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Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2003 > September-October 2003   Print View Sports Notebook 9/8/2003 All-American Cassie Busse, photo by Eric Miller By Chris Coughlan-Smith Volleyball The surprise team of 2002 has a challenging season ahead if it is to meet expectations for this year. The Gopher volleyball team, picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten and looking to replace two all-region players last year, ended the season 32-6—its most wins in the NCAA era—and won the team's first conference title by three games. "The phrase team chemistry gets thrown around a lot," says head coach Mike Hebert. "But we had everyone on the same page, pulling on the same end of the rope. This was a genuine team. No one was singled out as superstars." After the season ended with the team's third NCAA Sweet Sixteen berth in four years, however, the accolades did come for many of the players, all of whom return for 2003. Senior Cassie Busse of Prior Lake, Minnesota, earned second-team all-American honors while leading the team in kills and the conference in service aces. Sophomore Paula Gentil of Fortaleza Ceara, Brazil, was a third-team all-American and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year for her play at the new "libero" defensive Adam Steele, photo by Jerry Lee position. Junior Lindsey Taatjes (formerly Vander Well) of Prinsburg, Minnesota, earned first-team Big Ten honors in her first year starting at setter, which is essentially the quarterback position. Sophomore middle blocker Jessica Byrnes of Minnetonka, Minnesota, was a Big Ten All-Freshman Team player. Juniors Erin Martin of Ames, Iowa, and Trisha Bratford of Reseda, California, return to hitting positions, and sophomore defensive specialist Lisa Reinhart of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, also returns. But the Gophers also expect back middle-blockers Maggie Freiborg, a sophomore from Prinsburg, Minnesota, and Athena Mallakis, a redshirt freshman from Simi Valley, California, who were out last season with injuries. New recruits Kelly Bowman of Osseo, Minnesota, and Meredith Nelson of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, should see playing time at setter and middle-blocker, respectively, while Marcie Teniata, of Plymouth, Minnesota, will team with Gentil to give Minnesota "some of the best defense in the conference," Hebert says. "Last year early on we might have won some matches because Andrew Carlson, photo by Eric Miller people didn't expect us to be that good," Hebert admits. "But now the whole deal changes. This is much more difficult. The job becomes finding a new carrot every day and not letting the team get stagnant." Last year, a kind of euphoria buoyed the Gophers for much of the year. In 2003, it will have to be determination and pride that keeps Minnesota at the top. "We set higher goals, both for the outcome of the season and for our daily process," Hebert says. "Most of all we've got to maintain the same great chemistry, that 'team over me' attitude. That gets harder as you get successful." The Gophers' drive to defend the conference title begins on September 26 at Indiana. The home schedule starts October 3 and 4 with games against Northwestern and Illinois. The Spring that Was A spring that got off to a great start with a men's hockey NCAA title, wrestling NCAA runner-up finish and third straight Big Ten crown, and strong showings by the women's basketball and hockey teams kept going strong in May. Adam Steele, a junior from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, won the NCAA title Darja Vasiljeva, photo by Eric Miller in the 400-meter dash, leading his team to an eighth-place finish. Steele and teammate Mitch Potter, a junior from Isanti, Minnesota, later ran legs on the gold-medal winning 4X400 meter relay team at the Track and Field World Championships in Paris. The men's track team won the Big Ten outdoor title. So did the baseball team, taking its second straight conference title. Also taking the Big Ten trophy in spring were women's tennis—for the first time ever—and men's golf. Overall, Minnesota finished third in the Big Ten all-sports standings and 11th nationally. Men's Cross Country NCAA Midwest Regional Champion and all-American Andrew Carlson of Fargo, North Dakota, leads a Gopher men's cross-country team looking for its seventh consecutive NCAA meet berth. Minnesota has five of its top runners returning, along with three others who placed in distance races at the conference track meet in May. Women's Cross Country Senior Darja Vasiljeva earned a berth in the NCAA meet as well as all-Big Ten and academic all-American honors in 2002. She leads a 2003 squad Amanda McMahon, photo by Eric Miller looking to rebound after missing the NCAA team meet for the first time in six years. Soccer Seniors Amanda McMahon of Stillwater, Minnesota, and Anna Nudell Lee of Minneapolis lead a Gopher soccer team looking to return to the upper tier of the Big Ten for the first time in four years. Quotebook "It was a fair punishment for what happened, but it was tough because we weren't able to evaluate as much. When you need to sign four or five guys and you only have six visits [total], you're really stuck." —Men's basketball coach Dan Monson on finally being out from under recruiting restrictions imposed after an academic cheating scandal under the previous head coach. "I'm truly respectful of that period of history in Minnesota athletics, but there seems to be resounding importance that we should move forward." —Athletics Director Joel Maturi on phasing out the "Ms." logo, used by the women's teams since 1975, in favor of the simple "M" logo for all teams in the newly unified department.

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