DEVILS LAKE — Mayville State JV hung around in each of the three sets it played with Lake Region State College on Wednesday.
But it went down as a sweep for the Royals all the same. LRSC (4-2) won a home match for the second straight day, taking down the Comets 25-21, 25-20 and 25-17 at the Devils Lake Sports Center.
“We came out a little flat tonight. We didn’t play as crisp as we can,” Royals head coach Steve Waddell said. “And what I really liked is that we were able to figure it out. We were able to work through it. We talk a lot about trust on this team, and I feel like they started to trust each other a little bit more as the night progressed, and we got better as we went. So I’m just happy with the way that they were able to figure it out because it’s a game of errors, and whoever reacts the best to the errors wins.”
Anne Stroklund led the way offensively, per usual, with 12 kills unofficially. Her hits were particularly important in securing the first two sets, which LRSC trailed on five different occasions.
After an error by Cheryl Hayes, Waddell called a timeout. LRSC had led by as many as four but now trailed 19-17.
The first point back, Hayes had a kill.
“She’s just so mentally tough,” Waddell said. “But sometimes she gets so down on herself, and she has these high expectations — which all of our kids do, which we want. But we talk a lot about, too, giving themselves a lot of grace and just knowing that we’re never gonna be perfect. And I’m never gonna be perfect. And that’s not what we expect. So I feel like they’re reacting really well, and they’re showing some mental toughness that I haven’t really seen before from our team.”
Stroklund finished the 25-21 win with a kill.
Kenzie Neighbors added three kills unofficially in the set.
“Kenzie is a huge player for us,” Waddell said. “She’s a big outside hitter — which, we have Madi and Anne on the outsides, so we moved her to the right side this year — and I think that she’s doing a really nice job over there. She comes through when we need her. … She has good energy, and she’s starting to figure out her block.”
The Royals trailed 4-0 in each of the next two sets but rallied back to win them both. Hayes’ serving fueled a 6-0 run that gave LRSC an 11-6 lead. Stroklund’s attacks, combined with a slew of errors and penalties by Mayville State, sealed the deal on a 25-20 win. Stroklund had five kills and a block in the set.
Stroklund added three kills to her line in the third set. The Royals finished on a 5-0 run, outscoring Mayville State 25-13 to finish the evening. They got plenty of support for Stroklund; Madison Samuelson, Myia Knox, Neighbors and Hayes each tallied four kills.
Miscellaneous
The league has adopted a new rule where teams play two consecutive sets on each side of the court, with a coin flip to determine which sides they play on for the fifth set.
Since the Royals swept each of their first two home matches, they played the first two sets on the same side of the gym and then only switched over for the third.
In the past, teams would switch sides after every single set.
“I don’t know why they made that switch,” Waddell said.
Up next
After winning all six sets they played at home, the Royals will get on a bus Thursday morning and head to Mason City, Iowa, for the NIACC Trojans Invite. They’ll play four matches between Friday and Saturday, Aug. 28 and 29.
“There’s a lot of teams that are in our district, so if we come out of our region [at the end of the season], we would have to play the winner down there,” Waddell said. “I really like this tournament. We’re gonna see some teams that we wouldn’t normally see. … I just hope that we can use it as an opportunity to keep growing and get better and push it into the conference.”