Lady Samsons fall in Region volleyball tourney

IRONWOOD – North Dakota State College of Science was crowned champion of the NJCAA Division II East Region 13 volleyball tournament held at the Gogebic Community College Lindquist Center this weekend. NDSCS will now host the winner of the West Regional in a cross-over game.

NDSCS beat Lake Region State College 25-14, 27-29, 25-8, 25-13 in the championship game.

"There was very strong volleyball competition this weekend," Gogebic coach Aaron Bender said. "NDSCS played very, very well. They run a lot of different people at you. They have a very good setter and can really bring it."

Below is a look at how Gogebic did in its three games in the double elimination tournament. The Lady Samsons finished with a 1-2 record.

Game 1 (Saturday)

The Gogebic Community College volleyball team fell to pre-tournament favorite North Dakota State College of Science 25-14, 25-14, 25-21 in the first game of the tournament.

"They haven't lost a match yet this year and actually I thought we played very well against them," Bender said. "We lost 3-0, but we definitely played a nice game of volleyball. I thought we gave ourselves a chance to show if we get to match-up with them again, we'll be able to give them some trouble.

"The scores in the NDSCS game didn't reflect on how we played. We easily had moments in each game where we could have been within three to four points. Just some slight errors that that led to them getting a few runs on us."

Bender said NDSCS is "pretty big" all the way around and they've got some height. There is a strong tradition of volleyball at the school and each player is highly recruited to come there with the top players getting nice scholarship money. NDSCS has a strong tradition of winning several times in the regional.

Brittni Kisul led the Lady Samsons with four kills and 2½ blocks, while Krista Svoboda contributed four kills, six assists and an ace. Sarah Trudgeon had one kill, nine assists and an ace.

Game No. 2 (Saturday)

Gogebic rebounded to win its second match over Dakota County Technical College 25-13, 25-21 and 25-21.

DCTC coach Bailey Anderson said her team beat GCC twice earlier in the year but felt the Lady Samsons made a dramatic improvement since then.

"GCC played really well today," Anderson said. "They really improved and they played scrappy today."

Bender was also impressed with his team's play in match No. 2.

"The girls came out and played with passion," Bender said. "They knew it was on the line in a double-elimination tournament. We accomplished our first goal, which was to get to Sunday. Earlier in the week, I told them it was a brand new season. We don't have a conference, so we don't have to battle to get in the playoffs. So we get new life and a fresh chance to do it."

Bender said he liked how the Lady Samsons were playing.

"'I've told them all season they are a good team," he said. "On paper, we're great and we can be great on the court. We just have to bring it. I know we can play with Lakes and NDSCS."

In the first two matches, sophomore Korrie Trier said Gogebic was doing more things right such as having more intensity, communicating better, moving a lot more and playing together as a team.

Trier was aware of GCC's reputation as a team that starts out and plays well but gets shaky at the end of games. On Saturday, the Lady Samsons wavered some but kept it together down the stretch.

"All game long, we stayed together and kept each other positive and kept the momentum going," Trier said.

In game two, Kylea Hoff blasted six kills. Svoboda had an impressive game with four kills, six assists and 1½ blocks. Kisul nailed three kills, 1½ blocks and two aces and Trier added four kills and an ace. Freshman Brenna Bogaczyk was good at the net with three kills and 3½ blocks. Trudgeon dished out 11 assists.

Game 3 (Sunday)

Lake Region used a change in strategy and some strong hitting to sweep Gogebic 25-18, 25-19 and 25-19 and eliminate GCC from the tournament.

Lake Region coach Brigette Freschette said she scouted both of Gogebic's games on Saturday and recognized that the Lady Samsons were very good at blocking shots around the net. If the Royals were going to defeat Gogebic, Freschette decided her team needed an alternate strategy.

"We had to get around their blocks," Freschette said. "They block cross-court, so we had our kids cut the ball around the block. It's not easy to swing around the block. It's thumb up, thumb down and GCC still blocked us today, but we found enough openings on the court to make it pay off."

Bender said Gogebic recognized the new strategy and countered with some alternatives but did not execute them well.

And Bender knew an old problem cropped up in all three games.

"We had leads and we should win those games," Bender said. "There has to be a mental toughness and we don't have the killer instinct to put someone away. We don't finish games. That's been the pattern the whole year and it's frustrating."

Freshman Sarah Trudgeon recognized that Lake Region was a strong team that beat NDSCS last year but agreed with Bender's assessment of the problem.

"They have a lot of strong players and we struggled with their hard tips," Trudgeon said. "They hit hard and you need quick reactions. But in all three sets, we got ahead and we relaxed and then we panic when they start to catch up. It's all mental."

In all three sets, Lake Region was on the offensive banging away with hard hits, while the Lady Samsons showed their athleticism and returned most of them, but GCC was on the defensive too often and seldom went on the offensive.

Kisul slammed six kills with two blocks and Hoff had three kills and two blocks. Svoboda picked up a kill, block, ace and six assists. Trier blasted three kills with an ace and Trudgeon added seven assists.

Gogebic finished the season with a record of 10-26 and the players, coaches and fans all seemed to agree the team had the volleyball talent to be much better but couldn't put it all together.

"It was a frustrating year for all of us," Bender said. "But this has been a special group of girls and I wish them the best. I only wish something better had happened this season."