DEVILS LAKE — Two of the top diggers in the Mon-Dak volleyball conference are basketball players.

And they both play for Lake Region State College.

“Those were good gets, right?” Royals volleyball coach Steve Waddell said with a smirk.

LRSC is currently enjoying a nice bounceback season. The Royals are in second place in the Mon-Dak Athletic Conference, with a 24-8 overall record and 5-2 mark in conference play entering Tuesday.

Much of that success has been led by their attackers. Anne Stroklund, Katie Leece, Lexie Shearer and Kaitlyn Erickstad are all among the Mon-Dak’s best. Madison Samuelson was in that group, too, before an injury.

But, while perhaps in a less flashy way, Torri Fee and Sydney Schwabe have been the backbone of this team.

“They’re just athletic,” Waddell said. “They read the ball. I love multi-sport athletes. I think you learn a lot in basketball that you don’t learn in volleyball. So I commend them for that.”

Fee, a freshman, is a former state champion and Lions All-Star in high school basketball. She originally only signed for volleyball.

“And then I talked — well, we talked her into playing basketball,” Waddell said. “So that’ll be a good one for [LRSC women’s basketball coach Colden Hutton].”

Fee found her niche in high school as a libero — the team’s primary defensive player. The Devils Lake volleyball team struggled in a tough Eastern Dakota Conference, but Fee was a bright spot. She was an all-region player and totaled more than 1,000 digs in her career.

The college game is a different beast. But Fee has adapted to it with seemingly little difficulty.

“It’s way faster,” she said. “And you’ve just got to keep going with the flow, and got to pick up on everything that you learn very quickly.”

Fee doesn’t just lead the Mon-Dak in digs, but she does so by a hefty margin. She has 538 digs, 147 more than the next-best. Her teammate Schwabe happens to have the third-most, only five behind second place. Fee has the eighth-most digs of any NJCAA Division II player in the country.

“She’s a very good libero. She reads the ball super, super well. I think that she gets better every day,” Waddell said. “We talk a lot about defensive range, and extending where she can get to the ball. And that’s kind of been our focus.”

Fee’s digs per set of 4.68 is second in the conference, behind only Miles Community College’s Cameron Blevins.

Fee credited her success to working hard in practice, “and just taking advice from the coach and applying it right away when he gives it to me.”

Waddell said Fee is her own worst critic — a common trait of quality competitors.

“I just want her to give herself some grace and realize that she’s really, really good, and we’re lucky to have her,” Waddell said. “So I’m excited to see what the end of the season is gonna do for her, and I think she’s gonna keep getting better.”

Earlier this season, Waddell talked about getting her adjusted to the Royals’ style of play. Fee explained how in high school, the libero plays in the middle, whereas now she starts in the left back.

“He wants me to get as much as I can, and that’s what a libero should be able to,” Fee said. “So yeah, it’s just covering more ground than I would in high school.”

Fee’s presence in the back helps keep countless points alive. Sometimes it’s as simple as passing the ball and letting her teammates do the rest. Other times, she finds herself diving in sporadic and athletic directions to keep the ball in play by any means necessary.

“I think that not hesitating and just going for the ball and watching the ball helps me a lot,” Fee said.

If Fee has the first hit, it’s often her dual-sport teammate Schwabe who has the second hit. Schwabe, a sophomore, joined the volleyball team this year and has been one of the best setters in the country.

While Fee was volleyball-first, Schwabe was basketball-first. The Thompson, N.D., native took little time adjusting to the college level in basketball. She led the Royals in total points and three-pointers last winter.

The line judges for home volleyball matches are mostly students. One of those students last year was Schwabe, who decided to take a different role on the court this year.

That makes two volleyball-basketball dual-sport athletes on the Royals.

“It has been really nice getting to know her and playing volleyball together,” Fee said. “And then going into basketball will be a smooth transition, because we’ll know each other and be able to be comfortable playing with each other.”

Fee and Schwabe played for rival high school teams. Both their squads went to the state basketball tournament in 2024.

“We joke about it all the time,” Fee said.

Like Fee with her digs, Schwabe has by far the most assists in the Mon-Dak. With 984, she has nearly 300 more than the next-best. Her 8.56 assists per set is second in the conference, behind only North Dakota State College of Science’s Quinn Kost.

Nationwide, Schwabe has the fifth-most assists of anyone in NJCAA Division II. Her precise sets make it easier for players like Stroklund, Leece and Shearer to put the ball away.

“She’s so quick off of the read from defense, and even transitioning from the block,” Waddell said. “She’s undersized, and she plays front row first; she plays all the way around. So usually those smaller setters don’t have that opportunity, but we need her to touch the ball as much as we can, because she has our best ball control. She’s our best leader. She’s all-around a great volleyball player, and we’re so lucky to have her.”

The nature of Schwabe’s position gets her in the digs column a lot, too. With 377 total digs, she ranks third in the Mon-Dak and 42nd in NJCAA Division II.

So while the attackers might get more of the flash and accolades, Fee and Schwabe have been instrumental in the well-oiled machine that is Royals volleyball.

It’s one of the biggest reasons LRSC has been so successful this year.

“I just really like how supportive our team is, and just how much of a family it is,” Fee said. “Everyone’s there for each other. Even if one person has a bad game, we can just lean on our teammates because they’ll boost our energy and be like, ‘Hey, we’re here for you.’ And it’s just really comforting.”