2 DHS grads playing in D-I volleyball tournament

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Two Dickinson High School graduates will be playing in the NCAA Division I volleyball tournament this week.

Colorado State senior Katelyn Steffan leads her team against No. 13-ranked Oregon at 8 p.m. Thursday in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Steffan, a 6-foot-4 outside hitter, was the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and the MWC tournament’s Most Valuable Player this season.

North Dakota State senior Paige Nash, a 6-foot-1 middle hitter, and the Bison visit the University of Minnesota again in the first round 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis.

This is the third time in four seasons that NDSU will have to make the trip to play the Gophers in the first round. Minnesota swept the Bison in both previous postseason meetings.

The 64-team field is a single-elimination tournament and first round games are sometimes based on geography if you’re not one of the top 16 seeded teams.

If Colorado State (23-5) can defeat Oregon, it faces either Northern Colorado (22-8) or host Hawaii (26-1), ranked No. 3 in the nation and the No. 10 seed in this year's tournament, on Friday.

Nash and Steffan are both 2007 graduates of Dickinson High and led the Midgets to back-to-back state championships in 2005 and 2006.

Tags: college volleyball, katelyn steffan, paige nash, colorado state rams, sports, bison, updates