back in the flow of things.

Also, wanted to point out our new design/layout- thanks to Heather! I hope you like it and it's still easy to navigate.

Not much else new here-- have a great week and Go Cougars!

Coach B

Happy New Year!

Hello all-
Wow, 2010 is in the books and it's on to 2011! I hope you enjoyed time with your family over the Holiday Break. The University shutdown from Dec. 23-Jan. 2 so Heather and I had lots of time to spend with our family-- (Favorite kid story this year- Riley and Calvin- our 5 and 3 year old- woke up at 4:30 am Christmas morning- my wife Natalie intercepted them before getting to the presents and told them to get back to bed. They begged to look to see if they got any presents. She caved. After looking at them for a second-and not opening any- she tells them to get back to bed. They actually listened! And, as Calvin turns to go back to bed, he triumphantly throws his arms straight up in the air and says, "Yes- we got presents!!" Maybe I shouldn't have threatened that they wouldn't receive any quite so often!)

Anyway- wanted to let you know that Kiplingers Personal Finance once again named the University of Minnesota, Morris as one of their "100 Best Values"in its annual list of public schools. Read more about it here!

Going to run now (literally- trying to work out more and eat healthier-- yet again!).

Have a great week and Go Cougars!

Coach B