Make it two Straight for Royals Volleyball

Article by Chris Harris, Devils Lake Journal Sports, October 17th, 2019

Twenty-four hours after a five-set thriller against Williston State College and 16 hours after returning to campus, the Lake Region State College volleyball team was back on the court Wednesday, Oct. 16 for a chance to extend its season at least for one more match beyond its Oct. 27th finale. And tired legs aside, the Royals swung at Dakota College at Bottineau with kill shots that put the Lumberjacks away and sent the Royals to the postseason.

After a close opening set, the Royals dominated the final two to come away with the 3-0 win from the Sports Center. With their fourth win in the Mon-Dak, followed by a Dawson Community College loss to Bismarck State College that gave the Lake Region State a one game lead with two conference matches to go, the Royals assured themselves a spot in the Region 13 tournament.

"It was so important. If we lost to Bottineau, we could've been knocked out of the regional altogether so that's why the match was so important," said Royals head coach Brigitte Greywater. "I am so happy that they are committed and they are doing exactly what we're talking about in practice every day."

After an ace by DCB's Shonte Seale that tied the first set at seven, the Royals (9-17, 4-6) took the lead at the next serve and went ahead by four after a Fabianne Besosa ace. Leading 20-16, the Lumberjacks (7-14, 1-7) came back to tie the score at 21 after a Sarah Marshall ace. And with the set tied at 22, sophomore Jexley Porrata got consecutive kills before ending the set with a block.

The Royals won the first set 25-22.

The Royals jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second set, built an eight point lead after a Ashley Schuster kill and the set got no closer than two points the rest of the way as LRSC won the second game 25-19.

The third set was nip and tuck with the DCB leading until a Porrata kill gave the Royals the 12-11 advantage. But it wasn't until a Rachel Hill kill that put the Royals ahead 14-13 that allowed Lake Region State to pull away for the 25-15 set win.

Porrata finished with 14 kills and three blocks.

"I saw in the third set that we started a little slow and it's because we're tired, we're exhausted and we have four more matches this week," Greywater said. The Royals host the two-day Slam Fest tournament beginning this morning at the Sports Center.

"So it was so important that we had to start and finish and we could not lapse. (Against Williston), it was a roller coaster ride and today we needed to maintain control and that's what we did," said Greywater.

Jadaeya Morrell had seven kills and Mardi Scutchings, Schuster and Samantha Overend, who replaced the absent Sydney Hertlein in the rotation, all finished with six kills apiece.

"All of our hitters are becoming more and more aggressive," said Greywater.

Hill, who was named Mon-Dak Player of the Week on Wednesday, finished with 32 assists, Besosa had 14 digs and two aces and Jakenda Short had 10 digs.