Merseth has eyes on other goals

By JEN SEAVEY

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Even on an injured ankle, 5-11 senior forward Jessica Merseth has made great leaps this season for Minnesota Valley Lutheran.

Last year in a suspense-filled game against Springfield, Merseth pushed past the 1,000 point mark. Tuesday, against GFW, she broke the MVL girls' scoring record with 1,441 points, breaking the record of 1,440 held by Nanci Melzer, who graduated in 1994. But Merseth isn't through yet.

"I'm excited I broke it," Merseth said. "But I'm not satisfied yet -- I still have more to accomplish."

With nine games left in the regular season, Merseth is eyeing a couple other personal goals. The current school record of 1664 points is held by Dan Unke, who now plays on the Martin Luther College men's basketball team. Merseth needs 223 points to surpass that goal, and 253 to surpass the city record of 1,694 held by Cathedral's Steph Klaviter.

"They're attainable, but it would take incredible numbers the rest of the year," MVL coach Dave Biedenbender said. "And based on her ankle trouble ... it all depends on what God has in store for her."

Merseth is keeping a positive attitude, but an injured ankle that she sprained in a scrimmage at Belle Plaine at the beginning of the year has been giving her problems -- and may yet give her more. According to Merseth, the family doctor she visited is not certain what is wrong with it, but he told her that she will need months to heal it -- and even then, things are uncertain. The problem with her ankle has also given her tendonitis, and makes it difficult to sprint.

"Her ankle has definitely hampered her the whole year," Biedenbender said. "She has just been a warrior to keep going out there and doing it."

"It definitely slows me down," Merseth said. "I would say I'm not even at 75 percent. But I work hard and do what I can do."

Aside from her ankle, different things may also alter the course of the remainder of the season for Merseth.

According to coach Biedenbender, different teams in the area have started to double and triple team Merseth at times to try to cut down on her scoring. Because the Tomahawk conference teams have all played each other at least once, the teams know what to expect.

Though this does not help Merseth much with reaching her goal, it does not hinder the Chargers much as a team, because of their balanced scoring.

"We are really balanced," Biedenbender said. "On any given night, a different player might step up and score."

"Our team has had a lot of different high scorers," Merseth said. "That's positive for the team, because if one person can't score, other players pick up the slack."

Merseth counts a lot on her teammates, and puts the team goals before breaking any personal records.

"I'm a team player really," she said. "I am more concerned about our team winning and accomplishing our goals."

Along with playing more smoothly together, one of the team's goals is to win the conference outright, which would mean going undefeated. They are well on their way with an 11-0 record. Their biggest test will be when they play at Wabasso Friday, Jan. 31. Wabasso is 10-1 in the conference, and rated 8th in the state in Class 1A. MVL is ranked 7th in Class 2A.

So Merseth doesn't have specific scoring goals set for the rest of their games; she just plans to do what she can for the team.