Royals Battle Against Top Competition in Nebraska

The Lake Region State College Lady Royals volleyball team traveled to Norfolk, NE to take on top competition in the NECC Tournament this past weekend.

Day one of the tournament saw the Royals matched up against not one but two ranked teams. First up, was #7 Central Community College-Columbus. LRSC came out a little flat in the first set and Central took advantage by winning the set 13-25. After that the Royals woke up, in the second set it was close midway through at 10-14. Central would make a run after that though, to take the second set 16-25. The momentum was all in favor of Central and they kept it going in the third set. After a close 5-8 start, Central closed out on a 17-9 run to win the set, 14-25 and the match 3-0.

In the second game of the day, LRSC took on #17 Northeast. Midway through the first set it was all tied up at 15. Northeast would take advantage of a few late mistakes by the Royals and win the first set 18-25. In the second set LRSC jumped out to an early 8-4 lead. Northeast would respond and make a run. The Royals could not stop the momentum shift and Northeast would take the second set 17-25. In the third set the Royals continued to battle, cutting the lead 16-17 and 18-21. Despite all the hard work, they could never get over the hump. They lost the third set 19-25 and 3-0.

Day two was more top competition for LRSC. In the first game they would take on Southeast who would take the first set from the Royals 16-25. The second set saw a late run by LRSC propel them to their first set win 25-19. The momentum stayed with the Royals in the third set and they cruised to a 25-16 lead. Nothing changed in the fourth, jumping out to an early 12-7 lead they never looked back. The final in the fourth set 25-14 winning the match 3-1.

In their fourth and final game of the weekend, LRSC would square off against Kirkwood. Kirkwood came out firing in the first set, winning 13-25. A slow start from the Royals during the second had them trailing 8-16. They would make a late run but it would be too little too late, with the final being 19-25 in favor of Kirkwood. In the third set the Royals would take an early lead 11-10. They could not hold on after a late run from Kirkwood taking the set 16-25 and the match 3-0.

Sophomore Maara Nelson was a bright spot all weekend for the Royals. The Jorgenson sisters, Annie and Erin also made big contributions along with freshman Rachel Hill who led the Royals in assists for the weekend. Head Coach Brigitte Greywater had this to say, "We certainly saw the highs and the lows this weekend. We did some really great things but made some mistakes you just cannot make against good teams like that. I really liked the way we competed, we never quit. I really think this weekend is going to help us as we head into the heart of our schedule."

The Royals volleyball team is back in action Wednesday, September 5th at 7pm at home versus Williston State College. The tailgate will be sponsored by Proz End of the Line.

Go Royals!