Volleyball Weekly Review: Lancers Drop Conference Match, Win Against UM-Morris

BY SCOTT MORRISON

The Lancers lost a tough battle to conference opponent Dakota Wesleyan University on Wednesday, but countered with a road victory against non-conference foe the University of Minnesota-Morris on Saturday afternoon.

The Lancers (3-7) were finally able to play in their long awaited second home match of the season of the past week, but unfortunately they ran into an elusive Dakota Wesleyan squad (2-7).

They dropped their match against DWU 22-30, 29-31, 28-30. The Lancers found themselves in the middle recurring maize that put them continually at odds throughout the begging of each game.

“We definitely walked away a little disappointed from that match,” Lancers coach Tracy Grotenhuis said. “We played hard but lacked an overall consistency that kept us from getting over the top in the match.”

They fell behind early in each game and despite constant pressure they were never able to recover.

“We got down early in each game and we battled back, but it was too late,” Grotenhuis added.

Junior Abby Haiar and freshman Krista Hohn led the Lancers with seven kills each. Haiar added 26 set assists, one ace serve, and nine defensive digs.

On Saturday, the Lancers were able to build up some momentum as they defeated UM-Morris 29-31, 30-21, 30-24, 27-30, 15-13 in Sioux Falls.

“The UM-Morris match was exciting for us because we were able to play a non-conference match against an unknown program,” Grotenhuis said.

The Lancers were led by their upperclassman, all of which had a strong statistical match. Junior Emily Rasmussen was the Lancers leader as she posted 18 kills.

Abby Haiar and Tara Adamson were not far behind as they each added 16 kills. Adamson added four ace serves and 12 defensive digs in her team’s victory.

“We played well and had some younger players step up to help us win the drawn-out match,” Grotenhuis said.

The Lancers will host the University of Sioux Falls on Wednesday, Sept. 19. They will travel to Aberdeen on Saturday, Sept. 22 to play Presentation College.