Sunday, September 1, 2013

Day 2-Labor Day Classic: Better Day at the Office

After some tough losses on Friday it would've been fairly easy to take our lumps, and head back home ASAP. Our Ladyjack Volleyball TEAM followed up an average day on Friday by bouncing back to split matches on Saturday. We were exciting to watch, fun to coach, and our TEAM seemed to embrace the opportunity to play together. Our primary goal was simple heading into the day which was to play faster/harder, talk louder, and enjoy each other's company. Whether we scored the point or took a spike in the face (which did happen to Krissi) never really mattered, because our only objective was to play the next point to the best of our ability.

The 1st opponent of the day was Dawson CC. Last year their team struggled at times and we had success against them throughout the year. This year is different as a new coach is in command. From the "get go" it was obvious the Dawson team had improved and the match was going to be difficult. When it was all said and done WE would get our first "W" in the win column with the sets totaling 3-1 (25-18, 17-25, 25-23, 25-16). From top to bottom the TEAM played well, but I was most pleased with our bench that consists of Lexi Barkley, Ashley Nickel, Shaylee Amyotte and Kately Lawler who was struggling with an injury. Those four girls were tremendous all weekend by helping with statistics, providing energy and helping support the TEAM in moments of adversity. Offensively and Defensively it was easily our best game. Krissi Lessman was outstanding on the outside, Leah Parizek was moved to right side and did a great job, Savannah Bruce became a factor and Ashleigh Aufforth made great decisions all match with the ball.

At 5pm we played our 2nd match of the day against Lake Region CC. They are much improved from last year as well, but WE felt good going into the match. The only issue was our bodies did not agree during Set 1 (15-25) as we took it on the chin. Quickly we bounced back but not soon enough dropping Set 2 (21-25), but our Ladyjacks continued to give a strong effort and handled Set 3 with a win very swiftly (25-20). At the end of the day all we wanted to accomplish was a feeling of "emptying the tanks" and giving Lake Region everything we had. Set 4 was extremely exciting with lead changes all the way until the end, but unfortunately we could not push a 5th set falling 22-25 down the stretch.  There was no reason to be disappointed as our TEAM played as hard as they could in order to have an opportunity to win.

I must apologize as our statistics are not the greatest due to having new people in the program and trying to teach some of our girls how to help. What I can tell you is Aufforth is doing her best to organize a variety of attacks throughout the match for our hitters. Justin Nordin from Canada has been impressive to say the least with her consistent power and precision when swinging. Lessman, Parizek, Tessa Walters, and Bruce have all impacted the games during important moments. Defensively Lauren Pederson is a player our TEAM has tremendous confidence in to make great passes, while Halle Schumann has been very flexible substituting in for different players as we find our best rotation. She has also added a back row attack to our offensive scheme.

I must say watching our TEAM compete on Saturday leads me to believe we have a ceiling yet to be scratched. Success will come in the form of our preparation and concentration. As this TEAM grows a little older, a little more mature, and a little more competitive it will be interesting to see how good they can be at the end of October. If we keep our horizons short by focusing on being the best TEAM we can be today there is a chance this group of players can compete with many of the upper tier teams.

Finally, we did have a few Hockey Players show up so I must say Thank You to them and the families who traveled to our matches.

It's nice to be home, but our next opponent will be when we travel to Williston State on Thursday, September 5th. The match starts at 7pm.

Get Jacked UP,

Coach Cory Fehringer