Andrea Millerbernd’s senior volleyball season at the College of Saint Benedict was nearly derailed after the two-year captain hurt her back early in the preseason.
Two cortisone shots later, however, and the 2006 Littlefork-Big Falls graduate is back playing comfortably for the nationally-ranked Blazers.
There was an adjustment period getting used to the new players, but St. Ben’s is 7-1 over its last eight contests, with the only loss coming to rival and two-time defending MIAC champion St. Thomas in the championship of the Augsburg Invitational. St. Ben’s started the season 1-3 against three top 25 teams in the Puget Sound Invitational in Tacoma, Wash.
Millerbernd, the co-Defensive Player of the Year for St. Ben’s last season, is currently second on the team with 136 digs. She hasn’t missed a match and is averaging 2.89 digs a set.
The updated American Volleyball Coaches Association poll came out Tuesday, and the Blazers are No. 20 in Division III.
Two other MIAC schools are also ranked — St. Thomas at No. 6 and Concordia at No. 17.
Last season, the Blazers made a run into the NCAA Division III Elite Eight — without a senior — and Millerbernd thinks they can do it again. First things first, however, as the MIAC season starts today.
“I think we can,” Millerbernd said Tuesday about making another run. “Not losing any seniors or anyone and having five really good first-years that came in. I think it helps that we were all together last year and saw how far we could make it. Our main goal right now is to win the MIAC.”
Millerbernd’s season will end sometime in November — if they qualify for the MIAC Tournament — but her college volleyball career won’t end until May with a trip to Italy, where they plan to play a few matches overseas.
“It’ll be a great way to end my senior year,” Millerbernd said.
Going deeper ...
• Ben Gordon (FHS ’03) got a taste of a Norwegian Elite League in August, and the former Golden Gophers hockey player returned shortly thereafter and signed Sept. 7 with the Reading Royals of the East Coast Hockey League. The Royals were the same team Gordon was a part of at the end of last season.
“I just felt like I wanted to come back,” Gordon said Monday about his experience in Norway.
Gordon plans to head out to Reading, Pa., on Sept. 28. Training camps begins Sept. 30.
“I’m excited. I like it in Reading and I’m glad to be back, trying to work my way up the latter here,” Gordon said.
The former Mr. Hockey finalist started his ECHL career in Cincinnati last season, and he totaled 57 points (21G, 36A) in 51 games. He came on strong after getting traded to Reading, however, with 18 points (6G, 12A) in 12 games.
“I’m just going to go there, show up and try and pick up from last year,” he said. “If I can do that, I think the jump will come sooner or later.”
Gordon’s next step is the American Hockey League, and he’ll have a better shot as a second-year player over being a rookie, he said.
So how long will he continue to play?
“No idea,” he said. “I’m just enjoying it right now. ... As long as I can do it for a job, which a lot of people dream about, I’ll keep doing it for a while.”
• Denae Fisher (FHS ’01) recently accepted a full-time job as the assistant women’s basketball coach at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. She’ll also serve as an assistant intramural sports director and begin teaching in the spring when her thesis is complete.
The Lady Reds’ basketball season begins Nov. 17.
• Former Bronco athlete Alex Ringhofer (FHS ’09) received the North Dakota State University Presidential Honor Scholarship, which totals $10,000 over four years. A student must have a score between 29 and 31 on their ACT to be eligible for the scholarship. Ringhofer plans to major in dietetics and mathematics.
• Former Falls High School boys basketball coach Matt Urbanek will head the same program at Jordan High School this year. Jordan, a Class 2A school, is in the Minnesota River Conference.
Urbanek, who led the Broncos to the only state tournament berth in school history, had been coaching at Brainerd since 2001. Urbanek finished with a record of 52-25 in three seasons with the Broncos.
• Kelly Hams (L-BF ’08) has earned a weekly award in the MCAC in three of the four weeks. Tuesday she was named the Northern Division Setter of the Week after she compiled 96 set assists for a 10.66 average. The Hibbing sophomore also had 22 digs and 16 kills to help the Cardinals go 3-0 last week.
