LRSC volleyball drops last wo sets to lose 3-2 to DCB

By Sam Herder, Devils Lake Journal - Sports

The Lake Region State College volleyball team had their most assists and most kills in a match this season Sunday against Dakota College at Bottineau. But the Royals still fell short of the one statistic that matters at the end of the day: a win.

DCB took the last two sets to beat the Royals 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 14-25, 25-18, 15-9.)

After a first set loss, the Royals looked to be on a roll. In sets two and three, LRSC was all over DCB 

With a steady dose of Hannah Hextall and Cody Shwaluk kills, the Royals rolled in a second set win, 25-21. The third set saw Samantha Koetter step up and contribute kills, including back-to-back ones to make it 20-12 en route to another set win.

Up 2-1, LRSC saw the tide change dramatically.

"It's in regard to passing," Royals head coach Brigitte Greywater said. "When we pass well, we're a very good team. And when we struggle passing, we really struggle. Serve receive in the fifth set and fourth set struggled."

A big 5-0 run early by DCB found the Royals in a hole in the fourth set. DCB kept the intensity up, pulling away for the 25-18 win and sending the match to a fifth set.

"Lack of communication," Greywater said. "We saw a couple balls drop in between us. I saw that we take two steps and stand up. We hesitated. We can't hesitate. But we have the most assists and most kills we've had in a match. Our serving was pretty good. You just have to finish sometimes. We didn't play horrible. We just need to learn how to win."

With the momentum against them, the Royals didn't get much going in the final set. A spurt of three kills in a row by Hextall and Rebekah Stoe brought it to 9-9.

But DCB ended it with an impressive rally, scoring six straight for the 15-9 win and to take the match 3-2.

"Our hitting errors killed us," Greywater said. "We had our most kills, but our most hitting errors, too. We have to put the whole package together."

The Royals are now 7-21 with seven remaining matches before the Sub-Regional XII Tournament.

"What I said in the locker room is some people know how to win and some people don't," Greywater said. "When you're a winner and you're a born winner, you walk on the floor and know you're going to win every single time. I thought a few of our players really stepped up. Rebekah Stoe did a really good job. I also thought Ali Joslyn dug a good ball. Twenty-nine digs? We have to make a play off those."