No. 17 Wildcats send Royals to third straight loss
There are a few sports were tipping the ball can be beneficial.
Article by Chris Harris, Devils Lake Journal Sports, October 18th, 2018
There are a few sports where tipping the ball can be beneficial. Football teams, for example, practice tip drills on interception scenarios. Volleyball, on the other hand, tipping may not yield desired outcomes.
"I thought we played a little safe by tipping too much and we needed to be more aggressive and go for the kill. I thought we were tip and push happy," said Lake Region head volleyball coach Brigitte Greywater.
Playing safe resulted in a 3-0 loss by the Royals to NJCAA Division II 17th ranked North Dakota State College of Science Wednesday night from the Sports Center. It was the second meeting between the Mon-Dak foes in nine days. The Wildcats also defeated the Royals in a 3-0 sweep back on Oct. 8.
"There was no game plan for that (playing it safe). They've been told to swing and always go for it. Go for the victory," Greywater said.
After losing the first two sets, 25-20 and 25-18, the Royals (19-12, 7-4) kept the heat to the Wildcats in the third set. Rallying from three points back, LRSC took the lead at 6-5 and then again at 7-6 after a Jexley Porrata kill. The Royals went up two after Porrata got one of her four blocks. NDSCS tied the set at 8-all after a block by Haydee Krieg.
The Wildcats pushed their lead to four at 15-11 that forced a LRSC timeout. The Royals responded, going on a 5-1 run that ended with an Elizabeth Lucy kill that tied the score at 16 and forcing NDSCS to a timeout. Mon-Dak player of the week Annie Jorgenson gave the Royals their first lead of the set since it was 9-8 but after tying it up, a kill by Victoria Czech gave the Wildcats the lead at 18-17.
Down one, Jorgenson tied the set at 21-all after a block, and consecutive kills by Jorgenson tied the set at 22 and 23 respectively. NDSCS ended the match scoring two straight points, including a block by Elizabeth Lyons that won the match. The Wildcats won the final set 25-23.
"My Royals have the will and the want to win but we have truly five freshmen on the floor at times and with that, we're going to make some freshmen errors and the tough part is that you live and you learn," began Greywater. "It changed the momentum when Liz Lucy got going and Anne played like she was the player of the week and she got after it.
"We did things that we practiced and that is what I'm most proud of. And we're going to continue to get better every single game and I'm excited to play for games this weekend."
Jorgenson finished with 15 kills and nine digs, Maara Nelson had seven kills and 16 digs and Rachel Hill had 23 assists to pace the Royals who lost their third straight going back to the final two matches over the weekend from Canada.
The Royals will end their regular season home schedule this weekend when they host the Sleep Inn Slamfest with four matches beginning Friday morning at 11:30 a.m.
NDSCS regular season came to a close Wednesday, winning its sixth straight match, 14 of its final 15 and going unbeaten in the Mon-Dak at 12-0. The Wildcats will enter regional play at 26-2.