Best Show In Town
I wonder if Kevin McHale has given any thought to signing Lindsay Whalen to a free-agent contract for the playoff run? The University of Minnesota women's basketball team is by far the most entertaining basketball team in the Twin Cities right now. The team is off to a school best 12-0 start and is ranked 10th in the current AP poll. The team is led by the savvy play of Whalen and the sharp shooting of off-guard Corin Von Wald. The Gophers just toppled conference foe Michigan, 98-70, in the team's conference opener. The crowd was brought to its feet when Whalen fed sophomore Janel McCarville with a behind the back pass for a lay-up during the rout. The Gopher women are by far the best ticket in town considering the circumstances and compared to the two other major teams the Twin Cities. The show at Target Center has gone completely stale as Kevin Garnet tries to give the team legitimacy playing along side a bunch of have beens and have nots. The Gopher men's team does little to excite me, especially considering they just struggled to an 85-80 victory over Oral Roberts. Oral Roberts? The other advantage of going to a Gopher women's game is that the tickets are cheaper and the seats are better. I'd much rather watch Whalen score 30 from row 15 for ten bucks than watch Troy Hudson brick another three from the upper deck at Target Center for twenty bucks.
Lobdell Named All-Conference in Sophomore Season
By Matt Thomas (From 01/07 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
Tera Lobdell had seen her respective volleyball teams go 56-6 the past two seasons. It must have been a shock to her system when her Northern Illinois Huskies struggled to a 13-17 mark this past fall.
Despite the Huskies’ struggles, Lobdell continued her stellar play. The six foot, one inch sophomore and Plymouth native has asserted herself as one of the best mid-major conference players in the NCAA.
Lobdell was named the Mid American Conference Freshman of the Year last season after leading the Huskies in kills with 354. Lobdell’s presence helped the Huskies solidify an NCAA Tournament berth after posting a 24-6 record.
This season, Lobdell led the Huskies in kills for a second straight season with 348. Her steady performance earned her All-Conference Honerable Mention honors.
“It always feels good to be recognized,” Lobdell said. “However, I would rather have the team do well in the conference.”
Things were looking up for the Huskies early in the season as they jumped out to a 10-6 overall record and a 3-1 mark in conference play. After that things turned sour as the team lost eleven of its final 13 games and missed qualifying for the postseason conference tournament.
Besides having to work through some long losing streaks this season, the team had the task of getting aquainted with a new head coach after the departure of Todd Kress.
Kress recruited Lobdell to Northern Illinois, but left to take over the head job at Florida State University after being named Mid American Conference Coach of the year in 2001.
“We had some of our same hitters, but with a new setter, a new coach and a missed recruiting year, we were rebuilding when I had hoped to improve on last year,” Lobdell said.
The Huskies new coach is Ray Gooden, and while the Huskies didn’t secure any top recruits last year, Gooden already has commitments from two prospects for next year.
Fellow Minnesotan April Hankton will join the Huskies next year and Gooden hopes she can follow in the footsteps of Lobdell and make a major impact as a freshman.
Hankton attended DeLaSalle High School and earned All-America honors last summer at the AAU Nationals Tournament.
Lobdell thinks that bringing in a couple of talented freshman could help the Huskies turn things around next year.
“We need to figure out our setter position and continue to bring in quality players,” she said. “Several seniors will graduate this year so I feel my role will expand next season. We will need leadership on and court and in the practice.”
Lobdell is certainly no stranger to the leadership role. During her senior campaign at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in 2000, Lobdell led the Falcons to 32 straight victories and a State Championship.
The Huskies will lose three seniors who combined for 862 kills last season, so look for Lobdell to step up and become an even more dominant offensive force next year
I wonder if Kevin McHale has given any thought to signing Lindsay Whalen to a free-agent contract for the playoff run? The University of Minnesota women's basketball team is by far the most entertaining basketball team in the Twin Cities right now. The team is off to a school best 12-0 start and is ranked 10th in the current AP poll. The team is led by the savvy play of Whalen and the sharp shooting of off-guard Corin Von Wald. The Gophers just toppled conference foe Michigan, 98-70, in the team's conference opener. The crowd was brought to its feet when Whalen fed sophomore Janel McCarville with a behind the back pass for a lay-up during the rout. The Gopher women are by far the best ticket in town considering the circumstances and compared to the two other major teams the Twin Cities. The show at Target Center has gone completely stale as Kevin Garnet tries to give the team legitimacy playing along side a bunch of have beens and have nots. The Gopher men's team does little to excite me, especially considering they just struggled to an 85-80 victory over Oral Roberts. Oral Roberts? The other advantage of going to a Gopher women's game is that the tickets are cheaper and the seats are better. I'd much rather watch Whalen score 30 from row 15 for ten bucks than watch Troy Hudson brick another three from the upper deck at Target Center for twenty bucks.
Lobdell Named All-Conference in Sophomore Season
By Matt Thomas (From 01/07 edition of The Lakeshore Weekly News)
Tera Lobdell had seen her respective volleyball teams go 56-6 the past two seasons. It must have been a shock to her system when her Northern Illinois Huskies struggled to a 13-17 mark this past fall.
Despite the Huskies’ struggles, Lobdell continued her stellar play. The six foot, one inch sophomore and Plymouth native has asserted herself as one of the best mid-major conference players in the NCAA.
Lobdell was named the Mid American Conference Freshman of the Year last season after leading the Huskies in kills with 354. Lobdell’s presence helped the Huskies solidify an NCAA Tournament berth after posting a 24-6 record.
This season, Lobdell led the Huskies in kills for a second straight season with 348. Her steady performance earned her All-Conference Honerable Mention honors.
“It always feels good to be recognized,” Lobdell said. “However, I would rather have the team do well in the conference.”
Things were looking up for the Huskies early in the season as they jumped out to a 10-6 overall record and a 3-1 mark in conference play. After that things turned sour as the team lost eleven of its final 13 games and missed qualifying for the postseason conference tournament.
Besides having to work through some long losing streaks this season, the team had the task of getting aquainted with a new head coach after the departure of Todd Kress.
Kress recruited Lobdell to Northern Illinois, but left to take over the head job at Florida State University after being named Mid American Conference Coach of the year in 2001.
“We had some of our same hitters, but with a new setter, a new coach and a missed recruiting year, we were rebuilding when I had hoped to improve on last year,” Lobdell said.
The Huskies new coach is Ray Gooden, and while the Huskies didn’t secure any top recruits last year, Gooden already has commitments from two prospects for next year.
Fellow Minnesotan April Hankton will join the Huskies next year and Gooden hopes she can follow in the footsteps of Lobdell and make a major impact as a freshman.
Hankton attended DeLaSalle High School and earned All-America honors last summer at the AAU Nationals Tournament.
Lobdell thinks that bringing in a couple of talented freshman could help the Huskies turn things around next year.
“We need to figure out our setter position and continue to bring in quality players,” she said. “Several seniors will graduate this year so I feel my role will expand next season. We will need leadership on and court and in the practice.”
Lobdell is certainly no stranger to the leadership role. During her senior campaign at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in 2000, Lobdell led the Falcons to 32 straight victories and a State Championship.
The Huskies will lose three seniors who combined for 862 kills last season, so look for Lobdell to step up and become an even more dominant offensive force next year
posted by PulseofMN at 9:56 AM
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