Sports

Ladyjacks drop two of three on road trip all over North Dakota

By Tyler Ohmann

09/25/2012

The Dakota College at Bottineau Ladyjacks played a tough three-game road trip this past week, winning once, but dropping two matches.

The Ladyjacks began the week with a strong four-set win over the Lake Region State College Lady Royals. It was the third straight time DCB has dispatched LRSC this season.

DCB hopped out to a lead in last Monday’s match winning the first set 25-16.

The Lady Royals bounced back, knocking of the Ladyjacks 25-19 in set two. However DCB closed out LRSC with 25-17 and 25-20 wins in sets three and four respectively.

“Every coach, player and sports fan understands how difficult beating a team three straight times can be. Our Ladyjacks showed mental toughness and resilience against adversity to grab a win on the road versus Lake Region in four sets,” stated DCB head coach Corey Fehringer. “There wasn’t a set that came easy as Lake Region is improving game by game, and it showed as we began each set in the hole early on. Fortunately we made enough good decisions down the stretch to overcome mental mistakes.”

DCB was led by sophomores Josie Degagne and Jackie Miller. Degagne had a team-best nine digs, while Miller smacked a team-high nine kills.
Perhaps the best performance came from freshman setter Ashleigh Aufforth, who had a season-high 29 set-assists.

“It was not our best team effort, but a win on the road we will take,” Fehringer stated.

After the win on Monday the Ladyjacks success on the week would diminish as the Ladyjacks fell in their next two matches.

Their next match on Wednesday ended with the North Dakota State College of Science sweeping the Ladyjacks with three convincing set wins.

The Ladyjacks did improve each set as they lost 25-9 in set one and 25-12 in set two, but closed the gap to 25-18 in the final set.

“It is difficult to find bright moments when looking at the score, but I believe we at least showed some fight as each set grew closer,” Fehringer stated. “An excuse would be out of line, but as a team we are struggling getting off the bus and playing with an intensity level necessary to compete.”

“We ran into a well coached and talented group of individuals at Wahpeton,” Fehringer added.

The Ladyjacks resilience was again tested on Thursday night as they headed to Ellendale to take on the Trinity Bible College Lions.

Again the Ladyjacks were unable to capture a win, as the Lions took home a 3-1 victory.

The Ladyjacks sit at 4-5 on the season thus far. They played another road game last night at Jamestown JV, but stats and scores were unavailable by press time.

The Ladyjacks next game is set for 7 p.m. tomorrow night against rival Bismarck State College.