2003 Falcon Volleyball Player of the Week

Nov. 17, 2003

Middle hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Sr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area HS) had 18 kills and eight total blocks in two games against bitter rivals UW-Whitewater and UW-La Crosse in the NCAA Midwest regionals played in La Crosse. She put up good numbers despite drawing at least two blockers most times she went up to hit the ball. "I can't say enough about her hard work and character," Falcon Coach Patti Ford said. "She's had a remarkable career and has left a legacy at UW-River Falls."

Nov. 10, 2003

Middle hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Sr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area HS) was a key player for the Falcons in the three WIAC Tournament matches played at UW-River Falls last week. She played 10 games and finished with 30 kills and a .354 hitting percentage. She had two assists, five aces, nine digs, one solo block snad seven block assists. The Falcons beat Superior and Oshkosh, but lost to La Crosse in the title match.

Nov. 3, 2003

Outside hitter Krystle Brune (Sr., Oakdale, Minn., Tartan HS) helped the Falcons to three wins in four matches last week. The Falcons enter the WIAC tournament with a 32-4 record and are the top seed in the tourney. Brune played 15 games for the Falcons last weekend and finished with 65 kills and a .298 hitting percentage. She had nine digs, one assist and five block assists. Brune, and teammate Melissa Tvrdik, was named to the UWRF Challenge All-Tournament team.

Oct. 27, 2003

Outside hitter Krystle Brune (Sr., Oakdale, Minn. Tartan HS) led the Falcons to five wins last week. The Falcons beat UW-Stout in a WIAC match and with the win UW-RF claim a share of the WIAC regular season title with UW-La Crosse. The Falcons finished 4-0 at the UW-Whitewater tourney, including a win over Central College, one of three teams that have beaten UW-RF this year. In the team's win over St. Olaf, Brune set a school record for career kills. Currently she has 1,584 kills. In the five matches she played 17 games and finished with 84 kills and a .308 hitting percentage. She had 19 digs, two solo blocks and 18 block assists. "Krystle put up great numbers all weekend," Falcon Coach Patti Ford said. "She had four kills per game and her hitting percentages were up."

Oct. 20, 2003

Middle hitter Kristin Brandt (Sr., Woodbury, Minn.) helped lead the Falcons to two important WIAC wins on the road last weekend. The Falcons won at Platteville and La Crosse to climb within a half game of first place in the WIAC standings. At Platteville Brandt finished with 10 kills and a .600 hitting percentage. She had two service aces, four digs and led the team with seven block assists. At La Crosse, a team that was undefeated in WIAC playing entering the day, Brandt again had 10 kills and a .562 hitting percentage. She had three aces and again led the team with four block assists. "Kristin put up huge numbers this weekend," Falcon Coach Patti Ford said. "She came up big. Kristin made the difference this weekend. She brought a lot of the intangibles."

Oct. 13, 2003

Outside hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Sr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area HS) helped lead the Falcons to a 4-1 record during the week. The Falcons finished with a 4-0 record at the Central, Iowa, College Invitational. In the team's win over Monmouth she recorded her 1,000th career kill. In that match she had 17 kills and no errors and finished with a .566 hitting percentage. For the week she had 62 kills, a 3.26 average per game. She finished with a .370 hitting percentage. She also had two assists, nine service aces, 31 digs, four solo blocks and 15 block assists. Tvrdik was named to the Central, Iowa, College All-Tournament team.

Outside hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Sr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area HS) helped lead the Falcons to two WIAC wins last week. The two victories raised the Falcon overall record to 18-2 and they are 4-0 in the WIAC. Tvrdik finished with 21 kills and a .416 hitting percentage. She had two aces and five block assists. Tvrdik is 46 kills shy of the career 1,000 mark.

Outside hitter Nina Petersen (Jr., Byron, Minn.) helped the Falcons to four wins and the Eau Claire Invitational championship. She helped the Falcons to wins over Northland and Superior on Friday and Stout and Eau Claire on Saturday. She had 37 kills and finished with a .285 hitting percentage. She had 15 digs and 15 blocked shots. "I think she was a deciding factor in the Eau Claire and Stout games," Falcon Coach Patti Ford said. "She's really doing a nice job blocking and a great job hitting from the outside. That's opened up a lot for us."

Outside hitter Krystle Brune (Sr., Oakdale, Minn. Tartan HS) provided much of the offense for the Falcons in the team's wins over No. 20 ranked UW-Oshkosh and No. 3 ranked UW-Whitewater last weekend. She had 13 kills Oshkosh and 14 kills against Whitewater. She had a .195 hitting percentage in the two matches. She added three assists, eight digs and one solo and one block assist to the Falcon effort. The wins catapulted UW-RF, ranked No. 10, to the front of the WIAC standings with a 2-0 record. Brune now sits 11 kills away from tying Anna Schmidt for second place on the Falcon career kills list (1,359).

Outside hitter Katheryn Krtnick (Fr., Fridley, Minn.) was one of the top players for the Falcons at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational held last weekend. In 13 games she had 35 kills and finished with a .152 hitting percentage. She had three assists, three aces and 61 digs. She finished with two solo blocks and two block assists. She had two double-doubles - 11 kills and 10 digs against Illinois Wesleyan and 12 kills and 13 digs against Lake Forest.

Middle hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Sr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area HS) helped lead the Falcons to four wins and the Lakeland Tournament championship held last weekend in Sheboygan. The Falcons won all four matches, including a 3-2 win over sixth-ranked Elmhurst. Tvrdik, who was named the tourney's Most Valuable Player and to the All-Tournament team, finished with 59 kills and a .440 hitting percentage. She averaged 3.93 kills a gamee. She had 27 digs, four aces, three solo blocks and nine block assists. "She's going to dominate and teams are going to have to focus on her. The good thing is that she's up to that challenge," said Head Coach Patti Ford.

Middle hitter Melissa Tvrdik (Sr., Farwell, Minn. Minnewaska Area HS) helped lead the Falcons to a 3-1 record last weekend in the Falcon Invitational. She played 14 games and had 51 kills and finished with a .345 hitting percentage. She had seven aces, 16 digs, one solo block and seven block assists.