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The Cougar volleyball team plays their final home matches tonight (Oct. 25), playing a tri-match with Presentation and North Central.
The Cougars and Saints will stare the evening off at 4:30 p.m., with the night closing when the Cougars host the Rams at 7:30. In between, Presentation and North Central will also square off. Presentation enters with a 4-21 overall record and a 3-8 mark in UMAC action, with North Central at 5-17 on the year.
At 15-11 overall and 6-5 in the UMAC, the Cougars are still fighting to secure a berth in the UMAC Tournament, which begins next week. In fourth place in the current UMAC rankings, the Cougars could finish as high as third, or not make the tournament, making these games and the final week of play extremely important.
It will also be senior day in the P.E. Center, as the Cougars honor their lone senior in setter Natalie Thomas (Champlin, Minn.).
The first player to play her entire career under head coach Chad Braegelmann, Thomas has been at the center of the resurgence of the Cougar volleyball program. She led a group last season that became the first Cougar team to win 20 matches in seven years, while rising to a second place finish in the UMAC. She set five different players to 200 kills last season, on her way to earning Honorable Mention All-UMAC honors.
Finishing her career in style, she has certainly saved her best for last, already posting a career high for assists with a week left in the season, while spending the year climbing up the Cougar's career assists charts. A After becoming just the fourth player in UMM history to chart over 2,000 career assists earlier this season, last weekend she moved into the top three all-time, sitting with 2,504. She is just the second player this decade to reach the 2000 mark, becoming the career assist record holder in the DIII era.
One of the best setters in the conference, she has been the UMAC Setter of the Week on three occasions over the last two years, with the latest honor coming on Oct. 4 after a week where she racked up 81 assists, averaging better than 11 per set.
Ranking second in the UMAC in assists, she has three times set the Cougars a single match attack percentage over .300, with another four matches topping the .250 mark. She has topped the 30 assist mark in all but seven games this season, while hitting the 40 mark on 11 occasions. And against the best, she has been her best, posting 55 assists against St. Scholastica, and 48 in just four sets against Northwestern, the top two teams in the UMAC.
Don't miss out on the Cougars' final home volleyball games of the season, tonight (Oct. 25) in the P.E. Center at 4:30.
Last 10 meetings with Presentation
10/04/11 at PC: UMM 3, PC 0
10/26/10 at PC: UMM 3, PC 0
10/05/10 at UMM: UMM 3, PC 0
10/27/09 at UMM: UMM 3, PC 0
10/13/09 at PC: UMM 3, PC 1
10/29/08 at PC: PC 3, UMM 2
10/15/08 at UMM: UMM 3, PC 2
10/24/07 at UMM: UMM 3, PC 0
10/10/07 at PC: PC 3, UMM 2
10/25/06 at PC: PC 3, UMM 2
