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!!