Torri Fee (Photo by Noah Clooten)
The 2025-26 sports season for Lake Region State College is set to kick off later this month. Volleyball, the lone fall sport at LRSC, begins on Aug. 22.
Sixth-year head coach Steve Waddell has brought in a recruiting class of eight new players.
The total roster is slightly smaller than last year’s, down to 15 from 18. The squad features only six freshmen, five of whom are from North Dakota.
Two of those freshmen are local to the Lake Region. Devils Lake alum Torri Fee is set to play both volleyball and basketball for LRSC. Fee is a libero, meaning she’s a defensive specialist who brings immense value to the back row. She totaled 1,298 digs in her high school career. Fee is one of three liberos on the roster; the other two are returning sophomores Leah Jacobson and Gabrielle Cormier.
Jorie Ahlberg, a native of Wolford, N.D., and an alum of North Star High School, is one of the other freshmen in this year’s class. Ahlberg, a setter, accumulated 689 assists and 262 digs in her senior year for the Bearcats. She’ll reunite with sophomore Kaitlyn Erickstad, a Starkweather native and former North Star player.
The Royals also add Madison Samuelson from Sarles, N.D. Samuelson played volleyball for North Prairie, with whom she was named the Region 4 Outstanding Senior Athlete in 2024. She’s an outside hitter who totaled 1,301 kills and 1,576 digs in her high school career.
Anne Stroklund joins the team from Kenmare, N.D. She’s a two-time All-State selection who amassed 1,114 kills in high school.
Watford City’s Hope Cross is the fifth North Dakotan freshman in the class. She accumulated 827 assists and 341 digs over three years of varsity experience. She was voted as Watford City’s most improved player during her sophomore and junior years, and the hardest worker in her senior year.
The only freshman not from North Dakota is setter Daisy Mabin from Brisbane, Australia. She graduated high school from St. Peters Lutheran College in Queensland, Australia.
The recruiting class is rounded out by two sophomores. One is Sydney Schwabe, a Thompson native who was the leading scorer on the LRSC women’s basketball team last winter. As a freshman, Schwabe only played basketball, but she’s adding volleyball for her sophomore year.
The other new sophomore is Marianna De Pombo, a transfer from Neosho County Community College in Chanute, Kansas. De Pombo is originally from Cartegena, Colombia. She was the captain of her club team for six years, and she won three consecutive national championships.
The LRSC volleyball team is coming off of a down year. After back-to-back winning seasons, the Royals went 15-21 last fall and just 2-10 in conference games. Their recruiting class for this season is small, but it’s one that Waddell has consistently described as strong and exciting in various press releases.
The volleyball season begins with the Opening Weekend Tournament on Aug. 22-23 in Rockford, Ill.
