BOLIVAR, Mo. – Senior outside hitter Heather Haugen (Lanesboro, Minn.) recorded her name in the annals of BSU volleyball history Saturday. With 19 kills in the 3-2 (30-27, 30-27, 18-30, 26-30, 15-6) win over Southwest Baptist University, she not only helped lead BSU to is first victory in eight matches, she also became the sixth student-athlete in the history of the BSU volleyball program to record her 1,000th kill. She follows Peggy Hammel-Moran, BSU’s all-time kills leader (1,300), who was the last BSU player to break the 1,000-kill mark when she accomplished the feat during the 1999 season.
The Beavers began the match by squeaking out games one and two by the scores of 30-27 and 30-27. The Bearcats responded by coming back to tie the match (2-2) wining the third and fourth games, 30-18 and 30-26. But the Bemidji State will came through in the fifth game as it took the game 15-6 and the match 3-2 to bring its losing skid to and end at seven matches.
Bemidji State was led in the match by a trio of players registering double-doubles. Haugen paced the squad with 19 kills on a career-high 81 total attempts for a .084 hitting percentage. She added 12 digs to complete her second double-double of 2004. Seniors Kelly Piper (Eagan, Minn.) and Kristin Smith also posted double-double totals in the match. Piper’s 10 kills and 20 digs total was good for her fifth of the season while Smith’s fifth double-double was made up of a season-high 66 assists combined with 12 digs.
Offensively freshman middle hitter Brittney Carlson post the team’s best numbers virtually doubling her personal-best kill total with 17 kills on a career-high 35 attempts to hit .371.
The defensive floor play of the Beavers was magnificent in the match as five players recorded more than ten digs with seniors Kristine Engman (Virginia, Minn.) and Piper each totaling 20 or more digs for a new season-high 84 team digs. The Beavers’ front line was also tough on the Bearcat offensive attack. With 15 blocks in the match BSU accumulated its highest block total since the team recorded 19.5 versus MSU-Moorhead Oct. 15, 2002. That total was largely due to the outstanding play of middle hitter Christa Anderson (Siren, Wis.). The team’s lone junior posted six solo blocks and five block assists for a career-high total of 11--equalling a BSU ralley-scoring era, five-game record originally set by Nicole McDougall Sept. 21, 2001.
The Beavers are now 7-15 overall and 2-6 in NSIC play will be back in action with three matches this week. The team welcomes Upper Iowa University for a non-conference tilt Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. while BSU is set to battle conference foes Wayne State College at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Southwest Minnesota State University at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday in the teams final home match of the 2004 season. All three matches are slated to be played at the Bemidji High School Gymnasium.
