Sports
Ladyjacks losing streak ends at tournament
Tyler Ohmann
10/02/2012
The Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) losing streak ended this past week, but not before it was extended to five matches.
The Ladyjacks were swept Jamestown College JV on Monday, Bismarck State on Tuesday and Central Lakes College on Friday.
However, a win over St. Cloud Technical College in five sets ended the streak last Friday.
The week began on Monday as the Ladyjacks traveled on their third straight road contest to take on Jamestown College JV.
The Jimmies swept the Ladyjacks for DCB’s third straight loss of the season.
DCB battled in set one, losing 25-17 to the Jimmies. However, the gap was widened in the second and the third sets with Jamestown winning 25-11 and 25-12 respectively.
“At the end of the day I think that the adversity that we’re facing now is going to help us down the road,”said Ladyjacks head coach Corey Fehringer. “Especially when we do get on that home stretch.”
On Wednesday the Ladyjacks hosted the Bismarck State Mystics in a MonDak match up.
The first set was close, as the Ladyjacks played right with the Mystics, who after the sweep on Wednesday were a perfect 6-0 in MonDak play, but ultimately lost 25-23.
“I think the biggest thing we talked about today, was that we found a competitive spirit again,”Fehringer said. “I think especially early on we played with the energy and enthusiasm that we expect from us to do every point.”
However, from there the Mystics controlled the game and used a couple good spurts to earn the sweep over the Ladyjacks, winning 25-12 in both of the final two sets.
“I felt like our communication lacked in the second and third sets,” said Ladyjacks sophomore Josie Degagne. “We did do better on playing tips and stuff like that, which we have been practicing.
However, despite the loss both Fehringer and Degagne agreed that the Ladyjacks passing was much improved.
“I think we need to just keep our energy up, and when we get a good kill use that energy,” Degagne said. “We passed the ball really well tonight and that benefited us, but we have got to keep pushing.”
“I’m very happy with how we passed. I’m very happy with how we battled. I do think these girls are going to turn the corner at some point,” Fehringer said. “We are playing with a short bench. We are going on the road constantly right now, and a lot of things are weighing against them.”
DCB’s losing streak was extended to five games after being swept for the third straight time in the week. This time it was by Central Lakes College at the North Dakota State College of Science tournament.
Central Lakes, who is 14-3 on the season, beat the Ladyjacks 25-9, 24-12 and 25-16.
“We aren’t happy with how things are going right now, but I can also say that we aren’t down and out either,” Fehringer said. “These girls do a tremendous job of coming back each day and trying to work and to improve.”
“They have tremendous chemistry with each other, so hopefully it will surface come one of these games here soon,” Fehringer added.
However, the Ladyjacks losing streak was snapped later on Friday at the NDSCS tournament.
DCB downed SCTC in a hard-fought five set match.
The Ladyjacks again jumped out to a good start with a 25-10 first set victory. DCB won the second set and appeared to be heading to a win after the 25-20 win.
SCTC then rebounded with back-to-back close set victories 25-24 and 26-24. The Ladyjacks came out in the final set recomposed to take down SCTC 15-8.
“I think we felt more confident with each other, more comfortable,” Degagne said. “We’ve begun to trust each other more, at the start of the year we didn’t have that chemistry.”
After the first day of the tournament the Ladyjacks were led by the combo of Ashleigh Aufforth and Jordyn Sondrol. Aufforth put up 63 set-assists in the two matches on Friday, while Sondrol led the Ladyjacks with 30 kills.
Jackie Miller also did well, hitting down 15 kills. Degagne led the Ladyjacks with 20 digs.
“We look forward to being successful moving forward and stick together as a team and support each other,” Degagne said. “We just have to stay positive, keep trusting each other and keep getting after those tips and pass well.”
DCB’s record now stands at 5-8. They will play at 7p.m., tomorrow in Willistion, but then host Trinity Bible on Friday and a triangular against Dawson Community College and Lake Region State on Saturday.