Injuries - It's Almost Laughable at this Point

Our ride on the roller coaster seems to have no end. As the positives present themselves some tragedy strikes. We came into this past week with some confidence and a feeling that we could battle some demons that have been haunting us since the 2nd week of the season. I have thought that since the last time we played Dakota State at the Corn Palace and lost in 5 that we haven't been able to find our groove as a team. That particular match stole our mojo and we have been searching for it ever since. Well the opportunity to avenge the loss and basically face the "demon" that scared off our confidence came around this past week. We went to Dakota State in a great mental state knowing that that day could be very special. We came out in the match so well, taking the first set and what we thought was the momentum for the match. However, our harnesses from the "roller coaster" tightened up on us and we gave away around 16 errors in the 2nd set to basically hand over set 2. After some major refocusing we came out and battled hard to a 3rd set victory. DSU however was not ready to let go of the match as both teams again battled in the 4th. We had a substantial 5 point lead at a point in the 4th but couldn't hold them as they finished on a 6 point run to end the 4th. I was pleased to hear and see in between the 4th and 5th set that our team was ready to take over the match. They spoke confidently and had a swagger about them as they headed back onto the court. Then all as the 3rd point of the 5th set is scored by senior MH Kacie Sanderson, the dreaded monster that has plagued us all year strikes again as Kacie injuries her knee and cannot return for the match (and remainder of the year). This time our lineup had to adjust in the middle of the match with no preparation. This group of young ladies did not let this setback affect them as they battled for the entire 5th set and even held a match point or 2. We just couldn't escape ourselves as we committed errors in those situations to give the ball back to DSU and force ourselves to scramble to the finish. We couldn't pull out the win and again it was devastating.

We tried to refocus and prepare ourselves for the next match against Midland for our Dig Pink match that was held at Mitchell HS in conjunction with their Dig Pink match. Here is where all of these injuries and illnesses truly become laughable, our starting sophomore MH Rachel has trouble breathing and talking before the match and has to be limited with the amount of movement we can use her while on the court. Our primary hitting option is now limited, haha it just never ends. Midland however was a very solid team and our injury ridden lineup could only hang with them for 2 of the 3 sets played. We had some opportunities to win the 1st set as we lost 23-25 and the 2nd set I believe went to 21 for us. We compete hard and continue to fight.

My phrase for the season has unfortunately been "Of course that would happen now", we haven't seemed to be able to catch a single break in close sets, matches, injuries or illnesses. It is absolutely laughable at this point in time. Any prayers and wishful thoughts that anyone that reads this would like to pass along to our players, we would all greatly appreciate them. (heck any healthy bodies would be nice right now, too. LOL)

We have competed so hard and have made so many adjustments to lineups and tactics that we still believe that we will get off of this losing streak. IT WILL HAPPEN!