The Moderator Blog

BY SCOTT MORRISON

The Lancers had a trouble staying on top as they lost four of five matches from the past week. The Lancers picked up a loss against Northwestern College, and won one of four matches in the Grandview College Tournament.

They started their week of traveling to Northwestern on Wednesday, were they lost the match 30-12, 30-12, 30-16. Junior Tara Adamson led the team with four kills and two solo blocks.

“We couldn’t counter their attack,” Lancer coach Tracy Grotenhuis said. “ We need to improve on defense so that we can put ourselves in position to counter.”

The Lancers (6-17, 1-11 GPAC) traveled to Des Moines, Iowa to participate in a tournament at Grandview College. The Lancers participated in five matches throughout the course of the tournament.

They started off against Grandview College and won the match 30-14, 30-16,30-18. Adamson again led her team by posting ten kills, one solo block, and seven digs.

“We were able to keep our errors down to a minimum,” Grotenhuis said. “Sometimes its hard not to play down to a team’s level and we avoided that with consistent play.”

In their second game of the tournament, the Lancers lost to Mayville State University (ND) 30-26,30-23,30-27.

Adamson was once again the Lancers main source of point production with ten kills and nine blocks. Junior Emily Rasmussen added five kills, five ace serves, and five blocks.

The Lancers were unable to rebound as they dropped their match against Region III opponent Jamestown College (ND) 30-20, 30-16, 30-23.

The Lancers had a difficult time with keeping possession of the lead. They were ahead in all three games, but could not hold it towards the end.

“We just weren’t able to make the big plays at the end of each game,” Grotenhuis said.

In the final game of the tournament, The Lancers squared off against Great Plains Athletic Conference opponent Midland Lutheran University (Neb.).

In the match the Lancers were able to win the first game 30-13, but ended up losing the match 13-30,30-25,30-20,30-26.

“We had a very impressive first game. We were able to shut down their hitters,” Grotenhuis said. “Those hitters have been a big part of their offense. They hurt us throughout the match.”

The Lancers have two matches this week. This starts with a road trip to Dakota Wesleyan University on Tuesday, October 16 at 7:30 p.m. They also have a trip to Doane College Friday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m.