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Hawaii on minds of Jack athletes
Chris Solari
csolari@argusleader.com
published: 9/2/2004
BROOKINGS - The South Dakota State volleyball team will say "Aloha" to its first season as a Division I team this weekend.
The Jackrabbits leave today for Laie, Hawaii, and will play three games in the Seasider Classic tournament. All of the games are against Division II competition, beginning with Friday's game against Saint Martin's (Wash.). Missing class and the time differential will be the biggest adjustments for SDSU.
"They're three Top 20 Division II teams," SDSU assistant coach Aaron Nelson said. "The time change is going to be a challenge, and trying to stay focused in that environment also will be a challenge. In paradise, it's hard to stay focused on a match."
The road trip also includes a single game against Hawaii Pacific on Sunday in Honolulu, along with some fun events like a luau, visits to a comedy club and some trips to beaches.
The Jacks won't play their first Division I opponent (Texas-El Paso) until next Thursday.
SDSU went 13-19 last year, the team's worst record in coach Andrew Palileo's three seasons. Two years ago, the Jackrabbits went to the Division II Elite Eight.
The Jacks thrived this spring in the speed-first attack plan designed by Palileo, a native of Hawaii. Though the competition this weekend will be slower and smaller, Nelson said the games against Saint Martin's, Brigham Young-Hawaii and Nebraska-Kearney should showcase a much-improved SDSU passing and setting attack.
"We just kind of put everything in little by little and started off a little slower than we did last year," Nelson said. "We're ready to go play somebody else other than each other."
Soccer star
Goalkeeper Jenn Davis did her part for SDSU's soccer team.
Despite nagging hip and groin injuries, the 5-foot-7 sophomore from Raytown, Mo., was named to the All-Milwaukee Cup squad after saving 30 shots in two games. That included a school record 20 saves in a 1-0 loss to Marquette on Sunday.
"We were waiting to see how she warmed up to see how she felt in the first game," coach Lang Wedemeyer said. "She certainly didn't have much time to stand around."
It was Davis' first collegiate start after backing up Erin (Miller) Stansbury last season.
"Just the adrenaline pumping in my body, I did not feel any pain at all," Davis said of last Friday's Division I-opening loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "I was so pumped for that game."
DeHaven's debut
Former Olympian Rod DeHaven will make his coaching debut this weekend as his alma mater heads to the University of South Dakota Open in Vermillion on Saturday, generally considered a tune-up meet for area squads. The women's 5,000-meter race starts at noon, followed by the men's 8,000-meter run at 12:30 p.m.
"There's absolutely nothing on the line, other than a lot of in-state kids who get excited about running against each other," said DeHaven, a 1989 SDSU grad who returns after Paul Danger resigned his coaching position.
DeHaven will be without top men's runner senior Brad Lowery, a two-time Division II All-American who is recovering from an injury sustained this summer while trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials. Lowery will run during the track season and return to the cross country course next fall.
DeHaven said seniors Clayton Lang and Scott Roby will assume the leadership roles for the men's team, which won four straight NCC titles. Sophomore Becka Mansheim and junior Krystie Ratzlaff to pace the women, who took fifth at last year's Division II nationals.
Reach Chris Solari at 977-3923.
Hawaii on minds of Jack athletes
Chris Solari
csolari@argusleader.com
published: 9/2/2004
BROOKINGS - The South Dakota State volleyball team will say "Aloha" to its first season as a Division I team this weekend.
The Jackrabbits leave today for Laie, Hawaii, and will play three games in the Seasider Classic tournament. All of the games are against Division II competition, beginning with Friday's game against Saint Martin's (Wash.). Missing class and the time differential will be the biggest adjustments for SDSU.
"They're three Top 20 Division II teams," SDSU assistant coach Aaron Nelson said. "The time change is going to be a challenge, and trying to stay focused in that environment also will be a challenge. In paradise, it's hard to stay focused on a match."
The road trip also includes a single game against Hawaii Pacific on Sunday in Honolulu, along with some fun events like a luau, visits to a comedy club and some trips to beaches.
The Jacks won't play their first Division I opponent (Texas-El Paso) until next Thursday.
SDSU went 13-19 last year, the team's worst record in coach Andrew Palileo's three seasons. Two years ago, the Jackrabbits went to the Division II Elite Eight.
The Jacks thrived this spring in the speed-first attack plan designed by Palileo, a native of Hawaii. Though the competition this weekend will be slower and smaller, Nelson said the games against Saint Martin's, Brigham Young-Hawaii and Nebraska-Kearney should showcase a much-improved SDSU passing and setting attack.
"We just kind of put everything in little by little and started off a little slower than we did last year," Nelson said. "We're ready to go play somebody else other than each other."
Soccer star
Goalkeeper Jenn Davis did her part for SDSU's soccer team.
Despite nagging hip and groin injuries, the 5-foot-7 sophomore from Raytown, Mo., was named to the All-Milwaukee Cup squad after saving 30 shots in two games. That included a school record 20 saves in a 1-0 loss to Marquette on Sunday.
"We were waiting to see how she warmed up to see how she felt in the first game," coach Lang Wedemeyer said. "She certainly didn't have much time to stand around."
It was Davis' first collegiate start after backing up Erin (Miller) Stansbury last season.
"Just the adrenaline pumping in my body, I did not feel any pain at all," Davis said of last Friday's Division I-opening loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "I was so pumped for that game."
DeHaven's debut
Former Olympian Rod DeHaven will make his coaching debut this weekend as his alma mater heads to the University of South Dakota Open in Vermillion on Saturday, generally considered a tune-up meet for area squads. The women's 5,000-meter race starts at noon, followed by the men's 8,000-meter run at 12:30 p.m.
"There's absolutely nothing on the line, other than a lot of in-state kids who get excited about running against each other," said DeHaven, a 1989 SDSU grad who returns after Paul Danger resigned his coaching position.
DeHaven will be without top men's runner senior Brad Lowery, a two-time Division II All-American who is recovering from an injury sustained this summer while trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials. Lowery will run during the track season and return to the cross country course next fall.
DeHaven said seniors Clayton Lang and Scott Roby will assume the leadership roles for the men's team, which won four straight NCC titles. Sophomore Becka Mansheim and junior Krystie Ratzlaff to pace the women, who took fifth at last year's Division II nationals.
Reach Chris Solari at 977-3923.