LRSC volleyball opens home schedule with 3-0 defeat of Trinity Bible

DEVILS LAKE — A slightly gloomy late-summer day in Devils Lake can only mean one thing: the return of sports in the Devils Lake Sports Center.

Pre-game music blasted. Friends, family and fans sporting their Lake Region State College apparel funneled into the stands. On Wednesday, a new season of Royals athletics got underway with the first official home event of the 2024-25 school year.

LRSC volleyball, after starting its season 3-2 (0-1) on the road, returned to Devils Lake for its home debut. And, a day after getting swept by North Dakota State College of Science, the Royals swept the Trinity Bible College Lions in front of the Lake Region crowd — three sets to zero.

“It’s always really fun to be at home,” LRSC head coach Steve Waddell said. “We had a tough one last night, and the girls came out tonight and played a completely different game. So I’m proud of how they reacted. It was just a good atmosphere and a fun volleyball match.”

Each of the first two sets had a similar story: LRSC gained a sizable early lead, and Trinity Bible nearly came back but fell just short.

In the case of the first set, it was a 13-3 advantage.

The Royals, who had been establishing control with strong serves and aggressive kills, started getting a little sloppy. The same shots that had been winning points were now being overhit out of bounds.

The Lions trimmed the lead to 14-7, then 17-10. LRSC added two points to its cushion, but a 5-0 run from Trinity Bible started to show that it was serious about not backing down.

Royals libero Halle Jabs, who controlled some of the early points with deep serves, missed a serve as part of the run. The rallies got longer, and the Lions were suddenly finding ways to outlast the Royals. It was as close as 23-20 towards the end of the first set.

“Volleyball is a game of momentum, right?” Waddell said. “We had it. We came out. And then they were fighting back. I give them a lot of credit; they were scrappy. They had a lot of really nice plays. A lot of good players.”

But LRSC snatched the final two points, letting everyone breathe a sigh of relief. The Royals then came out in the second set much like they did in the first, getting out to a 4-0 lead. They carried comfortable early leads of 10-3 and 14-5.

Breanna Vosberg had two kills early on, along with a diving save that kept a point going. The Lions even bounced a shot all the way up to the ceiling at one point.

“We’ve been really working hard with our setter-hitter connection,” Waddell said. “That’s been kind of our sticking point right now, and tonight I felt like we took a step forward. We’re starting to connect on a level that we need to. I thought our back-row players played phenomenally; they passed the ball really well.”

But again, Trinity Bible made it a set. Three straight points made it 15-10. LRSC held steady to get it to 19-14, then rattled off three straight of its own to make it 22-14 — a second-set victory on the precipice.

But five of the next six points went to the Lions. They started to play quicker and smarter, as they blocked shots, found spaces for kills and took a timeout after a brief run by the Royals. LRSC had some miscommunication on its own end, along with an illegal hit. So despite leading the whole way through, the set was as close as 24-21.

“I think we got a little unfocused, just slightly,” Vosberg said. “And let our errors get the best of us. So all we had to do was take a deep breath and get refocused.”

The Royals held on, securing a 25-21 win to go up two sets to zero.

After two near-comebacks by Trinity Bible, the story of the third set was reversed. This time, it was the Lions who came out strong. Lexie Shearer — who ranks second on the team in kills and points per set — hit one in the net, giving Trinity Bible its first lead at any point on Wednesday, at 3-2.

But it didn’t stop there. The Lions went up 6-3, then 10-4. The Royals took a timeout to try to refresh.

But after LRSC’s deficit stretched to 12-5, the Lions’ magic ran out. A whopping 10-0 run soared the Royals ahead 15-12, with multiple kills on their side and errors on the other side. They looked exactly like the team that had come out dominant in the first two sets.

“It just all came together,” Waddell said.

The boat didn’t stop swaying quite yet; Trinity Bible came back from 17-13 to briefly retake the lead at 19-17. LRSC responded with a 5-0 run of its own, with kills from Kaitlyn Erickstad, Vosberg and Sienna Gudnason.

“Sienna Gudnason was just a rock star tonight,” Waddell said. “It was good. We all contributed.”

Vosberg, playing with perhaps her most energetic spirit of the night, had another kill to make it 23-20. Vosberg, a sophomore returner from last year, leads the team in most statistical categories so far on the young season.

But the Lions were relentless. They took the next four points, forcing net shots from LRSC and going back ahead, 24-23. They had a set point, which could have brought this match to a fourth set.

Vosberg had other ideas.

She smacked a kill to tie it back up. Then, on her serve, she smacked an ace all the way from deep in the court to put her team up 25-24. Cheers and gleeful screams commenced.

“I took a deep breath at the end. I was super nervous,” Vosberg said. “But in practice, Steve taught me a lot. And our practices are just as hard as the games. So I took a deep breath, and I knew that I knew how to do it.”

A kill from Hannah Thiel sealed the 26-24 victory, fighting off any additional Trinity Bible comeback hopes and securing the sweep. The Devils Lake Sports Center gym got as loud as it had all night, and what followed was a joyful celebration on the court with smiles, laughs and picture-taking.

The Royals are 4-2 in the early going.

“I think we’ve played really well so far,” Vosberg said. “And we’ve seen where we need to improve. I see us having lots of potential for this season.”

LRSC’s next action will be four games between Friday and Saturday in the Siouxland Invitational in Sioux City, Iowa.