By Mike Foley
UWRF Sports Information

The UW-River Falls volleyball team will look to its standout right side hitter, Nina Petersen, to keep them on the right side of the tracks in 2004.

The team has won a share of the WIAC championship for the past two years and now faces a tough task in its quest to three-peat. Petersen, and three other seniors, will have to fill the gaps left by eight graduated Falcons, including two All-Americans. Falcon Coach Patti Ford knows Petersen will be up to the challenge.

"She will be one of the dominate players in the WIAC, if not nationally," Ford said. "Her personality is even keeled. She has a physically strong stature and, being left handed, she brings a lot of power from the right side. She has everything, physically and socially, to lead this team."

Petersen, who was named to both the All-WIAC and the AVCA All-Midwest teams last year, will be the team’s main target for sophomore setter Kat Krtnick. The new setter will get the ball to Petersen for a thunderous attack early and often this season.

Though everyone knows how valuable she will be on the court, she will also be a leader off the court. Her ability to guide and develop some of the talented young players on the team could be the difference between an average and an excellent Falcon season.

"My goal is to always be a good leader," Petersen said. "I’m going to try to be someone to look up to on the floor and always have a smile on my face."

It’s hard to think of a time when Petersen didn’t have a smile on her face. As a freshman, Petersen contributed 69 kills and 14 digs to the team. Going into her senior year Petersen has registered 755 kills and 242 total blocks. Even if her production slipped to that of her sophomore season, Petersen can reach the 1,000 career kill mark.

Petersen began playing volleyball with a Junior Olympics team when she was in seventh grade. Two years later she began playing high school ball in Byron, Minn., where she eventually earned all-conference honors in the Hiawatha Valley League as a high school senior.

Petersen credits her high school coach Jane Krier as one of the people who shaped her into the player she is today. She also acknowledges volleyball enthusiast Brent Hoegh as a key motivator in her developing volleyball years.

"He was the guy at every J.O. and varsity match," Petersen said. "He gave good advice and wanted me to go the extra mile."

Taking her game to the collegiate level was that extra mile. Once at UW-RF, Petersen turned to another role model, assistant coach Janet Cobbs Mulholland.

"All her advice has always helped," Petersen said. "I really like the way she coaches. She always puts her own experiences into perspective and emphasizes how important we all are."

Though Petersen has experienced a lot of team success in the past, she has never been more important to her team than she will be this year. She knows that it will be up to her, and the other seniors, to set the right examples for the younger players on and off the court.

"My advice to the younger players is just that, ‘your time will come,’" Petersen said. "‘Be patient. As a freshman or sophomore you have a lot to go through and wait for your glory.’"

The wait is over for Petersen. This will be the year she pushes for the glory of career kill 1,000, more All-WIAC and possibly All-American honors and possibly a third-straight conference title in a very talented WIAC pool.

"I’m looking forward to proving to everyone that we can still be at the top," Petersen said, "even though we’re younger and inexperienced."