Jimmies finish off 3-0 homestand

357328+xx-bw-jc-vb.jpg — Katie Zent (1), Jada Meiklejohn (14) and Emilee Schutta (4) helped the Jimmies to a 3-1 win over Dakota Wesleyan Saturday night at the Hansen Center. John M. Steiner The Sun

By Sun Staff

October 03, 2011 at 6:13 AM

Jamestown College came into the week wobbling a little.

But after some Hansen Center home cooking they appear to be back on track.

The Jimmies capped off a 3-0 home stand with a 3-1 win over Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) Saturday night, splitting the first two games before solidly putting away the Tigers in four.

"We're building back up to where we need to be, to where we should be," said ace hitter Katie Zent. "I'm not sure why we had the little dry spell there, but the important thing is I think we're back to playing the way we should. It wasn't perfect (tonight), but it was a step in the right direction."

The Jimmies had lost two straight matches before the current 3-game streak, which puts their overall record at 13-7.

Playing at home is always nice, even though unconventional dimensions of the Hansen Center are sometimes even tricky for the home team.

"Sometimes the Hansen Center is good to you, sometimes, well, it's a little tricky, but it's always fun to play here with our fans in the stands," said Heather Brown, who was one of three Jimmies with 10 or more kills against Dakota Wesleyan. "We seem to be back on track. We know what we need to do, we just have to do it consistently each match. When we do, we're pretty good."

The Jimmies mostly dominated the first, third and fourth games, sandwiched around a shaky second set.

"It was three-fourths good," said coach Jon Hegerle. "That second set was not very good, that's kind of the way it's been for us. We play pretty well for a while, then we do some things that make you scratch your head. We're still learning, and as long as we continue to work at it and get better, we've shown we're capable of doing some good things."

Emilee Schutta had a team-high 13 kills as setters Jada Meiklejohn (25 assists) and Kelsey Deragisch (20 assists) spread the wealth effectively.

Zent powered in 11 kills and Brown 10.

"We have a lot of girls with good swings," Zent said. "When we're at our best it's not just one or two of us it's all of us."

Hegerle is still looking for more consistency on the attack.

"When we're going good everybody wants a piece of the action. The thing we're still looking for is when it's going bad, who's going to step up and take over? Who wants the ball then?" the coach said. "That's an area where we're still a work in progress."

They do have options, though, with the likes of Zent, Schutta, Brown, Sarah Becker, Kaitlyn Rogalla, Janna Johnson and former Blue Jay Alex Hanson, who added a nice spark in the match with four kills.

"It's a lot of fun to play on a team like this," said Brown a former L-M-M standout. "We have really good chemistry. I think we're getting back to where we need to be and that's exciting."

The Jimmies continue their busy stretch of five matches in six days when they play two today at the Minot State Triangular.

The Jimmies play the Beavers at 4 p.m. and Sioux Falls (S.D.) at 6 p.m. The games are played by NCAA Division II rules, meaning each team only gets 12 subs per match.

"We typically have a lot more than (12 subs) so that will be an adjustment for us," Hegerle said. "But it will be another good challenge for us against quality competition."

The Jimmies beat the Beavers 3-2 here Friday night.

Jamestown College 3, Dakota Wesleyan 1

Dakota Wesleyan 14 25 17 16

Jamestown College 25 21 25 25

Jamestown College statistics

Jada Meiklejohn: 25 assists, 3 aces, 5 digs.

Emilee Schutta: 13 kills, 1 assist, 1 ace, 5 digs, 1 block.

Sarah Becker: 4 kills, 1 dig, 7 blocks.

Heather Brown: 10 kills, 2 assists, 8 blocks.

Katie Lee: 1 ace, 16 digs.

Katie Zent: 11 kills, 15 digs, 5 blocks.

Kelsey Deragisch: 20 assists, 6 digs.