Sports

Ladyjacks still searching for best volleyball

By Tyler Ohmann

10/22/2013

Dakota College at Bottineau’s (DCB) volleyball team went 1-4 in five matches this past week, including four at a tournament hosted by Lake Region State College (LRSC).

The first match of the week though was a regular season match up with LRSC last Wednesday in Devils Lake.

The Lady Royals downed the Ladyjacks 3-1, to defeat them for the second time in 10 days.

LRSC started off strong taking the first two sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-21. The Ladyjacks fought off a sweep with a 25-20 win in set three.

However, they were unable to topple the Royals again as LRSC won 25-15 in set four to leave the match victorious.

“We came in to play LRSC on their sophomore night and the game was fairly sloppy for the better part of most sets,” stated Ladyjacks coach Corey Fehringer.

He also stated that the Jacks continued with the lingering problem of inconsistent serving. LRSC has beaten Williston State and North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS), whom DCB has lost to this season as well.

In the losing effort sophomore Ashleigh Aufforth played well for DCB. She finished with 23 assists, 15 digs and a team-best three solo blocks.

Freshman Justin Nordin had a team-high 14 kills.
One positive for the Ladyjacks is that different players have stepped up in matches throughout the season, according to Fehringer.

“Sophomore Krissi Lessman, freshmen Tessa Walters, Savannah Bruce and Justine Nordin alternate matches in which one or two of them play at a high level,” Fehringer stated. “The door will open for our offense the day each of them swings for success on the same night.”

Following the loss the Ladyjacks went right back to Devils Lake again on Friday and Saturday to play four games in the LRSC Classic.

On Friday DCB split their matches, getting swept by Jamestown JV, and then beating Trinity Bible College 3-1.

In their first match the Ladyjacks fell behind early with a 25-16 loss, but fought hard in two close sets before being swept by the Jimmies 25-23 and 25-19.

Leaders for DCB included: Aufforth (21 assists, six kills) and Katelyn Lawler (three blocks).

In their second match of the day the Ladyjacks beat Trinity Bible College for the third time on the season.

The games were all pretty close as DCB won the first set (25-21), fell in the second (25-18) and closed out the match with wins in the third (25-18) and fourth sets (25-20).

Three Ladyjacks were in double figures in kills with Savannah Bruce leading the way with 12 kills. Tessa Walters and Nordin each had 10.

Both Aufforth and fellow sophomore Leah Parizek had three ace serves and a pair of blocks in the win.

Despite two close matches, things did not go as well for DCB on Saturday as they were swept by Dawson Community College and lost 3-1 to Northland Community and Technical College (NCTC).

Against the Dawson Buccaneers the Ladyjacks fought hard for a victory in close games. However, it was the Bucs who got a 26-24 win in set one and a 29-27 victory in set two.

Dawson earned the sweep with a 25-18 win in set three.
DCB was again led by Nordin, who had 23 digs, 11 kills and a pair of blocks in the loss. Lauren Pederson added 23 digs and a pair of kills for the Ladyjacks.

The final match of the weekend beccame a game of runs against NCTC, in which the Pioneers ran away with a 3-1 win.

NCTC opened up the match with a long run and won 25-10 in set one. The Ladyjacks answered back with a 25-21 win in set two.

The Pioneers closed out the match with a pair of 25-16 wins in set three and four to close out DCB.

Krista Lesmann led the Ladyjacks with eight kills and 29 digs.
DCB dropped to 6-20 on the season overall.

The Ladyjacks close out their regular season at 7 p.m. tomorrow night as they host NDSCS.

The Region XIII Tournament is set to begin next week at a place and time to be determined.