All fired up: Tuned up Hansen Center helps Jimmies over Vikings

With a busy sports night in and out of Jamestown, nobody was sure what kind of crowd the Jimmies would get Friday night.

With the rodeo going on in town and a handful of Blue Jay teams on the road, the JC students came through and so did the Jimmies in a 3-0 win over rival Valley City State.

The Vikings were competitive, but the 14-3 Jimmies had too much at the rowdy Hansen Center.

“The atmosphere was great. It’s always like that here that’s why we have to win,” JC junior Alex Hanson said. “It’s always fun to play here when our crowd is in it like they were tonight.”

The Jimmies have played just three home matches, but they have been light’s out in the friendly confines, dropping just one set. Friday night’s win went 25-19, 25-15 and 25-23.

“Valley City has improved a lot,” JC coach Jon Hegerle said. “I thought they played well, and I was pretty happy with how our team responded.”

It was the third win of the season for the Jimmies over the Vikings (5-17).

“In the first two matches I thought they outserved and outpassed us. Tonight I thought we passed really well and that was a big key for us,” Hegerle said.

Freshman Kaia Buck had 19 assists, while junior Kelsey Deragisch added 16. Sarah Becker was on the receiving end of several of them with a team-best 14 kills.

Kaitlyn Rogalla added 11 kills with four of them coming in the competitive third set where the Vikings led 17-16 before Emilee Schutta had two kills followed by a block and a kill from Hanson, the former Jamestown High School standout.

The Vikings got within 23-22, but Hanson finished it off with a block to make it 24-22 and then she hammered home match point with a kill.

“We’re all instructed on what we have to do as a team and what to do individually and then it’s just a matter of going out and doing it,” Hanson said. “It was fun to help our team win tonight.”

Hanson finished with six kills and two blocks. Becker’s five blocks were team-leading and Katie Lee, the steady defensive specialist, had 16 digs.

The Jimmies are right back at it tonight, hosting Dakota Wesleyan at 7 p.m.

Jamestown College 3, Valley City State 0

Vikings 19 15 23

Jimmies 25 25 25

Jamestown College statistics

Kelsey Deragisch: 16 assists, 7 digs.

Kaitlyn Rogalla: 11 kills, 1 Dig, 4 blocks.

Janna Johnson: 2 kills, 1 assist, 1 dig.

Katie Zent: 3 kills, 14 digs.

Emilee Schutta: 4 kills, 2 digs.

Katie Lee: 1 ace, 16 digs.

Beth Segerholm: 2 kills, 2 assists, 4 digs.

Kaia Buck: 19 assists, 1 ace.

Alex Hanson: 6 kills, 2 digs, 2 blocks.

Sarah Becker: 14 kills, 1 dig, 5 blocks.

Kaitlyn Bollingberg: 2 kills, 1 block.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at dselvig@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jimmies, volleyball