Laurel Advocate Above, Nate Sims (l-r), Laurel-Concord/Colderidge Activities Director Scott Petersen, LCC volleyball coach Patti Cunningham and Toby Cunningham all watch while Jade Cunningham officially inks the form and agrees to go to Wayne State.

WAYNE — On Monday, Nov. 14, Wayne State College head volleyball coach Scott Kneifl announced the signings of five recruits to the 2012 recruiting class that have either signed national letters of intent or scholarship offers to attend Wayne State College and play volleyball for the Wildcats in the 2012-13 academic year. Joining the Wildcat program are Katie Beiermann of Columbus, Jade Cunningham of Laurel, Elizabeth Gebhardt of Norfolk, Katie Hughes of Seward and Jennifer Nakata of Pullman, Washington.

Katie Beiermann is a 5-10 middle hitter from Central Community College in Columbus. The Columbus Scotus graduate has averaged 2.92 kills and 2.06 digs per set so far this season, helping Central CC to a 30-9 record, a #9 national ranking and a berth in the National Junior College Division II national tournament. Last season, she was named First Team National Junior College All-American after recording 3.02 kills, 3.01 digs and 0.72 blocks per set. She will have two years of eligibility with the Wildcats.

“Katie is an explosive player that has played within a great high school program at Columbus Scotus and has excelled at the junior college level,” remarked Coach Kneifl. “She is dynamic off of one foot and will make an immediate impact for us at the middle hitter position.”

#7 Minnesota Duluth ended the season for the #10 Wayne State College volleyball team Thursday afternoon with a 3-0 win over the Wildcats in the opening game of the NCAA Central Regional in Kearney, Nebraska at the UNK Health and Sports Center. The scores of the match were 25-14, 25-23 and 25-19. WSC ends the season 23-8 while UMD advances to Friday's semi-finals with a 28-3 mark.

Minnesota Duluth jumped out to an early 11-3 lead over the Wildcats in the first set and built their biggest lead of the set to 12 points at 20-8 following a 9-5 run. The Bulldogs closed out WSC in the first set 25-14 as UMD hit .346 with 13 kills on 26 attacks with four errors while the Wildcats hit .031 with nine kills and were plagued by eight attack errors in the set. Minnesota Duluth was able to outblock Wayne State 4-1 in the first set of the match. Cori Hobbs led the Wildcat attack with three kills in the first set.

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Tournament Pairings

At UNK Health and Sports Center, Kearney, Neb.
Today
Noon: No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth (27-3) vs. No. 6 Wayne State (23-7)
2:30 p.m.: No. 2 Concordia-St. Paul (28-2) vs. No. 7 Minnesota State (20-8)
5 p.m.: No. 4 Metro State (24-6) vs. No. 5 Southwest Minnesota State (23-6)
7:30 p.m.: No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney (32-1) vs. No. 8 Colorado School of Mines (18-10)
Friday
5 p.m.: UMD/WSC Winner vs. CSP/MSU Winner
7:30 p.m.: Metro/SWMS Winner vs. Mines/UNK Winner
Saturday
6 p.m.: Championship (Winner advances to Elite Eight)

Courtesy Photo Katie Hughes signs her national letter of intent while her parents and Seward coach Tom Pallas look on.

SEWARD - Seward senior Katie Hughes made her commitment to Wayne State College official on Thursday by signing her national letter of intent.

The Wayne State College volleyball team had two players selected to the 2011 NSIC All-Conference Team announced by the Northern Sun Conference office in Burnsville, Minnesota Tuesday morning. Senior outside hitter Tali Fredrickson earned NSIC All-Conference honors while senior libero Leigh Connot received honorable mention honors.

Click to view story on Grand Island Independent.

WAYNE - Just as so many other student-athletes have experienced, Wayne State’s Tali Fredrickson says her senior season and the pending end of her competitive volleyball career have sort of snuck up on her.

After several years of having volleyball be such a dominant focus, Fredrickson and her NCAA Division II No. 10-ranked Wildcats have just three regular-season matches and the postseason remaining. It’s a concept the Grand Island Central Catholic graduate and former Grand Island Independent female athlete of the year admits she’s having a little trouble wrapping her mind around.

WAYNE — No. 10 Wayne State avenged an earlier season loss at Winona State by sweeping the Warriors 25-19, 25-23, 25-17 in Northern Sun Conference volleyball Friday night. The Wildcats are now 21-7 on the season and 14-5 in the NSIC while Winona State drops to 13-14 overall and 7-10 in the conference.

Wayne State outhit the Warriors .250-.128 in the contest while forcing Winona State into 19 attack errors to Wayne State’s 14 errors. The Wildcats were able to out block the Warriors seven to five while edging WSU in assists 45-36.

Tali Fredrickson recorded her 18th double-double of the season for the Wildcats with 12 kills and 15 digs as teammate Cori Hobbs was right behind her with 11 kills of her own. Sophomore McKenna Reagan led the team in digs with 16 while fellow sophomore Tatum Wroblewski accounted for 39 of the 45 assists. Junior middle blocker Alex Armes anchored the ‘Cats defense with six blocks and Fredrickson stuffed five attacks as well.

Click to view story on Grand Island Independent.

KEARNEY — Despite two top-10 teams squaring off in front of a NCAA Division II season-high volleyball crowd of 2,901, there simply wasn’t a whole lot of drama Tuesday night at the Health and Sports Center.

No. 6-ranked Nebraska-Kearney dominated three sets and No. 10 Wayne State had its way in one as the Lopers emerged with a 25-15, 18-25, 25-16, 25-17 victory, extending their winning streak to 14.

WAYNE - Wayne senior Katie Hoskins is hoping to extend the time with her mother as her volleyeball coach by another week when the Bluedevils face Wisner-Pilger in tonight's C1-6 final at Oakland-Craig.

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WAYNE, Neb. - Three athletes, a former coach and two contributors will be inducted into the Wayne State College Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend.

The inductees will be honored at halftime of the football game against the University of Mary at Cunningham Field Saturday. An induction banquet will be held Saturday at the Frey Conference Suite of the WSC Student Center with a social hour beginning at 5:30 p.m. and the induction from 6:15 to 8:30.
Advance tickets, at $22 per person, are required for the banquet. For ticket information, contact the WSC alumni office at (402) 375-7209 or 800-228-9972 ext. 7209.

Included in the inductees is Rayna Nelsen Cain (athlete): Nelsen was a standout volleyball player from 1999-2002. The Homer, Neb., native was a four-time All-Northern Sun Conference first team selection and finished her career ranked fourth on the school's all-time kills list with 1,517. Nelsen helped Wayne State to the 2001 NSIC regular season title and had 534 kills during her senior season in 2002, which ranks fifth-most in a single season. She also finished her career ranking third in block assists with 388. Nelsen was the first Wayne State athlete to be named All-NSIC all four seasons and was an AVCA All-North Central Region honorable mention pick as a senior.