Midgets not being intimidated

• Abby Grove

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson senior outside hitter Abby Grove, middle, hits a spike between two Williston defenders last season. The Midgets prepare for their home opener against Mandan at 7 p.m. today.

Talk about it

The Dickinson High volleyball team knows where it stands and isn’t intimidated by any opponent in Class A.

After finishing the East-West Classic with a 4-3 record this past weekend in Bismarck, the Midgets start their West Region schedule against Mandan at 7 p.m. today at home.

“I was really happy with how hard we played,” Dickinson senior outside hitter Rachel Schroeder said. “We didn’t let anybody intimidate us. When you go up against (Fargo North senior) Kira Larson, who is (6-foot-4), it’s kind of intimidating. We played hard and we never gave up on a ball. I was really happy to see that this early in season.”

Going into the East-West Classic, Dickinson head coach Jay Schobinger had a game plan — get as many kids playing time as possible. Playing many of the top teams from the East showed the Midgets where they stand.

“We went in with the idea that we were going to play 12 kids and we played 12 kids,” he said. “All 12 got on the floor and had the opportunity to show what they can do.

“To be honest, we have lost a match or two because we did play 12 kids. Early in the season, I’m not real concerned with that. We know that we can play 12 if we have to. Now it’s going to come down to finding a solid rotation as possible within the next month or two.”

Schroeder said it’s been easy to communicate with the players on and off the court, especially since six of the 12 are seniors. The other five seniors joining Schroeder are Abby Grove, Taylor Cooper, Ali Moody, Hanna Beaudoin and Jessica Priebe.

“We know how to talk to each other and six of us have played together since the seventh grade,” Schroeder said. “A lot of us know where everybody is going to be at certain times.”

Along with the solid senior class, Dickinson’s juniors and sophomores have been stepping up to the challenge of playing varsity volleyball. Schobinger said there’s no doubt in his mind the team could go more than 12 deep by the end of the season.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if by the end of the year that we can go 15 deep,” he said. “That doesn’t happen too often.”

When the Midgets face Mandan today, Schroeder said it will be a good test to start the season.

“It’s a little bittersweet, because we’ve been playing for four years and now we can finally say that we are seniors,” Schroeder said. “I think going up against Mandan is going to be a good opener for us, because they are a decent team and we are a decent team, so it should be a pretty good matchup.”

Beulah staying humble after defeating Hazen

The Beulah hit No. 3 in the first week Of the Class 2A football poll this on Monday after defeating rival Hazen 28-8 last Friday in the Coal Bowl.

The Miners’ first-year head coach Jim Dooley doesn’t want the Hazen game to be the crown jewel of their season — there’s still eight games left in the regular season.

“I know it’s been a game and I think some of the luster is maybe off a little bit, because it’s not a region game anymore,” Dooley said. “It’s still a big deal to the town and to the community. I know our guys were charged up after getting that win.

“We talked about that practice on Wednesday. We don’t want that to be the defining moment of our season.”

At quarterback, Beulah has senior Trevor Zacher, who helped the Miners win the 2012 Class B boys state basketball and the Class B state baseball championships. The Miners also have a handful of returners and Dooley said everyone has shown a great deal of heart and determination during practice.

“These are guys who work hard,” Dooley said. “We had a lot of kids come in over the summer. I think they’re willing to be coached, they listen and we’ve picked up the schemes pretty well.”

Because this is Dooley’s first season in Beulah, he’s not exactly sure where his team stands at this point. But it will know soon enough hosting nonconference 2A opponent Central Cass on Friday.

“We’re somewhere between teams one and 16,” Dooley said. “We don’t really want to get ahead of ourselves.”

Dooley’s main message to his players after the first game of the season has been to shore up areas on both sides of the ball.

“We’re still at a stage where we need to be more consistent,” he said.

Midgets’ girls golf team soaking up knowledge

Sara Berglund has been the Dickinson High boys golf coach for five years and has now embarked on her first season as the girls coach.

Berglund said she has been enjoying her first season at the helm of the girls team.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she said. “We’re having a good time with them wanting to learn and asking questions, especially on course management stuff. They always ask, ‘What would you do here?’ I’m able to share my experiences with them and help them out in different situations.”

Berglund said this group, which is mostly comprised of juniors and sophomores, is ready to learn every piece of information that’s available.

“This team, as a whole, are like sponges,” Berglund said. “They want to learn, they want to get better and as a coach you can’t ask for anything better than that.”

What makes Berglund’s job a little easier this season is having juniors Riana Cooper and Rachel Jahner. The two juniors return with multiple years of varsity experience.

“It’s really great having two players with such good experience,” Berglund said. “They just set a good example in practice and in tournaments. They help the other girls out in practice.”

Berglund main job now is finding the Midgets’ Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 golfers.

After the Bismarck Century Invitational, Dickinson had eight days of practice before traveling to Minot High Invitational at 9 a.m. today at the Minot Air Force Base Course. Then it’s off to the Williston Invitational at the Links of North Dakota at 9 a.m. Friday.

“We really took advantage of the last eight days of practice,” Berglund said. “We’ve really been working hard on course management, short game and just really been working on scoring. We’re hoping to carry that over into the tournaments.”

Tags: high school volleyball, high school golf, high school football, dickinson midgets, sports