Jimmies top Olivet to notch split in Iowa

After a 3-0 loss, the Jimmies bounced back to earn a split of their opening day at the Grand View University Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.

Jamestown College was swept by 13th-ranked Grand View to start the day. The Jimmies fell down 1-0 to Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) in the night match, but rallied to take the next three for their 20th win of the season.

Coach Jon Hegerle was hoping for a more consistent effort.

“I know this sounds like a broken record, but I just didn’t think we were ready to compete and that was disappointing,” he said. “Grand View is a very solid team. They don’t make mistakes and they put a lot of pressure on you and we didn’t respond as well as we needed to.

“But that’s why we come to this tournament. You have to play crisp, sharp and not make a lot of mistakes otherwise your deficiencies get exposed.”

Sarah Becker had 11 kills to lead the JC attack. Kelsey Deragisch had 16 assists and nine digs.

The Jimmies struggled hitting with more errors (17) and a lower percentage (.159) than usual.

In the second match, JC led the opening set 11-7, but unraveled to drop the opening frame. They regrouped nicely and did not allow Olivet Nazarene over 20 in the final three games.

“We just had way too many unforced errors especially in that first set,” Hegerle said. “I thought we did settle down and did a better job of competing in sets 2, 3 and 4.”

Zent’s nine kills were team-leading Kaitlyn Rogalla and Alaina Brown added seven each. Zent also had 13 digs and seven blocks.

Hegerle mixed and matched the lineup, running 14 different players onto the floor.

“We just needed to figure some things out, but the players did a nice job of keeping organized and playing pretty efficiently later in that match,” Hegerle said.

Play in Des Moines concludes today. The Jimmies (20-5) face Davenport (Mich.) at noon and finish up against 20th-ranked Viterbo, Wis. (23-4) at 2 p.m.

Grand View University Tournament

At Des Moines, Iowa

Grand View 3, Jamestown College 0

Jamestown College 19 20 22

Grand View 25 25 25

Jamestown College statistics

Katie Zent: 9 kills, 1 ace, 5 digs, 1 block.

Kaia Buck: 13 assists, 1 ace, 3 digs.

Emilee Schutta: 1 kill, 2 digs, 1 block.

Kelsey Deragisch: 1 kill, 16 assists, 1 ace, 9 digs.

Alaina Brown: 5 kills, 1 assist, 22 digs.

Sarah Becker: 11 kills, 1 dig.

Janna Johnson: 8 kills, 2 digs, 1 block.

Kaitlyn Rogalla: 3 kills, 1 assist.

Jamestown College 3, Olivet Nazarene 1

Jamestown College 20 25 25 25

Olivet Nazarene 25 20 12 16

Jamestown College statistics

Deragisch: 1 kill, 23 assists, 1 ace, 10 digs.

Brown: 7 kills, 1 ace, 7 digs.

Rogalla: 7 kills, 6 digs, 7 digs.

Johnson: 6 kills, 1 dig, 4 blocks.

Zent: 9 kills, 1 ace, 13 digs, 7 blocks.

Schutta: 4 kills, 1 dig.

Lee: 1 assists, 2 aces, 32 digs.

Beth Segerholm: 9 digs.

Buck: 13 assists, 2 aces, 4 digs.

Alex Hanson: 1 block.

Amanda Kramer: 3 digs.

Becker: 6 kills, 5 blocks.

Naomi Walther: 1 block.

Kaitlyn Bollingberg: 1 kill, 1 dig, 4 blocks.

— Dave Selvig

Tags: sports, jimmies, volleyball