Lake Region volleyball falls 3-0 to No. 19 Bismarck State College

By Sam Herder, Devils Lake Journal - Sports

The 3-0 loss to Bismarck State College on Wednesday didn't tell the whole story for the Lake Region State College volleyball team. Coming into the game as the No. 19 ranked team in the NJCAA Division II poll and a 12-2 record, the Mystics looked just like the team to beat in the Mon-Dak Conference. 

In two of the sets, LRSC put itself in position win with impressive spurts of play. But BSC was the team who found a way to close the tight sets in 25-22, 25-18 and 25-21 wins.

"The energy was there the whole time, they worked hard and we dug a good ball," Royals head coach Brigitte Greywater said. "We didn't get beat on little stuff. We kept the energy high and it was just a fun game to be in. We stayed right there with them."

Setting the tone for the night was a first set battle that saw the Royals hanging with the Mystics, but struggling to take a lead after several ties throughout the set. A Payton Kritzberger kill finally gave LRSC an 18-17 advantage. 

The Royals went up 19-17 after a hit out of bounds and the momentum was on their side. But the dangerous offensive attack of BSC played with its backs against the wall, fighting back to a 20-20 tie. The Mystics answered with three straight points and took the first set from there, 25-22.

"What we talked about is everybody is in every single play," Greywater said. "No one gets to take a play off in volleyball. And I can tell you that in most sports. But in volleyball, when it goes and goes and goes, and you're not used to being in the condition you need to be in, you can't let up. You can't stand up defensively. I don't think it happened a ton. But that little stuff, the discipline, that's going to turn our season all the way around."

Set two showed why the Mystics are in the national rankings, with them jumping out to a 6-1 lead. LRSC brought it to 15-13, but that marked the closest it would get in the 25-18 BSC win.

Down 2-0 and coming out of the intermission, the Royals found new life and the results were evident.

A 3-0 start for LRSC in set three was answered with a 4-0 run by the Mystics. LRSC grabbed a 7-5 lead off a Hannah Hextall kill. 

From there, the Royals either led or were tied with BSC up to 18-18. But the Mystics began to roll with a 3-0 run and put a halt to the spirited Royal play, taking the set 25-21 for the sweep.

A loss is a loss, but Greywater noted the many positives to come out of Wednesday's match. 

"Our middles are moving well," Greywater said. "We got beat on the block a couple times. But overall, our middles are running some options that I can tell you right now Lake Region hasn't run in the past. They're moving and are fast girls. Our outside came to play, but I think our outsides can do more."

One of those outside hitters that came to play was Cody Shwaluk. The sophomore was second on the team with six kills, but five of those came in an impressive first set.

"I thought Cody had a great performance," Greywater said. "Right now, she's playing to win. She knew she needed to step up and she showed me that."

Greywater said if her team continues to play the way they did Wednesday and continues to improve on the little things, she expects the wins to come for the 4-13 team.

"When we have that huge dig, that huge dig was a perfect pass and we're scoring on it," Greywater said. "And that's what needed to happen from Monday to today. If we play a game like today on Monday, we're winning ball games."