North Star trounced the Rugby Volleyball Team in their second match of the season on Tuesday, Aug. 30. This was a complete turnaround for the Panthers who played well and placed fourth out of 12 teams in the Bottineau Tournament.

Coach Fritz said she thought that first game jitters must have been involved in the game with North Star.

“There’s not much to say,” said Jessica Fritz, Rugby coach. “We didn’t play well.”

“The biggest downfall right now is serving,” said Fritz. “We are down about 20% in our serving from last year.”

“Our passing has improved a little bit,” she added.

Laura Fritel came through with 5 kills and Abbey Paul with 3 kills and a block. Kristen Mundahl made the only ace of the game for Rugby. Allison Volk had 6 assists.

The Panthers lost senior leadership from last year in the form of Crystal Hovland, Molly Koenig, and Tessa Koenig.

“We are looking for new leadership for this year,” said Fritz. “Not everyone is equipped for leadership.”

She is confident that will come as the season progresses.

In the meantime, in practice the girls will be working on serving and executing a full offense. The good news for the Lady Panthers is that they are back practicing in their gym rather than the armory which just doesn’t give them enough room to execute properly.

The Panthers were scheduled to play Harvey-Wells County on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Fessenden. “That co-op team is a good one,” said Fritz.