The Lake Region State College volleyball team split its latest two conference games.
The Royals lost to Williston State College at home on Tuesday, then beat Dakota College at Bottineau on the road Wednesday. LRSC is now 14-9 overall and 3-2 in Mon-Dak play.
North Dakota State College of Science and Williston State are tied for the top spot in the conference with a 4-1 record, with Science ahead by virtue of taking the teams’ head-to-head matchup. LRSC and Miles Community College are both 3-2, with Miles having taken the first head-to-head matchup. Dawson Community College (1-4) and Bottineau (0-5) are in fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Tuesday was the Royals’ conference home opener. It was their first home match since Sept. 12.
They had previously beaten the conference-leading Science in five sets, but they couldn’t replicate that magic against Williston State. LRSC lost 3-1, with set scores of 20-25, 25-23, 21-25 and 11-25.
Anne Stroklund and Taylor Cyr each recorded six kills, while Madison Samuelson and Kenzie Neighbors each had five. Torri Fee led the Royals with 18 digs, while Samuelson and Cheryl Hayes each had 10. Hayes and Jorie Ahlberg were tied for LRSC’s most assists with 12.
Williston State overwhelmed LRSC with a 15-kill, 17-dig performance by Dani Jordan.
But the Royals went up to Bottineau the next day and handled business against the last-place team in the Mon-Dak. They won 3-0, with set scores of 25-17, 25-19 and 25-12.
Anne Stroklund had 15 kills, her highest total in a three-set match this season and tied for the highest in a three-set match throughout her college career.
Stroklund leads the Mon-Dak in kills with 230 — which is 50 more than anyone else. She ranks third in kills per set with 2.91.
LRSC also got eight kills from Myia Knox, seven from Neighbors and five each from Samuelson and Hayes on Wednesday.
Hayes led the team in assists with 23, while Fee had the most digs with 18.
Hayes ranks third in the Mon-Dak in assists (4.24) and fourth in assists per set (5.3). Fee ranks second in digs (383) and second in digs per set (4.79).
Fee was also named Mon-Dak Player of the Week for her performances in both games, where she totaled 43 digs and 11 assists.
As a team on Wednesday, LRSC totaled 43 kills compared to Bottineau’s 22. The Royals also had 58 digs compared to Bottineau’s 38.
Bottineau has lost 47 consecutive matches going back to 2024. The Lumberjacks have not won a conference match since Oct. 7, 2024 when they beat Dawson in five sets. The last time they beat LRSC was Oct. 5, 2022.
The Royals now go to Virginia — not the state, but the town of approximately 8,000 people in northeast Minnesota. They play Minnesota North College — Itasca on Oct. 2 before facing two other Minnesota North College schools — Mesabi Range and Rainy River — on Oct. 3.
They’ll be back home Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 6 and 7, for their second go-arounds against Dawson and Miles, respectively.