Volleyball team ends season in the Dakota’s

The volleyball team closed out its season last week with a victory against South Dakota State University (SDSU) on Nov. 11 in Brookings, S.D, followed by and a loss against North Dakota State (NDSU) the following night in Fargo, N.D.

The Roos came out hot against SDSU, winning their sixth match out of the past seven. Once again, senior Kelsey Knoche stole the spotlight with a career-breaking record of 26 kills. She also had 14 digs, two blocks and an ace. Junior Ella Meier also broke a personal record, producing an astonishing 58 assists. Along with that, Meier had 10 digs, three kills, a block and an ace.

In the first set, the Roos fell behind to a 9-3 deficit, but rallied back to take a 12-11 lead. The Jackrabbits caught up again, leading 16-14, but five straight kills brought the Roos back to a 23-17 lead. Senior Christiana McQuin finished the set for the visiting side with two powerful kills.

The momentum carried the Lady Roos to win the second set 25-22. Once again the scoring remained close, with the teams inseparable at 22-22. But seniors Knoche and Elizabeth Beck were on hand to finish the set with a pair of kills for a 2-0 set lead for the Roos.

The Jackrabbits took the third set 25-17, but the Roos would bounce back to end the game by winning the fourth 25-23, after coming back from a 10-4 deficit.

Our Roo seniors made a huge impact on the court in the contest, with five blocks from Demetria Williams, 17 digs from Nicole Kerkman, while Erin Welwood recorded 13 and Kara Thomas contributed 11.

In Saturday night’s final conference match-up of the season against the NDSU, the Roos lost in five close sets.

NDSU took the first set 25-14, but the Roos responded in the second with a 25-20 win to tie the game at 1-set apiece. The last three points of the set fell to the Roos as Beck pitched in with two straight kills when it counted.

The Bison won the third set, but not without a fight from a resilient Roo outfit. The home team took the set 25-16. In the fourth set, the Roos dominated once again, winning it 25-18. The lead flipped back and fourth in the fifth set after the Roo’s led 9-7 and then trailed 11-10. Only two more points were scored in the game from the Roos. The Bison won the deciding fifth set 15-12.

For the Roos, Knoche led the squad with 18 digs, while seniors Thomas (17), Kerkman (15) and Welwood (10) each reached double figures. At the net, McQuin posted seven total blocks, including four solo in her final game as a Roo.

After a poor start to the Summit League Conference season, which saw the blue & gold lose its opening 10 games, the team finished the conference season on a high, rebounding to produce a respectable 6-12 record. The overall record for the season was 12-16 in what was a re-building season for new Head Coach Christi Posey.

cchristopher@unews.com