Volleyball team drops a heartbreaker vs North Dakota –
On Saturday night, in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, the Bison volleyball team lost a five-set thriller 3-2. There were a lot of things that made this a great match. The rivalry, first and foremost, drew a lot of fans I am sure. Next, the intimate and cozy atmosphere of the BBF, now nearly 100 years old, makes it a tough place to play for any Bison opponent… and finally, the controversy. As you may have read before in this column, the Summit League has a replay process in volleyball that needs improvement. On Saturday night, North Dakota head coach, Jesse Tupac, challenged four on-court calls. The first one lasted 20 minutes if it lasted one. I told the Spectrum’s editor, Anne Kesler, who attended the match with me to cover the story for the paper (see her story in this section), that I was going to order a pizza from Domino’s while we were still waiting and hopefully we would be playing by the time the pizza showed up. It was a ridiculous spectacle and the crowd in the BBF started to boo (finally) until Coach Tupac finally gave up. We should have started booing earlier….
The play was excellent, too…for both teams. Besides the conference schedule, these teams will see each other again, I am sure. The women will be back in Fargo on October 20th & 22nd to play Western Illinois and St. Thomas, respectively. Get to the BBF and cheer them on…and boo the challenges. Get your tickets early at GoBison.com/Students.
Bison football keeps winning but… –
I am not sure what to think about this year’s edition of Bison football. The offense seems to be starting to lock it in, sans turnovers, but that defense is not good at all. I know that injuries have been a factor, but that happens to all football teams. The puzzling thing has been the lack of fundamentals. Poor tackling, penalties, missed assignments and the previously mentioned turnovers have been hard to watch. With an excellent South Dakota State University Jackrabbit team coming to the Fargodome this Saturday, things could get worse before they get better. This has a strange look to it for a #1 vs #2 match-up. Looking at the rest of NDSU’s conference schedule, things could get difficult and thus need to change quickly. The back-to-back trips to Illinois are not shoo-ins and that other school to the north appears to be getting better every week. Hoping for (and needing) a better performance on Saturday and into the future.
Winter sports are right around the corner –
A reminder that winter sports are near came to the office this week as pre-season polls for Summit League basketball were released this week. The men’s and women’s polls are selected by league coaches, sports information directors and “select” media members. The Bison men were picked to finish fourth and the women fifth. NDSU’s Grant Nelson, the 2021 Summit League Sixth Man of the Year, was selected for the men’s first team while the Bison’s Heaven Hamling was tabbed for the women’s team. The Herd will be looking for a big season out of Nelson as the top three scorers from last year’s squad are gone. Off the basketball court, Head Coach Roger Kish’s wrestlers began to practice on Monday after their Media Day. The Bison grapplers look young but talented. That is a good thing in what will no doubt be a tough Big 12 wrestling conference. Keep an eye out for the Spectrum’s season previews for all three sports soon.
Schedule for the week of October 13th –
Football vs South Dakota State @ Fargodome – Saturday, Oct. 16th @ 2:30 p.m.
Soccer @ North Dakota – Sunday, Oct. 17th @ 1:00 p.m.
Volleyball @ Denver (Oct. 13th @ 7:00 p.m.) and @ Omaha (Oct. 15th @ 3:00 p.m.)
Men’s Golf @ TPC Colorado at Heron Lakes Collegiate Invitational – Oct. 17th – 19th @ Denver
Cross Country (men & women) @ Bradley Pink Classic – Friday, Oct. 14th @ Peoria, Il.