All-Stars set to spike

Minot’s Schuster, Luetzen compete in Optimist All-Star

By CHRIS BIERI and CRAIG HAUPERT, Staff Writers sports@minotdailynews.com

FARGO - Tia Schuster has played on some talented volleyball teams in the past, but none as talented as the 2008 Optimist West All Star Team. Her experience so far has been fun, but competitive.

"We are here to win, but we know we can't take it too seriously," said the 2008 Our Redeemer's Christian School graduate. "There is a pretty big rivalry between the East and the West. We've heard them say, 'oh it's just for fun,' but we want to get down to business and we want to win."

The West got the best of the East Tuesday in Fargo in the first of two meetings between the teams, which are composed of the state's best recently graduated Class A and B high school volleyball players. The teams will play again today in Bismarck.

Schuster, 2007's Region 6 Senior Volleyball Athlete of the Year, was beyond excited upon learning she was going to be one of 12 players chosen to the West All Star team.

"I feel really honored to be a part of this and just to be able to play all these really great players," she said.

Sharing the court with the best of the West has been a unique and rewarding experience for Schuster, who will play volleyball at Augsburg College in Minnesota.

"It's been really great so far. We've all been getting along really well. We all share the same interests and have been having a really fun time," Schuster said. "We've all come from teams that we were the best players on. It's just a bunch of talent all on one court, all at the same time."

Other Class B athletes competing on the West All Star team include Brittany Morgan (Stanley), Courtney Thingstad (Velva), Maribeth Geiszler (Bottineau), Jenna Bubel (Center-Stanton) and Katie Zent (Richardton-Taylor).

The West team is coached by Tim Wallstrum, whose Kenmare Honkers won the Class B state volleyball championship in 2007.

Luetzen living the dream

As a setter, former Minot High School standout Danny Luetzen is living the dream

Playing in the 2008 North Dakota Optimist All-Star Volleyball Series, Luetzen is getting the opportunity to pass to North Dakota's best.

"It's totally different than high school," Luetzen said. "You're with every one of the best players in the state. As a setter, you just throw it up and they hammer it down on the 10-foot line and you're like, 'wow!' Some of the sets I'm doing now, I never do, even in practice. I just throw it up and it's getting slammed."

The series, which started Tuesday in Fargo, continues today in Bismarck. Luetzen and the West All-Stars will take on the East All-Stars at the Bismarck High gymnasium at 7 p.m.

Luetzen, who is bound for Division I junior college powerhouse Iowa Western in the fall, said it hasn't taken long for the team to mesh.

"It's been a lot of fun," she said. "We've gotten to be really good friends off the court more than anything. We've grown together and we're having a blast."

As is often the case in All-Star games, the players will be playing roles they normally wouldn't be asked to fill.

"Pretty much everyone has been taken out of their comfort zone, playing positions they don't normally play" she said. "Everyone has shown that they're all-stars."

Joining Luetzen from the Class A ranks is Williston's Chelsea Hicks.

Luetzen, Hicks lead West All-Stars

FARGO - Former Minot High School standout Danny Luetzen dished out a match-high 15 assists as the West All-Stars defeated the East Tuesday in the first of two games in the Optimist All-Star Series.

The West won 25-22, 25-11 and 25-14.

Williston's Chelsea Hicks was smashed a match-high seven kills in the sweep and former Our Redeemer's all-stater Tia Schuster added five kills.

Velva's Courtney Thingstad added five kills of her own and former Stanley setter Brittany Morgan dished out seven assists. Maribeth Geiszler of Bottineau added four kills and a block for the West.

The series moves from Fargo to Bismarck, where the two teams will match up tonight at the Bismarck High gym at 7 p.m.