Sports
Ladyjacks stake claim with conference wins
Tyler Ohmann
09/11/2012
With the second week of play completed the Dakota College at Bottineau is approaching their 2011 win total already as they won three of five matches this past week.
The successful week began with a 3-0 sweep of the Lake Region State Lady Royals at The Woodshed last Wednesday.
“It was a great atmosphere tonight at The Woodshed, as fellow students and community members did an outstanding job supporting our LadyJacks,” stated DCB Head Coach Corey Fehringer. “Overall we played a consistent match from beginning to end, but the team still understands we have much that needs improvement.”
The Ladyjacks easily handled the Royals throughout the day winning all three games by strong margins beginning with a 25-16 win in game one.
A strong run during the middle of game two gave the Ladyjacks a 25-17 win. The Ladyjacks closed out the match with a 25-14 win.
“Although many good things happened on the offensive side of the net, we are clearly at our best when we have relentless effort defensively,” stated Fehringer.
Sophomores Jordyn Sondrol and Jackie Miller led the Ladyjacks offensively with nine and six kills respectively.
Bottineau native Ashleigh Aufforth had 16 set-assists to set the pace for the Ladyjacks.
The Ladyjacks continued their week with a split on day one of the Dawson Classic in Glendive, Mont.
They lost their first match against a tough University of Great Falls team in four sets.
“I’d like to pinpoint a specific problem, but after a six hour trip on the bus it just seemed as though we could not sustain energy,” Fehringer stated. “Mental errors along with simply being a step slow led to uphill battles in each set. We competed in stretches, but clearly UGF was more prepared and disciplined.”
In the Ladyjacks second match in Friday’s first day was another victory over the LRSC Lady Royals.
The Ladyjacks fell behind the Royals as they lost the first set 25-22, losing a 9-2 lead.
“For a moment it felt as though our team was not going to be responsible from the earlier loss, but just when the coaching staff began to worry our LadyJacks refused to play poorly back to back matches,” Fehringer stated.
However, the Ladyjacks fought back and won three straight sets 25-21, 25-11 and 25-11 to win the match.
The Ladyjacks continued their success from Friday’s second match on Saturday with a 3-0 sweep of MonDak opponent and host Dawson Community College.
“Hands down this was our most complete match marked by hustle, teamwork and an energy that could not be matched,” Fehringer stated. “It was exciting to see the LadyJacks compete with a collective purpose while sustaining a focus to improve point by point.”
The Ladyjacks dropped their next match as they had to play Rocky Mountain College JV instead of their scheduled opponent Williston State.
The Ladyjacks jumped out to an early lead with a first set victory, but RMC was too much for DCB in match winning the next three sets to take the match.
Needless to say they were extremely talented,” Fehringer stated. “I was not able to make adjustments to slow down RMC’s quick offense and powerful hitters. The game was played at a fast pace, a pace we were not familiar or comfortable with as a team.”
Following the week’s matches DCB improved to 3-3 on the season and are 3-1 against MonDak opponents.
The Ladyjacks next game will be at 7 p.m. tonight at home against Williston State, which is a schedule change.