By Jim Rueda
The Free Press
MANKATO —
Former Belle Plaine High School standout Cassie Wolpern has developed into one of the most valuable players on the Minnesota State University volleyball team this season, but not in a way anybody expected.
When Wolpern graduated from Belle Plaine in 2003, she was the most prolific hitter in the history of Minnesota high school volleyball with 2,867 career kills. She left high school with single-season state records for assists (390), blocks (99), kills (688) and service aces (80).
Wolpern attended the University of San Diego in the fall of 2003 but transferred to MSU after one semester. Last season, her first for the Mavericks, Wolpern led the team with 361 kills and 1,077 total attacks.
This season her kill totals are significantly down, but it has nothing to do with her quality of play. Her kills have dropped because Wolpern has been turned into a libero — a defensive specialist who plays only in the back row and is not allowed to attack.
The move happened three weeks ago at the Lewis University Flyer Festival in Chicago. Midway through the tournament, Wolpern was set to play her usual left-side hitter position when starting setter Erin Anderson suffered an injury and was unable to play. Back-up setter, Stef Standstrom, who had been playing libero, was moved up to the setter spot.
“I asked Cassie if she would fill in at libero and she said sure,” MSU head coach Dennis Amundson said. “It was a great fit for her. She sees the court really well and is very athletic.”
Wolpern has been there ever since and has been flourishing. She leads the team with 177 digs and rarely leaves the court. At present she is in on 11 of the team’s 12 rotations.
So how did Wolpern, considered one of the state’s most notorious high school hitters ever, handle the move to the back row? According to Amundson, very well.
“Cassie has always been a team player first,” said Amundson, who was an assistant coach on Wolpern’s 18-under AAU team before she left for San Diego. “She recognized that this was an area where she could help us and moved right in.”
Wolpern says it was a difficult decision, mostly because of the reputation she has developed at the net, but she viewed it as a way to make the team better overall.
“It was tough but our team has a lot of depth at left-side hitter,” Wolpern said. “This was a way for us to stay strong on the left side and improve somewhere else.”
Wolpern also admits she was slipping a little as a hitter.
“I don’t jump as high as I used to,” she said. “The wear and tear on my knees from impacting the floor has taken its toll.
“Plus I need to correct a flaw in my arm swing and that’s something we wouldn’t be able to get to until the spring. That would leave me only one year left as a hitter and this just seemed the more logical way to go.”
Wolpern said she views the position change as a welcome challenge. She’s able to use more of her skills as she learns the nuances of her position.
Amundson says Wolpern has come a long way in a short period of time.
“When she was on that 18-under team where I was the assistant I used to beg the head coach to get her off the court on service receive,” he said. “Now she’s the player I want in there on service receive. She has definitely matured as a person and a player.”
