VOLLEYBALL WEEKLY REVIEW: Lancers Pick Up Road Win Against Rival DWU

BY SCOTT MORRISON

The Lancers came up with one of their biggest wins of the season by defeating Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell.

“This was definitely one of the best games of our season,” Lancers coach Tracy Grotenhuis said. “It was a big win for us at our rival school.

The Lancers pulled out the match victory 30-26,30-26,21-30,30-23 against the Tigers (6-18, 2-10 GPAC) who defeated the Lancers earlier this season in Yankton.

Junior hitter Tara Adamson was the top Lancer performer with 16 kills, two ace serves, two solo blocks, and 13 digs.

Junior setter Abby Haiar finished the match with 11 kills, two ace serves, one solo block 30 set assists, and 13 digs.

The Lancers got off to a hot start in the first two games thanks in part to an aggressive attack around from the serving line and around the net.

“We did very well in the first two games with our aggressive serves. We were able to take them out of their quick offense,” Grotenhuis said.

The Lancers dropped the third game, but guaranteed the match victory with a 30-23 win in the last game.

“In the third game we had a lot of unforced errors, but we were able to get back to what we were doing well in the last game,” Grotenhuis added.

The Lancers played in their final match of the week in Crete, Neb. against Doane College.

Unfortunately for MMC, they would not be able to improve upon their match against DWU.

They experienced a let down and lost the match 30-19,30-19,30-16 to the Tigers (12-12, 6-6 GPAC) .

“Doane is playing very tough right now,” Grotenhuis said. “Though they have a .500 reacord, they have beaten a number of the top teams in our conference lately.”

The Lancers were forced to fight for every point and still were unable to handle a majority of Doane’s attack.

Leading the way for the Lancers was Tara Adamson who posted eight kills, one solo block, and 11 digs. Sophomore Kate Carda and Abby Haiar each had six kills. Haiar added 18 set assists and eight digs.

Three out of the remaining four matches will be at home. These matches will all be played this week. They will match up against Morningside College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Dordt College on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and Midland Lutheran College on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.