Today was a tale of two stories for the DCB LadyJacks Volleyball TEAM. We had a few tactical areas on the travel to begin the morning, causing our TEAM to arrive just minutes before the 1st match began. Although excuses are not acceptable in successful athletics or successful environments it was difficult to find any fluidity during our opening match. Much credit goes to our LadyJacks for responding positively in the second match to bounce back in a strong fashion.
During the first competition we faced University of Great Falls and dropped the match in 4 sets. I'd like to pinpoint a specific problem, but after a 6 hour trip on the bus it just seemed as though we could not sustain energy. Mental errors along with simply being a step slow led to uphill battles in each set. We competed in stretches, but clearly UGF was more prepared and disciplined. From the coaching staff to the individual players we were collectively responsible for the lackluster performance. It was evident our attitudes and our effort needed to improve going into our second match.
Our TEAM ran into a familiar face at 5pm as we squared off with Lake Region, who was our previous opponent from wednesday evening. There was a big difference early on with LRSC and ourselves as they got the jump on us and stole the first set 25-22 after we opened up with a 9-2 lead. For a moment it felt as though our TEAM was not going to be respond from the earlier loss, but just when the coaching staff began to worry our LadyJacks refused to play poorly back to back matches. The next three sets went 25-21, 25-11, 25-11 and hopefully we will continue to play with that same enthusiasm tomorrow.
We begin action tomorrow morning at 11am MT against the host team Dawson C.C. followed up by a 5pm MT match with Williston State. If the last three sets of today are any indication of what can be expected tomorrow, I believe both Dawson and Williston will be facing a group of determined LadyJacks fighting to improve with each play.
