Falcon Sports Archive

Nov. 4, 2002

Middle hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Jr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area) helped the Falcons to four wins and was named to the Bob & Steve's BP Amoco Classic All-Tournament team. She finished with 46 kills, a .552 hitting percentage and averaged 1.25 blocks per game. She had 12 kills and no errors in 20 attacks against Superior and 13 kills and one error in 18 attacks against Illinois College.

Oct. 28, 2002

Middle hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Jr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area HS) had some outstanding efforts as the Falcons played five nationally ranked teams last week. The Falcons won only one of the five matches, but Tvrdik was in the middle of the action in each match. In the five matches she played every game (20) and finished with 64 kills and a .318 hitting percentage. She had four aces, 18 digs, three solo blocks and 16 block assists. She led the Falcons with 21 kills against No. 4 ranked Trinity.

Oct. 21, 2002

Setter Erin Oberholtzer (Jr., Fargo, N.D. North HS) helped the Falcons to two more WIAC wins last week and a first place finish in the regular season conference standings. The Falcons beat Platteville and La Crosse by 3-0 scores. Oberholtzer finished with 78 assists in the team’s six games. She also had four kills, four aces, 16 digs and three block assists. "Erin has run a solid offense all season long. She spreads the ball around effectively to keep opponents off balance," said Falcon Head Coach Patti Ford.

Oct. 14, 2002

Outside hitter Krystle Brune (Jr., Oakdale, Minn. Tartan HS) helped lead the Falcons to five wins last week, including a 3-0 win over UW-Eau Claire. The Falcons improved to 22-3 overall and are 5-0 in WIAC play. UWRF won all four matches at the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament to claim the team title. In the team’s first win, against Millikin, Brune hit her 1,000th career kill. In five matches last week she finished with 63 kills and had a .250 hitting percentage. She had 14 digs, one block solo and 10 block assists. She was named to the All-Tournament team. She now has 1,046 career kills, the eighth Falcon to reach the 1,000-career kill mark. She is currently sixth in career kills at UWRF. She had double digit kills in all five matches she played.

Oct. 7, 2002

Right side hitter Nina Petersen (So., Byron, Minn.) helped the Falcons to two more WIAC wins last week. The Falcons, ranked fifth in the Oct. 2 AVCA Coaches Poll, raiseded their record to 17-3 overall and 4-0 in the WIAC. In six games Petersen finished with 21 kills and a .378 hitting percentage. She had seven digs and 10 block assists. "Nina is emerging as a very good player," Coach Patti Ford said. "She has helped us in not allowing teams to key in on one player to defend."

Sept. 30, 2002

Outside hitter Krystle Brune (Jr., Oakdale, Minn. Tartan HS) helped lead the Falcons to a perfect 4-0 week with wins against four WIAC opponents at the UW-Eau Claire Siegenthaler Invite. In 14 games she had 59 kills, a 4.21 average per game. She finished with a .298 hitting percentage. She added 20 digs, one solo block and five block assists. She had a team-high 22 kills against Stevens Point and 17 against Eau Claire. "Krystle has been playing very steady for us and has really came into her own while putting up some big numbers," said Head Coach Patti Ford.

Sept. 23, 2002

Outside hitter Karen ZumMallen (Sr., Grand Rapids, Minn.) led the Falcons to two road WIAC wins against ranked teams. The Falcons beat UW-Oshkosh (30-26, 33-35, 30-27, 30-20) on Friday. Oshkosh received votes in the Nov. 18 AVCA Coaches poll and was ranked 12th in the pre-season poll. Saturday the Falcons upset UW-Whitewater (23-30, 30-28, 30-19, 15-30, 15-13), a team that was ranked sixth in the Sept. 18 poll and second in the pre-season poll. In the two matches she played all nine games and had 25 kills and a .220 hitting percentage. She had four aces, three against Oshkosh, and 55 digs. She led the team with 21 digs against Whitewater. She also had five block assists. "Karen is steady on offense and defense. She makes others comfortable in their positions and helps them to play their game," said Falcon Coach Patti Ford.

Sept. 16, 2002

Outside hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Jr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area) helped the Falcons to a 2-2 record at the St. Thomas Invitational held last weekend. Tvrdik had 40 kills, averaging 2.85 a game. She had a .211 hitting percentage. She had nine aces, eight digs and one solo and 12 block assists. She was named to the All-Tournament team. Head Coach Patti Ford said of Tvrdik, "She is one of our leaders and she gets steadier each game. Teams are keying on her but she steps up as well as taking the pressure off some of the others."

Sept. 9, 2002

Hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Jr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area HS) helped the Falcons to a second place finish at the Platteville Invitaitonal held last weekend. During the Falcons 3-1 record, Tvrdik had 36 kills, 5 service aces, and 15 digs. She had a .324 hitting percentage. She also had two block solos and seven block assists. Head Coach Patti Ford said, "Melissa gets better every time she steps on the court, she is one of the keys to our offense. She is a player we can count on to step up when the game is on the line." She was the only Falcon named to the All-Tournament team.

Sept. 3, 2002

Outside hitter Karen ZumMallen (Sr., Grand Rapids, Minn.) helped lead the Falcons to four wins in the UWRF Invitational held last weekend. One of the wins was over Bethel College (30-23, 30-28, 30-24), which was ranked 23rd in the AVCA Top 25 Preseason poll. In the four matches she placed 13 games and finished with 47 kills and a .278 kill percentage. She had 10 aces, two assists, 39 digs and six block assists. Against Bethel she had 11 kills and a .275 kill percentage. She had one assist, one ace, 14 digs and one block assist. She was named to the all-tournament team.