The #7 St. Cloud State University volleyball team is headed to the NCAA Central Regional Tournament in Missouri this week. The Huskies will take on NSIC rival Concordia-St. Paul in the first round, which is set for Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

The Huskies reached the NCAA Tournament in 2019 before seeing their 2020 season canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Huskies coach Chad Bragelmann says the team was excited to get back on the court after a year of mainly practices.

"We tried some different things, like series where friends and parents could come to watch our scrimmages," Bragelmann said. "Our women did a great job of keeping things fun and interesting and the work we put in has paid off this last year."

The Huskies posted a 27-4 overall record this season and a record of 19-1 in the Northern Sun conference.

"We had some nice momentum after 2019, we were going to return a bunch of good players... then COVID threw a wrench in it," Bragelmann said. "We were able to stay fairly active throughout the fall of 2020 and our women made a commitment to stick around this summer to work out and play volleyball and I think that's been a key to our success."

SCSU will battle the Golden Bears in Warrensburg, Missouri Thursday afternoon. On one hand it is a familiar foe for the Huskies, but, on the other hand, Concordia is the only NSIC team to have beaten SCSU this season.

"Concordia has such a great storied tradition, but every team we play from this point on is going to be good," Bragelmann said. "We would really love to play well and advance, but they are a great team."

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