Pioneers Sweep Royals

Article by Chris Harris, Devils Lake Journal Sports, October 10th, 2019

One day and one set after Lake Region State College volleyball obtained victories, the Royals fell off of a cliff.

Miles Community College responded from an opening set defeat by stringing three consecutive wins to beat the Royals in 3-1 in Mon-Dak play Wednesday, Oct. 9. And with the coaches going barefooted in honor of Samaritans Feet, the Royals lost their footing.

"Our defense didn't show up," said Royals head coach Brigitte Greywater who was short on words. Greywater also cited attitude as the cause of the constant defensive breakdowns.

It was that type of match for the Royals.

Lake Region (7-17, 2-6 MonDak) got out to a 2-0 lead in the first set after an ace by Jakenda Short. But the Pioneers grabbed the lead three points later after a Taylor Stahl kill gave Miles the 3-2 advantage. The Pioneers held on to the lead until a kill by Mardi Scutchings tied the match at 9 which led to the Royals maintaining the advantage throughout, building it to five after consecutive kills by Jexley Porrata and then six, 19-13, three points later. The Royals won the first set 25-22.

From that point on, it was all Miles. The Royals had a three point lead at 16-13 after an ace by Porrata but an ace by Mariah Simmons gave the the Pioneers (10-12, 4-4) the 19-18 lead. The Pioneers outscored the Royals 6-1 to end the set, winning set No. 25-19.

The Pioneers took the lead of the third set at 6-5 before winning it 25-19 and they would cruise in the fourth set 25-10. The four set win for the Pioneers prevented the Royals from their first winning streak of the season. The loss also prevented the Royals from gaining any ground to Miles who sit at fourth in the conference.

The Pioneers swept the season series after beating Lake Region back on Sept. 11. That match was a three set sweep.

Porrata finished with 10 kills and Scutchings and Sydney Hertlein had five kills each. Besosa had 15 digs, Rachel Hill had 12 digs and 23 assists and Short had three aces for the Royals who travel to Williston for a match against the Tetons of Williston State College on Tuesday, Oct. 15 but will be back in the Sports Center on Wednesday, Oct. 16 to host Dakota College at Bottineau. First serve at 7 p.m.