Thursday, November 20
2:30 p.m. - Gangelhoff Center - St. Paul, Minn.
No. 2 seed #7 Southwest Minnesota State (28-5) vs. No. 7 seed Metro State (18-10)
BOX SCORE

MATCH RECAP: courtesy of Tim Gerszewski, SMSU athletic communications
ST. PAUL, MINN. – Laura Hegerle, Kasey Loeslie and Devin Diedrich spearheaded a three-headed hitting attack to lead second seeded #7 Southwest Minnesota State to a 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-17, 25-18) win over seventh seeded Metro State (Colo.) Thursday afternoon in the NCAA Central Region Quarterfinal round. 

SMSU improves to 28-5, while Metro State finishes its season with an 18-10 mark.

SMSU’s three-fold offensive force saw Loeslie finish with 12 kills, Hegerle with 11 and Diedrich with 10.   Cara Carson added seven to round out a balanced hitting effort for the Mustangs. Metro was led by a pair of freshman hitters with 13 kills apiece, Emily Greenhalgh and Bri Morley.

Sara Graf spread the ball to her several hitters efficiently all afternoon, finishing with a match-high 38 assists. Metro's Darcy Schwartzman, a freshman, dished out 36 assists for the Roadrunners.

Sarah Quiram led the Mustang defensive effort and dug up a match-high 24 balls, while Metro State's Amy Watanabe matched her total.

In the somewhat familiar confines of Concordia University, St. Paul’s Gangelhoff Center, Hegerle led her squad with an impressive hitting performance in the first set that included five kills off just seven swings from the senior.  Her efficiency gave SMSU a comfortable lead—and one MSC failed to chip away at—in the closing moments.

The Mustang hitting machine went idle in the ensuing set as SMSU posted a meager .070 hitting percentage.  The Roadrunners counter was an offensive burst of their own.  MSC used solid hitting to take a six-point lead at 20-14, but SMSU did manage to close that gap to two at 21-19.  A Carson serve that would have put the Mustangs within one fell short, allowing the Roadrunners to coast to their final points.

MSC’s serving served as the momentum killer in the third set.  The Mustangs capitalized on the Roadrunners’ sloppy play from behind the service line and stretched their lead to a comfortable one.  A Carson kill at 24-17 sealed the set.

An error-filled hitting campaign by MSC paired with a precision hitting by SMSU set took the Mustangs to the final points in the fourth and final set with relative ease.

SMSU will meet #15 Minnesota Duluth, the No. 3 seed in the Central Region, in the semifinals tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.  The Mustangs split with the Bulldogs earlier this season.

SMSU Match Notes: SMSU is making its sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament ... SMSU now owns a 3-5 record in the tournament ... SMSU head coach Terry Culhane improves to 3-4 in the NCAA Tournament in his career ... this was the first time SMSU and Metro State have met in the NCAA Tournament and the second time overall ... Metro previously defeated SMSU 3-0 in 1988 ... this is the first time SMSU has faced a team from the RMAC in the NCAA Tournament ... SMSU is now 4-0 vs. teams from the RMAC this season.

Metro State Match Notes: This was Metro State's 16th NCAA tournament appearance ... The Roadrunners are 7-16 in those 16 appearances ... This was their ninth consecutive NCAA appearance and 10th in the last 11 years ... Today's loss was just MSC's second meeting with Southwest Minnesota State ... The Roadrunners won the only other meeting between the teams, in 1988 ... Metro State is 2-6 versus teams that qualified for this year's NCAA Championship ... The Roadrunners are 2-4 versus NCAA Central Regional tournament teams ... Metro State is is 0-5 versus ranked opponents in 2008 ... The Roadrunners are 6-3 on the season in four-set matches ...  

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE QUOTES:
Head Coach Terry Culhane:
Opening Statement: “We’re just happy to be where we’re at.  We’ll have to play better than we did tonight, but we advanced."

Culhane commenting on facing a new opponent: “I think our kids liked it because we didn’t know anything about them, we weren’t playing someone for the third straight time.  You can only judge so much by a box score.  We enjoyed the idea of playing a team we hadn’t seen this year." 

Culhane commenting on a Sara Graf play in 4th game: “It was a good play on her part, a play that we needed.  I joked with her and said, 'Sarah that was almost creative.'  I thought it would lighten her up a bit." 

Senior outside hitter Laura Hegerle:
Hegerle commenting on added expectations of being the #2 seed:  “Seeding doesn’t matter to us.  At this level anyone can beat anybody."

Hegerle commenting on seniors: “We’re both 5th year seniors.  We’re used to this environment.  We like playing at Concordia, we feel like we’re playing at home.  Our team was composed." 

Hegerle commenting on facing Minnesota-Duluth in the semifinals: “We know we have to play really hard to defeat Minnesota-Duluth.  We beat them once and they beat us once.  They’re a very talented team." 

Senior outside hitter/libero Sarah Quiram:
Quiram commenting on facing Minnesota-Duluth in the semifinals: “We’re both talented teams, it will come down to who plays better and harder.

Quiram commenting on added expectations of being the #2 seed: “I don’t think so.  We felt like we did a good job at the beginning of the season.  The second seed is just where they place us." 

METRO STATE QUOTES:
Head Coach Debbie Hendricks:
Opening Statement: "I'm pleased with the way we competed for a young team and a first-time experience for many of our players. We made too many mistakes to win a game at this level but to compete the way we did, I was proud."

On her key freshmen: "It was a late switch to move (Emily) Greenhalgh from the right side to the left side and she did outstanding job. (Bri) Morley has been carrying a heavy load all season for us. Our problem has been when we get out of system and rely on getting those two the ball too much."

On her team's youth (MSC has no seniors): "We've developed more continuity and flow. The thing that got us today was we made too many errors but, as we mature, those will go away. The biggest thing is we developed a little more in our offense. We had to use our outside hitters more early in season but Darcy (Schwartzman) learned to distribute the ball more in the second half of the season."

On playing in a new region: "The last few years the teams have been predominantly from our own conference so it's fun to see team haven't seen since 1988. This is as competitive a region as there is and it's good for our future development to play here."

Junior libero Amy Watanabe:
On the team's development: "It's exciting because we return everyone next year. We've improved as a team throughout the season. I'm just excited for next year."

Freshman setter Darcy Schwartzman:
On her development running the team's offense as a freshman: "I broke my hand coming into the season so I had to go back to the fundamentals. I had to make myself more capable and adaptable to the hitters and our system."

MATCH PHOTOS (click to enlarge)

Southwest Minnesota State	Metro State