UMD volleyball players worked on setting up teammates at St. Scholastica’s Reif Gym. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Year after year, UMD athletics teams can expect championships or at least championship contention in men’s hockey and football. But without question, the most impressive and consistent runs of success belongs to the Bulldogs volleyball team.
The problem is, it is nearly impossible for UMD to win any women’s volleyball national championships, because UMD plays in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference — by far the unequivocal strongest volleyball leagues in NCAA Division II.
For anybody who questions that, consider that the first NCAA Division II rankings have been issued as a preseason feature, and UMD ranks No. 3. That is impressive, but No. 2 is Southwest Minnesota State, and No. 1 is defending national champion Concordia of St. Paul.
That’s right, the top three are all NSIC teams. Mainly, such preseason rankings are based on the previous season, which makes sense. But for UMD, being ranked third is just right, because their intentions are considerably higher than that, but at least they can avoid the target on their backs that for now Concordia must wear.

“Concordia lost some seniors, but I don’t care who they’ve lost, they’re No. 1 until somebody else proves they can beat them,” said Jim Boos, ready to start his 17th season as UMD’s coach. “And Southwest Minnesota sort of surprised everybody last season, but they’re legit.”
Perfect set up. Boos couldn’t help reflect how strong he believes his Bulldogs are. Most coaches look forward eagerly to the prized new recruits coming in as freshmen, but in UMD’s case this season, it will be a tall order for any freshman to crack the starting lineup.
“We have six of our top seven returning, and 11 back from last year,” said Boos. “We expect to be ready to go from the start, but we’ll have to wait and see.  I will say that this is as taltned and deep as we’ve ever been.”
That’s quite a statement. UMD has chased Concordia year after year, and when the two meet, either at Romano Gym or at Concordia, it’s always one of the classic sports events on either campus.
Last season, UMD had great balance up front and smart contributions from the back line. But Kate Berg, a freshman outside hitter from Wayzata High School, broke into the lineup and soon established herself as a vital cog in the offense, particularly from the left outside to balance the Bulldog attack.

That gives UMD a unique three-pronged attack with senior right side hitter Sarah Kelly registering 440 kills, and Makenzie Morgen, another senior, notching 379. Berg had 378.
“Kate did everything we expected of her,” said Boos, who sees unlimited potential for the 5-foot-9 sophomore, who joins Kelly (5-11) and Morgen (5-10). The hitting depth adds Mandy Kurosky, a 6-1 junior from Duluth, who joins the team after sitting out last year having transfered in from Northern State, where she had nearly 600 kills in two seasons before transfering home.

“We’ve got a lot of experience, and we’ve added six freshmen,” Boos added. “It’s not like we need any of them to step in immediately and fill a role; they might take some time to acclimate themselves, and we’re primarily building depth for the year after this one, when we graduate six.”
UMD opened practice at Reif Gym on the St. Scholastica campus, because renovation of Romano Gym are not yet complete. For that reason, the Bulldogs will play their opening home match, against Bemidi State on September 6, at AMSOIL Arena, the usual home of the UMD men’s and women’s hockey teams.
As usual, UMD opens the season with a long road trip to Florida for some exhibition play against top competition. It begins August 24 at St Augustine, for four games starting with Findlay. On the way home, they go to Marquette, Mich., to play Upper Midwest competition Michigan Tech, Northern Michigan, Lake Superior State and Northwood, before finally coming home.

Leaving Romano Gym is no small thing. Last year, UMD had a 26-7 overall record, and was 11-0 in Romano. The Bulldogs were 16-4 in NSIC play, including 10-0 at Romano. They also were 1-0 at home in nonconference play, which means they were 22-0 overall at home.
“The chance to play at AMSOIL will give us a real challenge to make it a special event,” Boos said. “With freshmen, there’s always a lot of work to be done, but we’ve added more talent on the outside. We’re going to be hard to defend against.”
With so much returning talent, and talented newcomers, it appears UMD could be a contender even if none of the freshmen crack the lineup. Correct?
“I would say yes,” said Boos. “I’m looking forward to the start of the season. In three weeks we’ll be in Florida.”

UMD volleyball coach Jim Boos advised his players on technique drill at first practice. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Cousins, Vikings Whip Keenum, Broncos 

The big buildup was interesting, but only if you caught the first 10 minutes. That was when new Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins led the Vikings down the field for a touchdown, while the Denver Broncos let down their eager fans as Case Keenum — last year’s Vikings catalyst — couldn’t do much.
The Vikings built a quick lead, and Cousins was near flawless, but the difference was more how the Vikings starting defense completely outplayed Denver’s defensive starters. While the Broncos defense was porous, the Vikings defense clearly had the objective of making sure to contain Keenum, and he had no openings to succeed.

What is most amazing is that the media in both cities declared that the Vikings clearly won out by letting Keenum go and obtaining Cousins. They played a couple of series each, then turned things over to the backups. We should not be surprised the Vikings defense proved once again to be a dominant force. Cousins fired a one-yard scoring strike to Stefon Biggs, and columnist and broadcasters alike raved that it was such a great pass, that Keenum could never have duplicated.

Slow down, folks. It was the first 10 minutes of the first exhibition game, and the Vikings went in and jumped Denver. But did anybody notice that the Broncos came back with the subs leading the way and caught up, even taking a 28-27 lead, before the Vikings put on a backup-team rally to put the game away.

We like the Vikings to battle Green Bay all season for the Central Division title, but I also will be eager to watch Keenum and the Broncos get it together much more subtlely and become a factor in their division race.