The Utah State women’s volleyball team, including former Balers
Chelsea Fowles and Emily Kortsen, saw its historic 2010 campaign
come to a close on Friday night in Berkeley, where the Aggies
dropped a three-set match (25-15, 25-11, 25-20) to seventh-seeded
and fourth-ranked California in the opening round of the NCAA
Division I Women’s Volleyball Championships.
HOLLISTER
The Utah State women’s volleyball team, including former Balers Chelsea Fowles and Emily Kortsen, saw its historic 2010 campaign come to a close on Friday night in Berkeley, where the Aggies dropped a three-set match (25-15, 25-11, 25-20) to seventh-seeded and fourth-ranked California in the opening round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championships.
Fowles, a 2007 graduate of San Benito High, contributed 17 assists, six kills, six digs and three blocks for the Aggies, who finish the year with a 24-9 record. According to the Utah State website, the team’s 24 wins this year is the seventh-most in school history and most since 1982, when Utah State compiled a 28-19 mark.
As for Fowles, she finishes her college career with 4,520 assists — first all-time in Aggies history, ninth all-time in the Western Athletic Conference.
Qualifying toward the postseason was certainly a strong way of ending your college career. Friday’s postseason match against Cal was just the fourth time in school history the Aggies had played in the NCAA tournament, and the first time since the 2005 season.
The Logan, Utah college, despite finishing in third place in its conference, advanced to the Division I tournament when it upset Hawaii in the WAC Tournament championship. Although the Rainbow Wahine had previously defeated the Aggies by 3-0 margins during the regular season, and had won the year-end tournament 10 years in a row, Utah State delivered a shocking three-set victory (25-15, 27-25, 26-24), nonetheless.
Michael Murphy, North Dakota State
Former Baler Michael Murphy and the North Dakota State football team will square off against fifth-seeded and top-ranked Eastern Washington on Saturday in the NCAA Division I Football Championships Subdivision (FCS) quarterfinal round.
Kickoff is 12:30 p.m. in Cheney, Wash., with the game currently scheduled to be televised on ESPN Syndication, ESPN GamePlan and ESPN3.com, according to the school’s website.
Although listed as the team’s long snapper, Murphy, a true freshman and 2010 graduate of San Benito High, has played in 11 games this season on defense, recording four tackles.
The Bison (9-4), meanwhile, are coming off back-to-back wins to open the FCS Playoffs, defeating Robert Morris 43-17 on Nov. 27 and upsetting Montana State 42-17 last Saturday in Bozeman, Mont.
The latter contest saw NDSU score 28 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to escape with the sizable win.
It was the Bison’s first playoff road victory since November 2000, when they defeated Nebraska-Omaha 43-21 in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals, according to the school’s website.
Alisha Cornick, Univ. of Redlands
Former Baler Alisha Cornick and the Univ. of Redlands women’s volleyball team wrapped up its regular season last month, and finished in sixth place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 6-8 record, 18-11 overall.
Cornick, a 2010 graduate of San Benito High and the Redlands’ starting setter, finished her freshmen campaign with 913 assists — 9.22 per set. She also had 19 services aces, 32 kills, 42 blocks and 209 digs.
Cornick’s 913 assists, meanwhile, is the third most in a single season in school history.
Courtney Allen, Univ. of Nevada-Las Vegas
Courtney Allen, a 2009 graduate of San Benito High, ran a 24:05.43 for the University of Nevada-Las Vegas women’s cross country team last month at the NCAA West Regionals in Springfield, Ore.
The 6K time placed the sophomore Allen in 209th place, and in fifth for UNLV, which placed 27th.
Erik Rodriguez, Cal State-East Bay
Erik Rodriguez, a 2009 graduate of San Benito High, ran a 27:53.2 last month at the CCAA Cross Country Championships in Pomona. The 8K time placed the former Baler 50th overall.
Morgan O’Laughlin, Bentley
Morgan O’Laughlin, a 2007 graduate of San Benito High, wrapped up her college volleyball career last month at Bentley, which lost a five-set match to Adelphi University in the Northeast-10 Playoffs.
The senior O’Laughlin had 170 kills and 44 blocks at the outside hitter position this season, as well as 130 digs, while Bentley finished its campaign with a 10-5 record in the Northeast-10, 17-14 overall.
