Photo by Noah Clooten
The Lake Region State College volleyball team’s losing streak is over.
After starting the season 4-2, the Royals lost 10 straight matches, the majority of which came on the road. At one point amidst the stretch, they lost 17 consecutive sets.
But they ended that skid with a 2-2 performance in the Bell Bank Tournament in Wahpeton last weekend. They played two matches on each of Friday and Saturday, losing the first two before going on to win the final two.
On Friday, they lost 3-1 to Hawkeye Community College and 3-0 to Iowa Lakes Community College. Those matches extended their losing streak to 10, and their overall record to 4-12.
LRSC won the first set against Hawkeye, 25-23. But the team put up just 13, 14 and 18 points in each of the next three sets, respectively.
Lexie Shearer led the Royals with 10 kills, while Sienna Gudnason had eight. LRSC’s most productive player overall this season, Breanna Vosberg, had six kills. Halle Jabs had the most digs, with 18.
In the second match of the day, the Royals lost all three sets with point totals of 21, 23 and 16. Vosberg and Hannah Thiel each had five kills, while Kaitlyn Erickstad and Whitney Rozdeba each had four. Leah Jacobson led the team with 14 digs.
But the Royals finally found a way to flip the script on Saturday. In a 3-0 sweep of Dakota County Technical College, they allowed 22 points in each of the first and third sets, sandwiched by a 25-12 thrashing.
Two Royals put up double-digit kills, with Vosberg’s 12 and Shearer’s 10. Vosberg led the team in digs as well, with 14. Jabs and Thiel had 12 and 11 digs, respectively, and Rylee Hanlan had 10.
Then in the second match of the day and the final of the tournament for LRSC, the Royals defeated Central Lakes College 3-1. They dominated the first two sets, 25-15 and 25-11, before losing the third set 25-22. They completed the victory with a 25-19 win.
Vosberg led LRSC in kills once again, with 15 this time. Shearer had 11. Thiel, Jabs and Hanlan had 19, 18 and 17 digs, respectively. Vosberg had 15. Vosberg also had four service aces.
On the season, Vosberg leads the Royals with 2.08 kills per set and 2.7 points per set. Shearer is in second place in both those marks, with 1.85 and 2.3.
The Royals, now 6-12, return home on Tuesday, Sept. 17, for a conference match against Williston State College. With an 0-4 conference record thus far, LRSC currently sits in last place in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference. WSC is 3-11 overall but 2-2 in conference matches. The Royals most closely trail Dakota College at Bottineau, which is 1-9 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
The Royals and Tetons face off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in Devils Lake. LRSC travels to play Bottineau on the road the following day, Wednesday, at 7 p.m.
