Jimmies make quick work of reeling Blue Hawks in sweep

• Jennifer Hartman

Photo by John M. Steiner / Forum Communications Dickinson State student assistant coach Jennifer Hartman, middle, watches the court while instructing senior Shaunda Dvorak, left, as junior Alexxus Fisher, right, looks on Tuesday night during a game against Jamestown College at the Hansen Center in Jamestown. Hartman, who has not graduated from DSU and only finished playing for the Blue Hawks last season, was tasked with leading the team into their first game after head coach Maura Bronte resigned on Tuesday.

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• DSU volleyball coach Maura Bronte submits resignation

JAMESTOWN — Due to a slow patch in the schedule, the Jamestown College volleyball team hasn’t been on the court much of late against anyone other than themselves.

And when they do get on the floor against an opponent, it doesn’t last very long.

Jamestown College improved to 10-2 on the season with a 25-19, 25-13, 25-17 dispatching of Dickinson State on Tuesday night in a 65-minute match.

“We were actually sharper (tonight) than our first home match,” Jamestown head coach Jon Hegerle said. “We talk a lot about building momentum through the season. … And I thought even though we haven’t played in 13 days, we’ve been competing hard in practice and have made the necessary progress we’ve needed to.”

DSU (2-10) did fight hard, but were overmatched.

It’s been a rollercoaster 24 hours for the once-proud Blue Hawk volleyball program.

Just hours before they were to leave for Jamestown, head coach Maura Bronte resigned, effectively immediately. That left Jennifer Hartman in charge.

Hartman, a former DSU player, has not yet graduated.

Hegerle said he was impressed with what he saw of the young coach.

“You can tell the players on that team care deeply for her. They played extremely hard and were very competitive,” Hegerle said. “She (Hartman) is an outstanding young lady. It’s a tough deal, but you hope everything works out OK for them.”

The Jimmies didn’t show much mercy, however, to their former conference mates.

They didn’t allow Dickinson State to reach 20 in any of the three sets.

Katie Zent, who graduated from Richardton-Taylor High School, wasn’t surprised by how crisp her team was.

“We practice pretty hard,” said the hard-hitting senior from Lefor. “Not playing a lot lately just makes us more eager. … We expect to play well. It was fun.”

Zent and Alaina Brown each had 7 kills for the Jimmies, trailing Sarah Becker’s team-leading 11. It was a typically balanced attack for the Jimmies.

“We know teams are going to come after us,” the smiling Zent said. “That adds some extra intensity, but we have competitive girls. We feed off of that.”

Ebony Sanders and Linaya Schroeder each had five kills to lead the Blue Hawks. Sanders added two blocks. Melissa Avila had 19 assists.

“We for sure didn’t give up,” Hartman said. “They kept fighting. That’s what you’ve got to do. They did good.”

DSU 19 13 17 — 0

Jamestown 25 25 25 — 3

Kills: DSU, Ebony Sanders 5, Linaya Schroeder 5, Kelly O’Connor 3, Sarah Ziebig 2. JC, Sarah Becker 11, Katie Zent 7, Alaina Brown 7, Kaitlyn Rogalla 6, Janna Johnson 5, Emilee Schutta 2, Kelsey Deragisch 1, Alex Hanson 1.

Blocks: DSU, Sanders 2, Shaunda Dvorak 1. JC, Rogalla 4, Becker 3, Brown 2, Johnson 1, Zent 1.

Aces: DSU, Ziebig 1. JC, Brown 1, Deragisch 1, Hanson 1, Katie Lee 1, Schutta 1, Beth Segerholm 1, Zent 1,

Digs: DSU, Chelsea Seibel 6, Katelyn Christensen 5, Melissa Avila 6, O’Connor 6. JC, Lee 15, Brown 13, Deragisch 4, Katie Buck 3, Schutta 3, Segerholm 2, Zent 2, Hanson 1.

Assists: DSU, Avila 19. JC, Buck 18, Deragisch 15.

Tags: dsu blue hawks, jamestown jimmies, sports, volleyball